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Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen

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Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen
Congregatio Mariae Reginae Immaculatae
AbbreviationCMRI
Formation1967; 57 years ago (1967)
TypeSedevacantist Catholic religious congregation
HeadquartersOmaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Superior General
Mark Pivarunas
Key people
Websitecmri.org
Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church: CMRI church in Sulphur Springs, Ohio, United States

The Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (Latin: Congregatio Mariae Reginae Immaculatae; CMRI) is a sedevacantist Traditionalist Catholic religious congregation.[1] The CMRI is dedicated to promoting the message of Our Lady of Fátima and the devotion of the practice of Total Consecration to the Virgin Mary as taught by Saint Louis Marie de Montfort.[2]

The CMRI holds that the Chair of St. Peter has been unoccupied since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958. The CMRI is not connected to the present Holy See or any territorial church diocese.

The congregation lists over 90 traditional Catholic churches and chapels both in the U.S. and abroad, as well as at least 13 schools staffed by religious.[3][non-primary source needed]

Names

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The group had used and was designated by various names:

  • Fatima Crusade[4]
  • Tridentine Latin Rite Church[4]
  • Oblates of Mary Immaculate[5]
  • Fatima Crusaders[6]
  • Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen[7]

Leadership

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Superiors Generals

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Activities

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The Sisters at Mt. St. Michael record CDs and perform an annual Christmas concert.[8]

The CMRI hold the Fatima conference at Mt. St. Michael in Spokane, Washington in October each year. The conference includes five days of lectures, daily Mass, devotions, and meals.[9]

The CMRI has been involved with mass media since their founding as a method of recruitment and information. Throughout their history, the CMRI has produced books, pamphlets, and audio recordings. The CMRI runs a bookstore (Mary Immaculate Queen Center)[10] and produces various periodicals: The Reign of Mary (quarterly magazine), Adsum (Mater Dei seminary monthly newsletter), and Anima Mariae, the CMRI sisters' newsletter. The CMRI also produces annual CDs of the Fatima Conference talks, as well as providing a livestream of Daily Mass and devotions from the City of Mary in Rathdrum, Idaho.[11]

History

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Speaking tours & Coeur d'Alene beginnings (1967 to 1971)

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Main article: Francis Schuckardt

Francis Konrad Maria Schuckardt (a Catholic layman from Seattle, Wash.) and Robert Denis Chicoine (a former Marine, bricklayer, and newspaper pressman from New Bedford, Mass.) attracted their initial followers through international speaking tours as part of The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima. Chicoine first heard Schuckardt in a 1965 talk in San Diego about the message of Fatima. After listening to Schuckardt for three nights in a row, he became his disciple.[12]

Beginning in the late 1960s, Schuckardt was able to attract numerous vagabond priests.[13]

Schuckardt was ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop by Daniel Quitler Brown from 28 October to 1 November 1971 at a motel in Chicago in front of 40 witnesses.[1] Brown had been consecrated a bishop in 1969 by Hubert A. Rogers, a bishop of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church, but had left it and become independent in 1971.[14]

The same year, Schuckardt changed the name of the group to Traditional Latin Rite Catholic Church.[4]

Properties

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The CMRI owned and operated numerous schools, camps, and properties.[15]

  • A convent and girls high school in Colbert, Washington about 15 miles north of Spokane.[16]
  • A mansion located at 2314 E South Altamont Blvd in Spokane, Wash. that operated as the priory and Schuckardt's main residence[16]

Chicoine era (1984 to 1989)

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On June 3, 1984, Schuckardt and a small group of his followers were expelled from the CMRI and left the Spokane area, taking the name Tridentine Latin Rite Church (TLRC). In addition to Fr. Alphonsus, Schuckardt was followed by 4 religious sisters and 10 religious clerics and brothers.[17] A larger group of the priests, religious, and laity remained with Chicoine at Mt. St. Michael, retaining the CMRI name and the bulk of the church property. Chicoine accused Schuckardt of abuse & drug addiction.[1] Local media in 1984 reported that there were 5000 followers of the group in the United States, 800 of whom live in the Spokane area.[16] In 1986, local media reported that about half the members of the church's religious orders left.[18]

Following the expulsion of Schuckardt, sedevacantist Bishop George Musey (of the Thuc apostolic line) conditionally re-administered the sacraments imparted by Schuckardt, whose validity was now considered dubious, and conditionally re-ordained the remaining priests.[19]

In 1986, the Congregation held its first General Chapter, which established its rule and constitutions, that were later approved by sedevacantist Bishop Robert McKenna ORCM.[20]

Pivarunas era (1989 to present)

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In August 1989, Father Tarcisius Pivarunas (Mark Pivarunas) was elected as the Superior General of the congregation.[21]

On 1 February 1991, sedevacantist Bishop Moisés Carmona expressed his desire to consecrate as bishop whomever the congregation chooses. On 3 April 1991, Mark Pivarunas was elected to be consecrated a bishop. In accordance with Catholic practice, Mark Pivarunas discontinued the use of his religious name, "Tarcisius", and in accordance with the CMRI Constitutions, resigned his post as the Superior General. He was succeeded by Father Casimir M. Puskorius. On 24 September 1991, in Mount Saint Michael, Mark Pivarunas was consecrated a bishop by Bishop Carmona.[22]

In June 2007, 15 sisters (including Rev. Mother Ludmilla) living at Mount Saint Michael in Spokane were expelled from the congregation because they had come to disagree with the congregation's stance of sedevacantism. They later reconciled with the Catholic Church and formed the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church (SMMC) under the authority of William Skylstad, bishop of Spokane.[1]

More recently, the notorious traditionalist priest Florian Abrahamowicz, a well-known Austrian antisemite and Holocaust denier who was expelled by the Society of Saint Pius X in 2009, has joined the CMRI.[23] In 2016 Bishop Mark Pivarunas administered the sacrament of confirmation to 20 people in Paese, during a Mass presided by Abrahamowicz. The Diocese of Treviso declared the confirmations to be "valid but illicit".[24]

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Graves, Jim (October 19, 2012). "The Return to Rome, Five Years Later". The Catholic World Report.
  2. ^ "CMRI's Marian Spirit: Total Consecration to the Blessed Virgin". Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (CMRI). 10 August 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  3. ^ "CMRI Directory of Traditional Latin Masses (U.S.)". CMRI: Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen. 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  4. ^ a b c Michael W. Cuneo (1997). "4: Catholic Separatists". The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Dissent in Contemporary American Catholicism. Internet Archive. Oxford University Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-19-511350-1.
  5. ^ Michael W. Cuneo (1997). "4: Catholic Separatists". The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Dissent in Contemporary American Catholicism. Internet Archive. Oxford University Press. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-19-511350-1.
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-05-12. Retrieved 2006-04-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ Michael W. Cuneo (1997). "4: Catholic Separatists". The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Dissent in Contemporary American Catholicism. Internet Archive. Oxford University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-19-511350-1.
  8. ^ "Who are the Singing Nuns?". The Singing Nuns. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  9. ^ "Annual Fatima Conference". CMRI: Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen. 2018-08-20. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  10. ^ "Mary Immaculate Queen Center". Mary Immaculate Queen Center. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  11. ^ "All broadcasts for Mary Immaculate Queen Church - Rathdrum, ID". BoxCast.tv. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  12. ^ Sparks, Jim (July 27, 1986). "Tranquility returns to Tridentines". The Spokesman-Review Spokane Chronicle. pp. A10.
  13. ^ "Church changes left traditionalist behind". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 2022-08-03 – via PressReader.
  14. ^ Ward, Gary L.; Persson, Bertil; Bain, Alan (1990). Independent Bishops: An International Directory. Apogee Books. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-55888-307-9.
  15. ^ "Alvina URBAN Obituary (2013) Spokesman-Review". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2022-07-30.
  16. ^ a b c Hanson, Tim (August 26, 1984). "A bishop's life on the run". The Spokesman-Review. pp. A8.
  17. ^ "Bishop Schuckardt, CMRI, Mount Saint Michaels". bishopjosephmarie.org. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  18. ^ Sparks, Jim (July 27, 1986). "Tranquility returns to Tridentines". The Spokesman-Review. pp. A1, A10–A12.
  19. ^ Weaver, Mary Jo; Appleby, R. Scott (1995). Being Right: Conservative Catholics in America. Indiana University Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-253-32922-6.
  20. ^ "History of CMRI". CMRI: Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen. 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  21. ^ "Superior General: Bishop Mark A. Pivarunas, CMRI". Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (CMRI). 10 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  22. ^ "Adsum (September 2016)" (PDF). Mater Dei Seminary. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  23. ^ "CMRI Traditional Latin Mass Directory". Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  24. ^ Giustiniani, Federica (2016-04-10). "Venti cresimati dal prete negazionista". La Tribuna di Treviso (in Italian).

Further reading

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