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Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by G4wa5r4gasag (talk | contribs) at 23:50, 6 August 2022 (high school is in Colbert, not Colvert. Added newspaper source. Also moved elementary school to City of Mary, this was not a separate location.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen
Congregatio Mariae Reginae Immaculatae
AbbreviationCMRI
Formation1967
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 Traditional Roman Catholic religious congregation.[1] They are a branch of Independent Catholicism with apostolic succession derived through episcopi vagantes (Latin for "wandering bishops"). The CMRI is one of the most well-known branches of Independent Catholicism with apostolic succession derived from Ngô Đình Thục, along with the Palmarian Christian Church, Unión Católica Trento, and Michel-Louis Guérard des Lauriers. 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 empty since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958. The CMRI is not connected to The Vatican or any diocese in which they operate. It is responsible for over 90 traditional Catholic churches and Mass center both in the U.S. and abroad, as well as at least 13 schools staffed by religious.[3] The CMRI operates a major seminary, Mater Dei Seminary, in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, as well as a minor seminary, Saint Joseph's Minor Seminary, in Rathdrum, Idaho, United States, while the Sisters' motherhouse is located in Spokane, Washington, United States.

Bishop Lawrence Welsh of the Diocese of Spokane stated of the group, "their presentation of Catholic tradition distorts the mainstream of Catholic faith by a certain historical perception of Catholic life. They take a far too pessimistic view of world order."[4]

Names

Over the years, the group had used various names, including legal names for real estate purchased & other legal documents:

  • Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (CMRI)
  • Traditional Latin Rite Catholic Church[5]
  • Ecclesiastical Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe[6]
  • Tridentine Latin Rite Catholic Church of St. Joseph[7]

Beliefs and practices

The CMRI rejects the validity of the Novus Ordo Missae of Paul VI as being invalid and non-Catholic. The CMRI rejects the 1962 Mass since it was promulgated by John XXIII, who they do not recognize as a true pope. They accept the 1917 Code of Canon Law as binding on members. Since the CMRI does not recognize The Vatican and their hierarchical structure of popes, bishops, and dioceses, the CMRI has used the concepts of "supplied jurisdiction"[8] and "epikeia" in order to justify their activities in place of the typical legal structures of the Catholic Church.

Leadership and core membership

Previous Superiors General:

The following people are part of the core membership of the group:

  • The Drahman family has been involved with the CMRI since the early 1970s. Tom Drahman[9] was instrumental in the purchase of Mt. St. Michael in 1977 and his son Fr. Gregory Drahman is a CMRI priest.
  • The Urban family was part of the core leadership with Francis Schuckardt and Denis Chicoine. The Urban family was involved with Schuckardt prior to the move to Coeur d'Alene in the summer of 1967. Alvina ran a house for the boarding school. Notable figures in the family include Alvina Urban[10] who were noted on legal paperwork along with Frater R. Denis Chicoine and "Christ the King Priory, Inc., an Idaho Corporation."

Activities

The Sisters at Mt. St. Michael record CDs and perform an annual Christmas concert.[11]

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.[12]

The CMRI has been heavily 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. Today, the CMRI runs a bookstore (Mary Immaculate Queen Center)[13] and has 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.[14]

The CMRI continues recruitment & information through websites such as Traditional Catholic Sermons,[15] The Catholic Wire,[16] Novus Ordo Watch,[17] Daily Catholic[18] and Twitter accounts of Fr. Gabriel Lavery,[19] Fr. Carlos Borja,[20] and Mt. St. Michael.[21]

History

Speaking Tours & Coeur d'Alene Beginnings (1967 to 1971)

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.[22]

Beginning in the late 1960s, Schuckardt was able to attract numerous retired[23] or vagabond[24] priests.

Schuckardt was ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop by Daniel Q. Brown from 28 October to 1 November 1971 at a motel in Chicago in front of 40 witnesses.[25]

New Religious Movement

Ahern has noted that the City of Mary became a refuge for Catholics from the moral upheaval and changes of the 1960s, especially from California. Ahern said the "appeal to ideal and need" was a shared value between the Moonies and the TLRC.[26]

Schools, Camps, and Properties

The CMRI owned and operated numerous schools, camps, and properties[10] from 1967 to 1977, primarily located in the Coeur d'Alene (Idaho), Rathdrum (Idaho), and Spokane (Washington) areas. Legal documents noted they owned 18 properties worth $8 million (Washington Case #84-2-01445-2). Notable locations include:

  • A 165-acre survivalist cabin in northern Canada called "Cabrini Mission". This was a survivalist lair stocked with gear and provisions in preparation for a U.S. Government takeover by Freemasons.[27]
  • St. Joseph's Chapel on 4th Street in Coeur d'Alene, ID (concrete block building where Fr. Clement Kubesh would say Mass);
  • Espiritu Youth Camp also called "Espiritu Seminar" at Twin Lakes, Idaho (the yearly summer camp)
  • Villa Maria boarding school (originally at Indiana and Second, later on Wallace) in Coeur d'Alene run by laywomen Miss Shroyer and Miss Hogenkamp. This property doubled as the Immaculate Convent School for high school girls;
  • Sacred Heart High School for boys;
  • A convent and girls high school in Colbert, Washington[28] about 15 miles north of Spokane.
  • A convent at the corner of Mill Ave and Lincoln Way in Coeur d'Alene.
  • City of Mary in the hills of Rathdrum, Idaho at the end of Church Rd. An elementary school was operated on the property.
  • A mansion located at 2314 E South Altamont Blvd in Spokane, Wash. that operated as the priory and Schuckardt's main residence[29]

Mount St. Michael Headquarters (1977 to 1984)

On the last day of 1977, the TLRC acquired the 735 acre old Jesuit scholasticate Mount Saint Michael in Spokane, Washington for $1.5 million and relocated its headquarters from Idaho to Mt. St. Michael. The property was purchased by Pillar Investment Co.[30] Two members of Pillar Investment Co. were identified as Thomas "Tom" Drahman and Lawrence Urann.[31] Patrick Urann (age 18) had recently obtained his real estate license and was the real estate agent for the purchase.[26] Mary Drahman was also listed on the mortgage. All involved in the purchase were members of the TLRC. The Jesuits claimed of the shell company, "we had absolutely no idea they were anybody else than developers."

The TLRC was growing in this time and sending priests to Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and the Holy Land. At their peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the TLRC had about 120 sisters, 6 priests, 61 Clerics and Brothers, K-12 schools, the Knights of the Eucharist, the Knights of the Altar, the Knights of St. Karl the Great, the Altar and Rosary Society, Our Lady of Cana Cell for couples interested in courtship and marriage, the Holy Name Ushers, several Third Orders, numerous Fatima Cells, St. Anne's Home for the elderly and infirm, the Little Daughters of the Immaculate Conception Convent for the mentally impaired, the Singing Nuns, the Kevelaer School for the neurological impaired, the St. Joseph the Worker Guild, the Mater Dolorous Guild to aid the terminally ill and arrange for their funerals.[32][33]

Although the TLRC and CMRI were not part of the Diocese of Spokane, there was an atmosphere of crime, secrecy, and cover-up from 1978 to 1989 by Bishop Lawrence Welsh of the Diocese of Spokane.[34] Law enforcement and community members continued to pressure[35] the Diocese of Spokane to reveal the extent of abuse that was occurring in the diocese within this time, especially during the revelations of abuse in 2001 and bankruptcy of 2004.[36] The TLRC had worked with one retired priest of the Diocese of Spokane (Fr. Joseph Pineau who died in 1982) and was therefore not entirely separate from the actions of the Diocese of Spokane during this time period. The Diocese of Spokane has never revealed that Fr. Pineau had secretly worked with the TLRC after his abuse involvement and retirement from the Diocese of Spokane in 1968.

Anti-Cult Movement

During the 1970s and 1980s, the popularity of the CMRI began to decline as part of the wider anti-cult movement[37] of the time. Numerous families began defecting from the TLRC in the mid to late 1970s.[12] Some parents and spouses attempted to make contact or rescue their family members from the TLRC through force or coercion, with confrontations sometimes leading to lawsuits, violence, or arrests. A common tactic of family or former members was to hold up signs outside of the TLRC properties with warnings about the group. Family members often attempted to rescue a child by force as they walked between properties in Coeur d'Alene, with at least one attempted rescue leading to arrest. The TLRC told members to shun former members, specifically telling members to avoid the Case and Klotze families.[14]

The anti-cult movement was a response to the surge in new religious movements of the 1950s and 1960s. One of the earliest countercult organizations was the Citizens Freedom Foundation, founded in 1975 (later becoming the Cult Awareness Network). The International Cultic Studies Association (formerly American Family Foundation or AFF) was founded in 1979 and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was founded in 1971. The mid-1970s marked the beginning of numerous lawsuits brought against the CMRI. These lawsuits continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

In the early 1980s, Fr. Bill Wassmuth of St. Pius X Church in Coeur d'Alene formed the Cult Awareness Center to address information about the TLRC that had been disclosed from former members. Wassmuth concluded that the public should be aware of what was going on with the group.[38]

Both CMRI members and scholars have heavily criticized the anti-cult movement, "deprogramming", and claims of "brainwashing" as being pseudo-science. Groups such as the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), The Cult Education Institute, and Rick Alan Ross, have paid damages for their false claims.[39]

Connection to Aryan Nations

The CMRI purchased automatic weapons from the Aryan Nations around 1984. The Aryan Nations had been headquartered near Hayden Lake, Idaho since 1973. This Aryan Nations connection was also corroborated when Sheriff Deputy Cloud testified under oath in California (Court Case 87–2823) that the members of the Aryan Nations had been guests at Mount Saint Michael's during this time period.[40]

Chicoine Era (1984 to 1989)

On June 3, 1984, Schuckardt and a small group of his followers (including Fr. Alphonsus Maria Barnes[21][23] who had been ordained by Bishop Schuckardt in the 1970s[41]) 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.[42] A larger group of the priests, religious, and laity remained with Fr. Chicoine at Mt. St. Michael, retaining the CMRI name and the bulk of the church property. The Chicoine faction claim that Schuckardt left after being exposed for reports of abuse & drug addiction.[1] The Schuckardt faction claim that Chicoine simply wanted to take over the group to gain power and to relax the severity of the rules that had been imposed by Schuckardt. 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.[43] In 1986, local media reported that about half the members of the church's religious orders left.[44] By 2002, The Seattle Times noted that Schuckardt had approximately 100 followers.

After the Schuckardt departure, the CMRI sought out a sedevacantist bishop to ordain clergy for the congregation, and found Bishop George J. Musey of Galveston, Texas, whose episcopal lineage, like that of most other sedevacantist bishops, traces to the Vietnamese sedevacantist Bishop Ngô Đình Thục.[45]

On April 23, 1985, three of the four remaining priests (Fr. Chicoine, Fr. Benedict Hughes, and Fr. James McGilloway) of the CMRI formally and publicly took an "Abjuration of Error and Profession of Faith ad cautelam" before Musey in case, through their previous actions, they had incurred any ecclesiastical censures. Musey then conditionally ordained them.[45] He publicly stated that he had little reason to doubt the validity of their earlier ordinations, but he nevertheless decided that the most prudent course of action would be to bestow conditional ordination on them, as he believed that since the Holy See is vacant, an authoritative and binding decision on their orders cannot be made, and that the validity of their orders will always be doubtful in the minds of some.[46][a] On June 27, 1985, Bishop Musey ordained Mark Pivarunas to the priesthood. Bishop Musey one day declared that the CMRI would never recover from their wounds from the Schuckardt era & recommended that the CMRI go home to re-evaluate the future,[49] but the CMRI refused these suggestions. Bishop Musey was ousted and some CMRI nuns left with him to start a new convent. Bishop Musey stated of the fallout, "I didn't realize the patient was going to bleed to death when I started operating."[50]

Other sedevacantist bishops who ordained priests for or assisted the congregation include Bishop Moisés Carmona[51] and Bishop Robert McKenna, bishops whose episcopal lineages also trace to Thục.

In 1986, the congregation held its first General Chapter, establishing a formal set of Rules and Constitutions. In the same year, the Rule was approved by Bishop McKenna. Similar to Bishop Musey, Bishop McKenna left the CMRI on negative terms shortly after beginning work with the group.[18]

Pivarunas Era (1989 to present)

Following a series of negative articles in the Spokane newspapers in early May 1989 and a vote of "no confidence" from the other CMRI priests, Denis Chicoine retired as the Superior General and moved to a CMRI mission church in New Zealand, disappearing from public view until his death in 1995. In August 1989, Father Tarcisius Pivarunas (Mark Pivarunas) was elected as the Superior General of the congregation,[52] succeeding Father Chicoine.[45]

In the summer of 1989, Fr. Daniel Dolan and Fr. Anthony Cekada parted ways with Fr. Clarence Kelly of the SSPV and began accepting adherents of the CMRI to their communion rail at their church in West Chester, Ohio. This led to tensions between the SSPV and the Mt. St. Michael group, leading to a conference in 1991[53] and a pamphlet in defense of the CMRI published by Fr. Cekada in October 1993.[54] This was the beginning of a friendly relationship with Fr. Cekada and Fr. Dolan, with the CMRI carrying numerous publications from Fr. Cekada regarding The New Mass and defense of the sedevacantist position. The early 1990s also saw the CMRI begin a friendly relationship with Rama Coomaraswamy (a married Traditional Catholic priest), son of Ananda Coomaraswamy (a notable member of the Traditionalist School (perennialism)) and personal friend of Mother Teresa (whose group was instrumental in the 2007 expulsion of 15 nuns from the CMRI).[55] The CMRI hosted Coomaraswamy at The Fatima Conference and continue to carry his publications critical of the "New Mass" and "New Sacraments."

On 1 February 1991, Bishop 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.[45][56][57] Some of the CMRI religious priests were unaware of this consecration at the time, leading to concerns that Bishop Pivarunas was following the actions of Schuckardt. Bishop Carmona died 38 days after his consecration of Bishop Pivarunas. Following on their positive relationship beginning in 1989, Bishop Pivarunas consecrated Fr. Daniel Dolan on 30 November 1993.

In 1995, Bishop Pivarunas was re-elected as the Superior General of the congregation, succeeding Fr. Puskorius.

In 2001, Fr. Louis Kerfoot left the CMRI along with Sister Claudia and got married a few weeks later[58]. This followed after the death of his parents in 1999 and 2000.[59] Fr. Kerfoot had been a key player in having Schuckardt removed in 1984 and had been a priest with the CMRI for at least 10 years.

Sister Solange left the Mt. St. Michael convent due to alleged sexual abuse she had received at the hands of one of the TLRC teaching nuns in 1979 where she had been a high school boarder. Sherri Schettler left the convent around 2000.

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.[1] They joined the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane and formed the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church (SMMC) under the authority of William Skylstad, bishop of Spokane.[1]

Fr. Anthony Short & Rev. Dominic Crawford separated from the CMRI in the 2010s and are part of "Carmel of The Immaculate Heart of Mary" in Preston, Minnesota. There are around 10 families in this group. This group disagrees with the laxity and beliefs of the CMRI.

Changes in the Post-Schuckardt Period

[original research?]

A number of changes were made after Schuckardt left the group in 1984:

  • Schuckardt had required anyone joining the CMRI from the Vatican II Church to make an abjuration of error. Bp. Sanborn has stated[60] that Bp. Schuckardt was the only sedevacantist bishop to require an abjuration of error when joining from the Vatican II Church. Today, the CMRI does not require this abjuration of error, nor does any sedevacantist bishop.
  • Schuckardt had taught "the Holocaust was a myth."[61] The CMRI does not hold this view.
  • Schuckardt looked down on marriage[16] and supported those who abandoned their families to join the TLRC. The CMRI no longer looks down on marriage.
  • Newspapers had noted that Schuckardt taught that, "American is a Freemasonic Republic and that it is anti-Catholic to support the U.S. Government or honor the American flag." Today, the CMRI has the American flag posted in the sanctuary of the chapels.
  • Schuckardt had taught that smoking is a mortal sin. The CMRI no longer teaches this.[62]
  • The CMRI moved their headquarters from Mt. St. Michael to Omaha, NE.

Criticism & reconciliation

There has been a movement among former members, the media, & others to expose the reality of the Schuckardt group, CMRI, and Traditional Roman Catholicism in general. This movement exists to expose the abuse, lies, history, pain, and financial ties of both former and current members. This exposure has been happening for decades, but has especially taken off since the 2010s. This change mirrors the wider Roman Catholic Church that has been coming to terms with its history of abuse. Additional criticism has come from other sedevacantists for issues specific to the CMRI.

  • In 1986, Jim Sparks of the Spokesman-Review Spokane Chronicle wrote a front page article "Tranquility returns to Tridentines" describing abuse, lawsuits, and practices of the group in the previous years, and changes since the departure of Schuckardt in 1984.[63]
  • In 2014, former nun Sherri Ann Schettler (Urann) published her memoir, "Spiritual Blackmail: My Journey Through A Catholic Cult" notably describing sexual abuse within the Villa Maria boarding school in the late 1970s.[64]
  • In 2016, "Bishop" Joseph Marie wrote a letter[65] to "Bishop" Mary Fidelis (Andrew Jacobs) arguing that their episcopal & priestly orders were invalid. Joseph Marie and Mary Fidelis were the two bishops consecrated by Francis Schuckardt in 2006 prior to Schuckardt's death. Joseph Marie runs a website[66] calling for the "old CMRI" (how he refers to those who remained with Chicoine after 1984) to reconcile with their past and to make amends for what they've done.
  • In 2020, a critical documentary, "Congregation of Mary Immaculate | The Cult Next Door Ep. #2" was released.[30]
  • In 2022, Stephen Heiner and the "True Restoration" website published an article, "What Serious Catholics Should Know About The CMRI"[67] concluding, "I believe the best option is to not associate with the CMRI." Bp. Pivarunas offered a response to this article.[68]

The SPLC in 2006[69] designated Mount St. Michael one of twelve "anti-semitic radical traditionalist Catholic groups." The SPLC 2021 list of "Radical Traditional Catholicism" no longer includes Mt. St. Michael.[70] Members of the CMRI and others outside of the group have disagreed with the characterization and inclusion on this list. The current CMRI members pin the conspiracy and anti-semitism onto Schuckardt, who separated from the group in 1984.

Lawsuits

CMRI has been involved in lawsuits beginning in the 1970s across various states. These lawsuits occurred both before & after the Schuckardt split. Notable cases include:

  • In 1974, two Toledo, OH brothers, Dr. Joseph A. Radecki and Henry M. Radecki, won a lawsuit[30] against the Tridentine Roman Catholics and Christ the King Priority, Inc. The lawsuit alleged that Joseph's wife Catherine and Henry's wife Emily were induced by the group and its teachings to desert and abandon their husbands. The judge awarded $48,000 to the two brothers. This judgement was overturned by the Court of Appeals of Ohio No. 7873 decided November 5, 1976. Today, identical twin brothers Fr. Dominic Radecki and Fr. Francisco Radecki (brought to Schuckardt's group by their mother Emily Radecki) are priests and part of the core leadership of CMRI.
  • In 1976, a former member, John M. Tamplin, sued the CMRI for $14 million. Tamplin said he left his wife in 1975 to come to Coeur d'Alene "to be near Schuckardt's and Chicoine's Roman Catholic Church." The local newspaper reported that Tamplin had once parked his truck outside of Mt. St. Michael and "had signs on his truck alleging the Fatima Crusaders were a 'satanic, family-splitting cult' composed of 'vicious swindlers."
  • In 1981, The Nebraska Supreme Court gave Dennis Burnham custody of his daughter because of his wife's involvement with the church.[71]
  • In 1983, Tamplin (John M.) v. Thomas A. Drahman of Fatima Crusade Cult Known as Tridentine Latin Rite Church, 722 F.2d 747, No. 83-3512 United States Court of Appeals, ninth Circuit. 7 November, 1983. Appeal from E.D. Wash. Affirmed.[20]
  • In 1984, Fr. Chicoine and the CMRI sued Francis Schuckardt (case no. 84-2-01445-2)[72] for church property. The CMRI was awarded $250,000
  • In 1986, O'Neil v. Schuckardt, 112 Ida. 472, 733 P.2d 693, 67 ALR4th 1065 (1986). A July 3 decision by the Idaho Supreme Court said a Montana man was not entitled to $750,000 from the church. Jerry O'Neil had sought the money on the grounds that the church alienated him from his wife.[73]
  • In 1987, the Supreme Court of Idaho heard a case involving a lawsuit of Jerry Bryant O'Neil against the Fatima Crusade Church itself for alienation of his wife's affections and for invasion of his wife's privacy.[74]
  • In 1995, Chicoine v. Bignall (Supreme Court of Idaho No. 21320), a case involving Bliss & Annette Bignall against Christ the King Priory, Inc.[75]

Physical & Religious Abuse

During the late 1960s and into the early 1980s, Religious abuse of the laity and seminarians was commonplace within the TLRC.[76] Abuse among the religious sisters within the convent was similar to other forms of asceticism and abuse that were common in the Catholic Church religious orders prior to Vatican II (for example, begging for food, licking floors, laying across a doorway to be stepped on) and are therefore not unique to the TLRC. Some unique examples of abuse in this time period have been noted by former members:

  • Francis Schuckardt withheld the sacraments from parents living in California unless they agreed to send their children to the TLRC boarding school in Coeur d'Alene;
  • Girls who talked to boys at the Espiritu youth summer camp would have their heads forcibly shaved. Their bald heads were then covered with a bandana;
  • Fr. Chicoine shaved (or cropped) the front part of a girl's hair for explaining to a friend the meaning of a menstrual period and the meaning of a common obscene gesture.[77]
  • A teaching nun gave a child a black eye and swollen face when she refused to eat her own vomit.[77]
  • A 16-year-old was punished by being ordered to crawl across a parking lot and up a flight of stairs to a chapel on his bare knees, leading to damaged cartilage.[77]
  • One teacher went to jail (Kootenai County) for physical abuse of a student;
  • Fr. Clement Kubesh had provided theological defense (Principle of double effect) of Schuckardt's demands that young seminarians within the group provide the bishop with massages.[78]
  • Girls were forced to swap their secular wardrobes for homemade modesty clothing. Former nun Sherri Schettler noted this to be humiliating;
  • Children were not allowed to talk to non-church members and were forced to "mortify their eyes" (not look at someone or something) when directed by the leadership;
  • Current TLRC members were forbidden from looking at or talking to former members who had left the group and attempted to make contact.

A doctor was brought in to meet with members of the group and concluded that members were suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder.[79]

Sexual abuse

Since Schuckardt’s departure, information has been released that has shown the CMRI or TLRC were connected to people later accused of sexual abuse. The CMRI does not publish lists of former CMRI-affiliated priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse. The following accusations of sexual abuse have been made public:

  • Francis Schuckardt was accused of sexually abusing four young men.[80]
  • Fr. Burton J. Fraser. S.J. was named publicly as accused by the Jesuits Central Province on its list December 7, 2019.[81] The allegation of abuse was in the 1950s and the accusation was made after his death in 1971. It's unclear where the abuse occurred.
  • Fr. Joseph Pineau was credibly accused in 2003 of sexual misconduct with an adolescent.[82] The alleged abuse occurred around 1967 and involved an adolescent in a counseling situation. Pineau had retired as a priest from the Diocese of Spokane in 1968.
  • Fr. Lawrence S. Brey was accused[83] in December 2018 of ritual sexual abuse of a child at the Holy Innocents Catholic School in Waite Park, MN in the 1970s and 1980s. The Diocese of St. Cloud has stated that this school was not part of the diocese, but was operated independently by Robert and Bernice Sis,[84] who were also accused as part of the lawsuit regarding the ritual sexual abuse with Fr. Lawrence S. Brey. This school was not operated by the CMRI or TLRC.
  • In 2005, three members (Steve A. Belzak, Justin Kirkland, and Michael W. Muratore) of the TLRC under Schuckardt were found guilty of sexually abusing an 8-year-old boy beginning in 2000.[85] This abuse occurred after Schuckardt had separated from the CMRI.
  • Sister Solange claimed in the early 1990s she was sexually abused by a nun at the Villa Maria boarding school in 1979 operated by the TLRC in Coeur d'Alene. Sherri Schettler (daughter of Joseph Urann), a former CMRI nun and boarder in the late 1970s, claims in a 2014 book that the abuse was covered up by Rev. Mother Ludmilla, Bishop Pivarunas, and other nuns in the convent.[86] This abuse claim has not been made public through the media or law enforcement and the nun who is alleged to have committed the abuse has not been named.

Disagreements with other traditional Catholics

The CMRI has had disagreements with other groups and individuals that identify as Traditional Catholics. The following are notable disagreements:

  • Numerous Traditional Catholic priests & bishops have recommended that the CMRI repudiate its past publicly. These outside recommendations included renouncing their previous name, renouncing claims to ordinary jurisdiction, and abandoning the notion that Schuckardt was a good man. Recommendations also included that the group restart by getting rid of the blue habits, rosaries around the neck, and medals over the clerical habit. In addition to a new name and new habit, recommendations included arranging for regular inspections by a small panel of unbiased priests to look for relapse into cultism or impurity.[87] These recommendations regarding the name, clerical habit, and outside inspections were rejected by CMRI leadership.
  • The FSSP and SSPX[88] do not allow their members to receive the sacraments from CMRI chapels.
  • True Restoration disagrees with the CMRI regarding "una cum" Masses and marriage cases.[89]
  • Some groups have questioned the validity of the Thuc line of bishops.[90] The SSPV does not allow CMRI members to receive the sacraments from SSPV chapels. Debates have been held over the Thuc line of bishops continuously since the 1980s,[91] with a conference held in 1991[92] to address the issue, and a website and paper[93] created by Mario Derksen (owner of Novus Ordo Watch) in 2011 in defense of the Thuc line.
  • The topics of Baptism of Desire (BOD) and Natural Family Planning (NFP) have caused disagreements.[94][95]
  • So-called "home aloners" disagree with the concept of epikeia used by the CMRI.[96]

Notes

  1. ^ Canonists such as Beste[47] and Regatillo[48] concede the presumption of the validity of Holy Orders conferred by the Old Catholic bishops in Holland, Germany and Switzerland only.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Graves, Jim (October 19, 2012). "The Return to Rome, Five Years Later". The Catholic World Report. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  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. ^ Lebar, James J. (1989). Cults, Sects, and the New Age. Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division. ISBN 978-0879734312.
  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. 103. ISBN 978-0-19-511350-1.
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