Francis Schuckardt

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Bishop Francis Schuckardt

Francis Konrad Schuckardt (born July 10, 1937 in Seattle, Washington) is an American Traditionalist Catholic bishop. He founded the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen of the Universe (CMRI) and the Tridentine Latin Rite Catholic Church (TLRCC). Schuckhardt was an early proponent of Sedevacantism, a theory which holds that, as a result of their alleged personal heresy, Pope Paul VI and his successors are not valid popes and therefore the Holy See is vacant. Schuckardt has been accused of being a cult leader and functions alone without any association with other Traditionalist Catholic groups.

Early life

Schuckardt was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from O'Dea High School in Seattle in 1954 and from Seattle University in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in education and linguistics. After college, he enrolled in the seminary but dropped out before the year ended due to ill health. He began teaching high school in Seattle and worked as a linguistic research analyst.

In 1961, Schuckardt was stricken with typhoid. This was the beginning of a long succession of illnesses. He was in and out of a coma for eight days. He experienced a remarkable recovery which he attributed to a miracle of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In January of 1963, he was hospitalized with thrombophlebitis of the legs. The infection had spread and doctors decided to amputate. The illness reversed itself to which Schuckardt again attributed to a miracle resulting from a promise he made to Our Lady of Fatima, promising her that he would use his legs to travel and spread her message.^[1]

The Blue Army and Sedevacantism

In 1958 Schuckardt joined the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, a group devoted to spreading the message of Our Lady of Fatima (see article for more information). In the 1960s Schuckardt had gained considerable notoriety as a charismatic speaker for the Blue Army and was elected to its International Council in 1963 at the age of 26. Schuckardt was the only member of the Council who was not a national chairman. He was subsequently appointed to the position of International Secretary.

In the wake of the Second Vatican Council and the New Rites of the church, Schuckardt began to speak out against the various liturgical reforms and other changes in the modern Catholic Church during his Blue Army lectures.

Schuckardt came to the conclusion that Pope Paul VI was a false pope based upon what he said was the only logical conclusion to be drawn from the Church's dogma on Papal Infallibility ^[2] which states that when a pope speaks "ex cathedra" and "defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole church," that such doctrine in infallible and must be believed by all Catholics under the penalty of excommunication. Schuckardt argued that all the popes from St. Peter through Pope Pius XII taught one set of doctrines on faith and morals and that the popes since Vatican Council II have taught a different set of doctrines. He further argued that popes exercising infallibility cannot contradict one another in matters of faith and morals and that in applying the doctrine of papal infallibility, only one plausible explanation could be found for the contradictory doctrines being taught by the post-Vatican II popes, i.e., that they could not be true popes. He also argued that since logic does not allow for two contradictory things to exist at the same time, you could not have true popes infallibly teaching contradictory doctrines (it is also an infallible teaching of the Catholic Church that doctrines can not change with time, but remain forever fixed)^[3]; someone had to be wrong.

So logic told him that either the first 261 popes were right and the recent few were wrong, or vice versa, or they were all wrong. These were the only three possibilities. Since Christ Himself appointed St. Peter, he was obviously a true pope. And since the 260 that followed after St. Peter taught the same doctrinal teaching on matters of faith and morals, they too must be true popes. That left the Vatican II popes out of the equation of being true popes. He began to share this view during his Blue Army lectures. Most audiences turned away from him, but he was building a following among disaffected Catholics. In 1967, Schuckardt quit the Blue Army^[4] and he and a Blue Army associate, Denis Chicoine, founded a lay organization known as the Fatima Crusade in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Fatima Crusaders & CMRI

In 1967, with the approval of Bishop Sylvester Treinen, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Boise, Idaho, Schuckardt founded an order of sisters, brothers, and priests known as the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen of the Universe (in Latin: Congregatio Mariae Reginae Immaculatae, abbreviated as CMRI). With his rejection of the reforms and authority of what he considered to be the "new Catholic Church," he formed a separate church known as the 'Tridentine Latin Rite Catholic Church (TLRCC). He insists that this is not a "new church," but the same Catholic Church that existed for over 1,900 years prior to the changes imposed by Vatican Council II. His followers refer to the Roman Catholic Church as the "mainstream Catholic Church" or the "Post-Vatican Council II Church".

Schuckardt and Chicoine began a national lecture circuit advocating a return to traditional Catholicism. Due to their outspoken rejection of the Second Vatican Council and embrace of Sedevacantism, Schuckardt and his followers were denounced by the modern Catholic Church. Several priests, namely Lawrence Brey, Burton Fraser, George Kathrein (who later joined the Society of Saint Pius X), Pinneau, and Clement Kubesh had joined Schuckhardt and would provide the Fatima Crusade with the traditional Sacraments and the Tridentine Latin Mass. Brother Schuckardt, however, felt the need to have a bishop to ensure, in his mind, Apostolic Succession in the Catholic Church.

In 1969, Daniel Quilter Brown, a married man with two children, received episcopal consecration as an Old Roman Catholic bishop in the line of Arnold Harris Mathew.^[5] Brown had been born and raised a Roman Catholic, but became disenchanted with the reforms of Vatican II. Brown had therefore chosen to become an Old Roman Catholic bishop in order to perpetuate valid episcopal orders, believing that the Old Roman Catholics still retained valid Orders.^[6] Despite the fact that Bishop Brown obtained his consecration in the Old Roman Catholic Church, he and his followers called themselves Roman Catholics and refused to use the title of "Old Roman Catholic." Shortly after his consecration, he broke all ties and communications with the Old Roman Catholics.^[7]

Bishop Brown soon became acquainted with Brother Schuckardt and tried to persuade him to accept ordination from him, because "in view of the fact that we cannot exist for long as Catholics without the sacraments, I would propose to ordain to the priesthood a qualified member of your group (from the information I have, this would probably be yourself)..." ^[8] Later he proposed to consecrate Brother Schuckardt to the episcopacy in addition to ordaining him to the priesthood.

Schuckardt sought out the advice of some traditional priests who had not accepted the changes of Vatican Council II, particularly from Fr. Burton Fraser, a Jesuit from Colorado, who advised him that it was in accord with Catholic principles, under the current extreme circumstances, to proceed to consecration.

In the meantime, Bishop Brown openly repented of having received consecration from the Old Roman Catholics, broke all ties with them, made a public "Abjuration of Error and Profession of Faith", confessed his sins, and received absolution from a traditional priest.^[9] It was only after these events that Brother Schuckardt agreed to receive consecration from Bishop Brown: "[T]hese past months have been spent in intense soul searching and continuous prayer to know and follow God's holy will. Thus I could not give you a reply until I felt fairly certain in my heart and mind. Now, finally, in concluding our novena in honor of the Annunciation, I have come to a decision. It is with holy trepidation that I accept your offer..."^[10]

On October 28, 1971, Brown tonsured and bestowed the Minor Orders (Porter, Lector, Exorcist, and Acolyte) on Schuckardt while about 40 people, almost exclusively members of the Fatima Crusade from various parts of the country, were present to witness the event. On October 29, 1971, Brown conferred the Major Orders of Subdeacon and Deacon upon him. On October 31, 1971, Bishop Brown ordained Francis Schuckardt to the priesthood, and on November 1, 1971, Brown consecrated Schuckardt a bishop according to the traditional Catholic Roman Rite.^[11] The ceremonies took place in a rented ballroom in Chicago, as they were not welcome in the churches of the Catholic Church. Brown never recieved authorization from the Catholic Church for the consecration of Francis Schuckardt. The act of episcopal consescration without a mandate from Rome is considered an act of schism ^[12] and results in automatic excommunication of those consecrated and all those who support the schismatics as can be seen in the decree from Rome in July of 1988 regarding Marcel Lefebvre's consecration of four priests without papal mandate.^[13] This is considered a very grave matter since it opposes the universal Magisterium of the Church possessed by the Bishop of Rome and the Body of Bishops in union with him is detailed by Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Die^[14]. But since neither Bishop Brown nor Bishop Schuckardt acknowledge the post-Vatican Council II Catholic Church, they dismiss any charges of schism or excommunication by it. They argue that one cannot be in schism against or excommunicated from a Church to which one does not belong.^[15]

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Consecration of Bishop Schuckardt (Fr. Denis Chicoine on the far right)

The fact of his consecration and the source of his episcopal orders was announced at his first public Mass for the Fatima Crusade, on December 12, 1971. All but a tiny fraction of the Fatima Crusade accepted his consecration. It should be noted that other traditionalist Catholic bishops, such as Archbishops Marcel Lefebvre and Ngô Ðình Thuc Pierre Martin, had not broken with the mainstream Church at this time. Many also dispute the validity of Lefebvre's and Thuc's progeny.

At first Bishops Brown and Schuckardt worked peaceably together, Bishop Brown tending to the needs of traditional Catholics in the eastern part of the U.S. and Bishop Schuckardt taking care of the West. Shortly afterwards, Bishop Brown saw "splinter groups" forming and desired that Bishop Schuckardt lead the Church. In writing to Bishop Schuckardt in 1972, Bishop Brown deemed it "urgent that these people be united into one body with one leader who would be, logically, yourself."^[16] [Emphasis in original] Brown came to this conclusion in part because of his marital status, something which many traditional Catholics had a hard time accepting.

Later, however, Brown changed his tone and accused Schuckardt of duplicity in accepting ordination from his hands. In a letter written in June 1975, Brown wrote: "The arrangement (at the time of consecration) was to form two dioceses with each of us to head up one; however, I was never able to bring him to a decision about diocesan boundaries.... It became painfully obvious to me that he had no intention whatever of sharing episcopal authority, but, on the contrary, his aim was to 'take over' and crowd me out."

During the autumn of 1972, Bishop Schuckardt received the Last Rites in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, due to a gangrenous intestine; he survived, but his already precarious health had been further compromised.^[17]

Between 1974 and 1979 Schuckardt ordained Denis Chicoine and a few others to the priesthood who in turn helped him build the Tridentine Latin Rite Catholic Church, primarily through the continued lecture circuit. By 1977 the group had grown so large that they were able to purchase a former Jesuit seminary, Mount Saint Michael, just north of Spokane, Washington. The 735 acre facility with over 200 rooms, complete with a gymnasium and swimming pool, was used as a church, seminary, boys school, retreat center, print shop, and bookstore, as well as the international headquarters for the movement. The movement continued to grow, eventually sending priests to various parts of the world including Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and the Holy Land. By 1984 the group numbered about 120 Sisters, 6 active priests, 61 Clerics and Brothers, K - 12th grade boys and girls school, the Knights of the Eucharist, the Knights of the Altar, the Knights of St. Karl the Great, the Altar & Rosary Society, 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 neurologically impaired, the St. Joseph's Workers Guild, the Mater Dolorosa Guild to aid the terminally ill, etc.^[18]

In addition to Mount Saint Michael, they also owned over 18 other properties, collectively worth millions of dollars.^[19]

Accusations

Schuckardt at Mount Saint Michael with several religious of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen in August 1979

The TLRCC labelled the Pope Paul VI the "arch-heretic of Rome" and referred to the post-Vatican II Catholic Church as "the Church of the Beast" ^[20]. They considered foolish anyone who would call the prelates of the post-Vatican II Catholic Church bishops or who believed the post-Vatican II Catholic bishops had any legitimate authority ^[21]. The TLRCC does not recognize the authority of the post-Vatican II Catholic Church. Additionally, the TLRCC also questions the orthodoxy and Catholicity of other Traditionalist bishops such as Archbishops Marcel Lefebvre or Ngo Dinh Thuc, and had nothing to do with them. This left only Francis Schuckardt and Daniel Q. Brown as their only recognized bishops. By 1973, Daniel Q. Brown separated himself from the TLRCC claiming that "Your group has become a personal cult of Francis Schuckardt and cannot call itself Catholic." ^[22]. Some charge that instead of only providing the Mass and sacraments to the faithful and preserving the traditions of the Church up to the death of Pope Pius XII, Schuckardt strove to return the TLRCC to a purer form of Catholicism as he saw it. From this point on, Schuckardt had no peers to answer to and some of his followers considered him "the last true Roman Catholic bishop left on the face of the earth". Many believed he was God's chosen insturment to save the church from the destruction that resulted from Vatican II.

Some former members have called the TLRCC a destructive cult. They assert that TLRCC members were systematically cut off from the rest of society and have been programmed to obey the commands of church leaders or risk losing their souls. They assert that the TRLCC regarded the outside world as inherently evil and that members were required to sever ties with family members who did not belong to the Church, even if breaking up a marriage was necessary. They claim that books, both religious and secular, were confiscated from members and only books approved by Schuckhardt were allowed. In addition, subscriptions to secular newspapers and magazines as well as owning a television were banned. They claim that books sold in the church bookstore were also modified; whole pages were removed, or lines of text were pasted over with strips of paper when found objectionable by Schuckhardt and other Church leaders. Further, publishers' names and addresses were removed or covered over to prevent members from ordering books directly.

Some former members also claim that everyone was required to send their children to the TLRCC schools. They claim that there were instances of criminal prosecutions against school staff for excessive disciplining. On October 26, 1976, for example, a religious teacher in the school, Paul Welsh, was sentenced to serve five days in jail in Kootenai County, Idaho for excessive spanking of a 10-year old student. They claim that verbal abuse was also commonly used in addition to physical abuse.

During this time Schuckhardt's constant ill health would cause the infrequent episcopal functions to be delayed to odd hours of the night. He was also using large quantities of prescription medications to enable him to function even in a limited capacity.

It was about this time that the local media started to attack Schuckardt and the TLRCC. It had been alleged that Schuckhardt had been sexually seducing several of his male religious and seminarians. Many of the clergy and laity alike were becoming more and more dissatisfied and eventually Schuckhardt's leadership began taking its toll on the community.

During the only public Mass on Sunday, May 27, 1984, Rev. Chicoine took to the podium and voiced what was to become one of many denunciations against Schuckardt over the course of time. The charges were: That Schuckardt had imposed arbitrary and rulesfanatical. That the dress code for women was unusually strict, even by traditionalist's Catholic standards, with women required to have their heads covered not only in Church, but at all times.^[23]. That smoking was a "gravely sinful vice" ^[24]. That everyone was required to wear a rosary around their neck, over their clothes where everyone could see it. That information and books from the outside world were carefully censored, to the point that nuns would cut and paste over sections of Dick and Jane books that were considered taboo. That men and women were obliged to sit on opposite sides of the aisle at church. That members were expected to walk backwards out of church when no Catholic parish or religious order before or since has ever imposed such a rule. That he discouraged his followers from allowing their children to attend college. That he prohibited his flock from watching television, although he watched TV news, pop culture and politics. That his ordained followers were ordered in many cases to become flagellants or other cases of mortification of the flesh. That Schuckardt began sexually seducing his seminarians and religious men. Finally, that Schuckardt was preparing to declare himself Pope Hadrian VII and had began certain practices of popes, such as wearing a white cassock on occasion and demanding that his close associates accord him papal honors.

Counterclaims and Answers to Acccusations

The Schuckardt faction claims that the charges against the Bishop were a subterfuge to mask the real reason for the Chicoine faction's revolution. They claim that it was common knowledge within Bishop Schuckardt's inner circle and well known to the Chicoine faction that the Bishop found Chicoine and his adherents to be both incompetent and untrustworthy, and that consequently he was about to have them demoted or replaced. They allege that Chicoine and his adherents were not willing to accept this humiliation and that they saw an opportunity in the Bishop's illness-induced absence not only to keep their positions, but also to gain control of a well-established Church worth millions of dollars. The Schuckardt faction claims that it was lust for power and primal greed that primarily spawned the revolution; and that coupled with the widespread dissatisfaction of many members over having to live lives of strict, uncompromising Catholicism, Church members were eager for change and readily accepted Chicoine's accusations without question.

The Schuckardt faction also alleges that many of the charges against them are outright false and others are rooted in crass ignorance of the actual teachings and customs of the Catholic Church and answer the charges in summary here below:

• The Schuckardt faction denies that they are a cult. They assert that many of the self-proclaimed "cult experts" are using the term "cult" to mask what is really an attack on Christianity. They claim that if one were to accept the definition many of these so-called experts give to the term cult, then the Catholic Church would fall into the category of a cult, the popes as cult leaders, and Christ Himself as the ultimate cult leader and cult founder. They also assert that many of these self-proclaimed cult experts earn their livelihood as "cult interventionists" and that consequently, the more groups they can identify as cults, the greater their business base grows and the more money they can make.
  • One self-proclaimed "cult expert" who has recently been on national television labeling Bishop Schuckardt and the TLRCC as a cult, is a charlatan named Rick Ross. Ross proclaims himself as a cult "expert," yet his formal education ended upon his receiving his high school diploma. Ross is a convicted jewel thief who has been arrested at least three times. A Federal jury slammed Ross and the Cult Awareness Network he was affiliated with for 4.8 million dollars in damages; 2.5 million against Ross personally in punitive damages. The Jury stated: "Ross acted so recklessly in a way that is so outrageous in character and so extreme as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency and to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized society." (Religious Freedom Watch)

• The Schuckardt faction criticizes those who attack the principle of obedience to legitimate Church authority, because in attacking this obedience, they attack the teachings of Jesus Christ Himself, who told His apostles: "He who hears you, hears me; he who rejects you, rejects me,…" (Luke 10:16) as well as the teaching of the Catholic Church since apostolic times: "Obey your prelates, and be subject to them." (St. Paul - Heb. 13:17)

• As to the charge that the TLRCC considers the outside world as inherently evil, they are wrong if they are referring to the material world. The TLRCC does not consider any part of the material world, created by God, as evil, quite to the contrary; but they do consider as evil the spirit of the world, i.e., its maxims, philosophies, goals, etc. They do so because this is what Christ taught: "The world cannot hate you: but me it hateth, because I give testimony of it, that the works thereof are evil." (John 7:7) Again: "Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world… for all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life…" (1 John 2:16)

• The Schuckardt faction claims that the rules imposed were neither arbitrary nor fanatical, but rather that each and every major directive had its basis in Catholic principles.

• The dress code "by traditionalists' standards" was strict, but the dress code was not based upon "traditionalists' standards" but upon compliance with the standards set forth by Pope Pius XI^[25] and Pope Pius XII regarding "Mary-like" standards of modesty, as well as an attempt to answer Our Lady of Fatima's plea for reparation for the sins of man, of which she said that sins of flesh were damning more souls to Hell than any other sin.^[26].

• Women were not required to cover their heads except when in Church,^[27] they were, however, encouraged to have them covered whenever in public, in imitation of the Virgin Mary, whom tradition tells us always had her head covered in public.

• Men and women are indeed obliged to occupy the opposite sides while in Church. This custom goes back to the earliest days of the Catholic Church and was taught by the Fathers of the Church^[28] based on the consideration that when in the presence of God one ought to separate oneself from all distraction; reason dictates and experience has taught that this is best accomplished by separating the sexes while in Church. St. Augustine roundly condemns those who would criticize this practise.^[29]

• Bishop Schuckardt did teach that smoking was against the 5th Commandment, "Thou shall not kill." While acceding the fact that no pope has forbidden smoking to Catholics in general (Pope Pius XII did, however, forbid the Jesuits and several other orders of priests from smoking), the medical science of that day had not yet discovered just how harmful smoking was to one's health. In considering this newly discovered evidence and the obligation the Church imposes upon her Bishops to "govern the diocese both in temporal and spiritual matters, with legislative, judicial, and coercive power…"^[30], Bishop Schuckardt was well within his rights to make the moral judgment that smoking was a serious sin against the 5th Commandment. He also dismissed the notion that because Rome had not condemned it, neither could he: "we all know that Rome doesn't issue decrees on every moral matter… Rome has not issued a decree against the use of heroin or LSD, but that does not absolve the local Bishops and clergy from condemning the use of it." (Fatima Crusader Bulletin, Issue 71)

• Only the religious were required to wear their rosary around their neck as part of their religious habit. All people were encouraged to wear their rosaries, a practice common in Catholic countries during the Middle Ages,^[31] and were taught not to be ashamed to wear them over their clothes where others could see them.

• Regarding censorship, Schuckardt asserts that the Catholic Church charges her Bishops^[32] with the duty of prohibiting reading materials that "endangers faith and morals," including but not limited to: "books, previously approved books translated from the original, new editions of books; newspapers; reviews; periodicals; sheets… that propound schism, heresy, subversion of religion; that attack religion and morality; that professedly treat of religion by non-Catholics; that are illegally published; that favor superstition, fortune telling, spiritism; that disparage divine worship or insult the hierarchy; that favor divorce, Masonry, Communism, obscenities; that represent holy things foreign to the mind and decrees of the Church…" (Canons 1395 - 1400). This represents a partial list and demonstrates that Bishop Schuckardt was properly exercising his office in this regard.^[33][34] That the condemnation of censorship is an American idea, not a Catholic one.

• The practice of walking backwards out of church was optional, not mandatory; and when impractical, not done, as was the case when classes of students left as a group. It was encouraged, however, in an effort to keep to the ideals outlined by Pope Pius XI, on the Kingship of Christ.^[35]. They further respond that if this was the protocal given to many earthly sovereigns, who can condemn them for showing the same deference to the King of sovereigns?

• The very infrequent public Masses of Bishop Schuckardt were not mandatory and thus no one was "forced" to stay up late waiting for him. People were, however, strongly encouraged to do so, because Bishop Schuckardt considered Epicospal functions an important part of Catholic liturgy.

• By forbidding members to attend college without good cause, Schuckardt asserts that he was conforming to the teachings^[36] of the Catholic Church, which states: "Catholic children may not attend non-Catholic, neutral, or mixed schools... and it pertains exclusively to the Ordinary of the place to decide... under what circumstances and with what precautions against the danger of perversion, attendance at such schools may be tolerated."^[37].

• Bishop Schuckardt allowed only discerning adults to watch television, and even then only with a great deal of caution. This is in keeping with the teachings of the popes regarding the evils that television presents to Catholics.^[38]
  • Bishop Schuckardt watches television, but he considers himself to be a discerning adult. He also watches TV in order to record appropriate programs for his flock to watch that are in keeping with the guidelines of the Church.

• Many of the marriages that ended up in separation (due to one member joining the TLRCC), were never valid marriages according to Catholic Church law, thus rendering these individuals communal life sinful; and with rare exception, under these circumstances, the only moral solution was separation. Furthermore, it is not against Catholic doctrine for spouses to separate for reasons of adultery,^[39] or "if one of the parties has joined a non-Catholic sect; or educated the children as non-Catholics; or is living a criminal and ignominious life; or is causing grave spiritual danger or corporal danger to the other; or makes the common life too hard by cruelty - these and other things of the kind are so many lawful reasons for the other party to depart..."^[40].

• That disciplining children as described above is totally excessive and sinful, and is so outrageous that one has to question the veracity of such statements. Some of these statements came upon the heals of a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by a Jerry O'Neil^[41] which was overturned by the Idaho Supreme Court, which noted that cases such as O'Neil's are usually motivated by vindictiveness and revenge.^[42] After over 10 years of pursuing this lawsuit, O'Neil received a jury verdict of $4,379.00 against a single Church corporation. There were no punitive damages awarded of any kind either against Schuckardt or the Fatima Crusade. Furthermore, Schuckardt contents, if there is an element of truth in the above-described disciplining, one ought to look to Chicoine (who was healthy and not bed-ridden), to the school principals and to the teachers, who ran the schools on a day-by-day basis and administered the corporal punishments.
  • Paul Welch was guilty of excessive spanking and his refusal to admit to that it was excessive was the principle reason why Bishop Schuckardt never ordained him to the priesthood.

• No one was ordered to become flagellants. The use of the flagella and other means of mortifying the flesh is something that Christ taught as necessary to salvation,^[43] was practiced by the Apostles,^[44] and is considered by all true Catholics to be a virtue.^[45].

• Regarding the charge of sexual improriety, Schuckardt's defenders point out the difficulty of proving a negative. How does one prove that an accusation is false, when by its very nature it excludes the possibility of either physical evidence or witnesses? Furthermore, it is accepted science that sexual predators are incurable, therefore if Bishop Schuckardt was a sexual predator, as some claim, surely over the last 21 years at least one more accusation would have surfaced, especially when considering that there have been people who left the Schuckardt faction between 1984 and 2004 who are very hostile towards him; but no new accusations have surfaced. It is also noteworthy that in 1987 all of the Religious men, seminarians and boys that were boarding with the seminarians, were individually questioned by the Sheriff's Department and the FBI regarding this particular accusation, but nothing of concern was found.
  • Furthermore, even if the accusations were true, the authority given to the Church by Christ is not contingent upon the personal sanctity or impeccability of the hierarchy exercising that authority. St. Peter sinned in publicly denying Christ three times, yet he remained the first Vicar of Christ. Church history bears witness to the sad fact that many popes, bishops, and other members of the Church’s hierarchy have publicly led very immoral lives; yet no one challenged their authority based on that alone. This is because the Church's clear teaching is that one does not lose his authority upon the commission of personal sin, but rather by schism, heresy, apostasy, or by removal from office by someone of even higher authority.^[46] If it were otherwise, the Catholic Church would have ceased to exist centuries ago. Therefore Bishop Schuckardt’s authority and role as a Bishop of the Church would not be affected even if the accusations were true.

• Schuckardt denies that ever declared himself to be the pope. Some of his followers, however, believe him to be so based upon their belief that he is the "last true Catholic bishop" in the world and upon the teaching of the Catholic Church that the Church must have a pope^[47], except during periods of interregnum.^[48]
  • As to the claim that Bishop Schuckardt's occasional wearing of a white cassock constituted a papal claim, the Schuckardt faction charges those making such an anology of manifest ignorance regarding Church regulations about clerical dress. According to Church law, whenever a Religious is elevated to the episcopate they may wear a cassock the color of their religious habit. ^[49] Thus when the Domninicans, Cistercians, Carthusians and the Camadulese are elevated to the episcopate, they often wear white cassocks. The religious habit of the members of the Congregation of Mary, Immaculate Queen of the Universe is solid white with a brown scapular hanging over it, thus Bishop Schuckardt's white cassock was within the prescribed guidelines regarding clerical dress for Bishops.
  • There are, however, certain insignia belonging exclusively the the pope: the tiara, the white cassock with white trim (not red or gold), the white skull cap, the fisherman's ring, etc. Those who accuse Bishop Schuckardt of making papal claims have never been able to produce a single item or picture manifesting any of these insignia. In fact, in 1987, one of Chicoine's right hand men in the ousting of Bishop Schuckardt, Louis Kerfoot, had been given full access by the Sheriff's Department during a search of Bishop Schuckardt's home (see Legal Wrangling below) and it is inconceivable that had he found even so much as a single "papal" item, that he would not have capitalized on it. Neither he nor the Sheriff's Department found any such items.

Chicoine Faction Charged with Schism

The Schuckardt faction charges the Chicone faction with schism.^[50] The rationale is that the Catholic Church is a divinely constituted hierarchical institution, and there are no provisions in Church law^[51] whereby an ecclesiastical inferior [herein a priest] can depose an ecclesiastical superior [herein a bishop], except by having recourse to someone further up in the hierarchy. Since both Bishop Schuckardt and Rev. Chicoine acknowledged no higher Church authority than Bishop Schuckardt himself,^[52] there was no means whereby Rev. Chicoine could depose him. An analogy can be found in the Church’s history of bad popes, many of whom were horrible public sinners, but unless they were guilty of heresy, they had to be tolerated.^[53] The Chicoine faction was unwilling to tolerate Bishop Schuckardt, so they delegated to themselves the authority of being Bishop Schuckardt’s ecclesiastical superior and then played the role of accuser, prosecutor, judge and jury, and awarded to themselves the Tridentine Latin Rite Catholic Church and all of its assets without trial.^[54]

The Schuckardt faction also claims that in order for the Chicoine faction to win the support of so many Church members, they engaged in calumny and detraction, which the Catholic Church declares to be a serious sin;^[55] and that the Schuckardt faction was seriously disadvantaged inasmuch as they would not meet them in kind.

Expulsion and Exile

Chicoine found that he had the backing of the vast majority of the religious and laity alike, and took charge of the Fatima Crusade. Not long after Chicoine's denunciations, Shuckardt, in fear for his safety,^[56] left the area with a small handful of followers. It turned out that this fear was well founded, for investigative Sheriff's Deputy Robert Cloud testified under oath in 1988 that he "had received information from the Washington area that members of the Richard Butler Aryan Nations Church had been seen on the Mt. St. Michael's compound observing St. Francis's brigades performing drills and training. During that meeting I specifically asked that question of Mr. Kerfoot, and Mr. Kerfoot was, I would say, evasive at best, but indicated that there may have been occasions when the Butler group, or Butler himself had been on the property." (Calif. Case 87-12258)

It is reported that the Schuckardt faction moved secretly through the Northwest, stopping at cities in five states and Canada, at first never daring to spend more than one night in the same place," according to the Inland Register, the Roman Catholic Church's newspaper in Spokane. They finally settled in Greenville, California. Members moved into several homes in the area and picked up where they had left off, but not before Bishop Schuckardt formally excommunicated Chicoine and a handful of others working in consort with him.^[57]

Schuckardt and his followers continued to operate as the Tridentine Latin Rite Catholic Church while Chicoine reincorporated the group at Mount Saint Michael as the Latin Rite Catholic Church on June 14, 1984.^[58]

The Mount Saint Michael group sued the Schuckardt faction, alleging that they took property belonging to them. They obtained a default judgment against the Schuckardt faction for $250,000.00 as well as an injunction barring them from Mount Saint Michael. (Case 84-2-01445-2). The Schuckardt faction asserts that when Chicoine and his allies sued Bishop Schuckardt in civil court, they committed several ecclesiastical crimes carrying with it the censure of automatic excommunication from the Catholic Church (Canons 2334 & 2341).^[59] The Default Judgment was challenged by Schuckardt in 1988 and successfully overturned.^[60]

In 1985, Fathers Chicoine, Hughes and McGilloway of Mount Saint Michael were conditionally ordained as priests by the Traditionalist Catholic Bishop George Musey. Musey himself stated his belief that these three priests had been validly ordained by Schuckardt, but that he was conditionally ordaining them to appease the doubts of some.^[61] Musey's episcopal lineage descended from Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc.

Chicoine died on August 10, 1995.

Arrests and Legal Wranglings

On May 9, 1987 a Plumas County Sheriff's Department SWAT team, with support from the California Highway Patrol, conducted a raid on the TLRCC. Deputies searched Bishop Schuckardt's house and those of the Brothers and the nuns while a CHP helicopter hovered overhead to look for automatic weapons which the Chicoine faction falsely told them they possessed.^[62] They found illegal drugs along with precious metals in quantity, $75,000 in cash and about eight handguns and rifles in the three separate homes.

Bishop Schuckardt and 13 of his followers were arrested for possession of stolen property and Bishop Schuckardt was further charged with the unlawful possession of a controlled substance.^[63] Rather than going through a lengthy and expensive trial, Bishop Schuckardt accepted a plea bargain of attending a one-day drug-diversion class in exchange for all charges being dismissed against him.^[64]

All charges against the other 13 were dismissed without prejudice^[65] and all the property seized by the sheriff’s office was returned to them, the judge ruling that it was not a criminal issue, but a civil one. Following their dismissals, the 13 then successfully obtained a Declaration of Factual Innocence and had their criminal arrests erased from their records.^[66]

Immediately after the arrests of the Schuckardt faction, the Chicoine faction filed two civil suits^[67] in California to obtain all the property the Sheriff’s Office had seized as “stolen property,” but neither was successful. They further filed civil actions against the Schuckardt group in Utah,^[68] Arizona,^[69] and Canada,^[70] but lost all of these cases as well.

The Schuckardt group then filed a Federal Civil Rights Suit against the Sheriff’s Department and the County for violation of their civil rights in the U.S. District Federal Court. At a settlement conference presided over by Chief Justice Karlton, the County agreed to pay an undisclosed, but significant sum of money to keep the case from going to trial.

The Schuckardt faction also challenged the civil suit^[71] filed by the Chicoine faction in Washington in 1984 and agreed to a settlement before the trial began in 1993. The settlement heavily favored the Chicoine faction. Nine years of legal wrangling finally came to an end, with the Chicoine faction getting the lion’s share of the Fatima Crusade’s assets.

The group decided to leave the rural county for a more urban environment. Bishop Schuckardt chose the destination: where he had been born and raised, and where his widowed mother lived, Seattle, Washington.

In September 1, 2002, the TLRCC was in the news as one of its Postulants, Sister Helena Maria (Helen Chaska) had been strangled with her rosary, raped and killed in Klamath Falls, Oregon by Maximiliano Esparza, an illegal immigrant with several arrest warrants. Her companion had also been raped by Esparza, though she survived. Esparza is currently serving a life sentence.

In 2002 a reporter from The Seattle Times attempted to obtain an interview with Schuckardt, but requests were denied because of health reasons, although the reporter was allowed to conduct an extensive interview with 6 Church members and given access to Church services.

In November, 2005, allegations of sexual abuse by two church teenagers against a minor boy, as well as the kidnapping of an elderly mother, Kathleen Raleigh, from the TLRCC were reported in the national media.

Ordination history of Francis Schuckardt
History Episcopal consecration Consecrated by Daniel Q. Brown Date November 1, 1971

Media reports

• Alleged cult molester surrenders King County Journal November 30, 2005
• Charges shed light on church: Eastside `cult' is likely hiding members accused of sex abuse, police say King County Journal November 25, 2005
• Church near Seattle struck by scandalMSNBC Scarborough Country November 23, 2005
• Eastside cult faces sex abuse claim King 5 News Seattle, November 4, 2005
• Denver family tries to free mother from religious cult 9 News Denver November 3, 2005
• The Sect Behind the Shroud, Susan Kelleher, The Seattle Times, November 25, 2002 (mirror of article from rickross.com
• Esparza pleads guilty to killing nun, Albany Herald-Democrat, April 9, 2003

End Notes

1. ^ Official Manual for the Blue Army (circa 1966).
2. ^ Vatican Council I, Session 4, Ch. 4, 1870
3. ^ Encyclicals of Pope St. Pius X: Pascendi Dominici Gregis, Lamentabili Sane, Vatican Council I
4. ^ Letters from Schuckardt to Lyle Porter (3/28/68) & Shirely Noll (3/19/68).
5. ^ The Old Catholic Source Book - Pruter & Melton
6. ^ The validity of Old Roman Catholics' Orders was widely acknowledged by the Catholic Church: "Separated Brethern," William Whalen (1958); "A Catholic Dictionary," Donald Attwater (1997).
7. ^ Letter from Bishop Brown to Francis Schuckardt (9/17/70).
8. ^ Ibid.
9. ^ Letter from Bishop Brown to Fr. Korba (12/14/75).
10. ^ Letter from Francis Schuckardt to Bishop Brown (Good Friday, 1971).
11. ^ Document of Consecration (11/1/71), translated from the Latin:"The Most Reverend Lord Daniel Brown, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church of the Latin Rite, ... ordained and consecrated, according to the Rite prescribed by the Roman Pontifical, to the Episcopacy of the Roman Catholic Church of the Latin Rite, the Most Reverend Lord Francis Konrad Schuckardt, priest of said Church, ..."
12. ^ Canon 751 "Heresy is the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him."
13. ^ Decree of Excommunication from the Office of the Congregation for Bishops, 1 July 1988. Retrieved from the internet on February 26, 2006 from http://www.cin.org/users/james/files/l-excomm.htm
14. ^ Point 3 of the Apostolic Letter of John Paul II given July 2, 1988 "3. In itself, this act was one of disobedience to the Roman Pontiff in a very grave matter and of supreme importance for the unity of the church, such as is the ordination of bishops whereby the apostolic succession is sacramentally perpetuated. Hence such disobedience - which implies in practice the rejection of the Roman primacy - constitutes a schismatic act." Retrieved from the internet on February 26, 2006 from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/motu_proprio/documents/hf_jp-ii_motu-proprio_02071988_ecclesia-dei_en.html
15. ^ Catholic dictionary, 1997.
16. ^ Letter of Bishop Brown to Bishop Schuckardt (3/4/72).
17. ^ 10th Year Anniversary Bulletin of Schuckardt's Consecration (1981).
18. ^ Ibid.
19. ^ Washington Case #84-2-01445-2
20. ^ The Reign of Mary. Issue 16. Page 4. "Why are supposedly uncompromising traditionalists willing to wink their eyes at the compromises of such apostate bishops as Marcel Lefevre (whose much tauted "traditional" seminaries are being operated under the watchful eye of Pittsburg's apostate Cardinal Wright WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE VATICAN!; whose much-tauted "traditional" priests will serve apostate bishops in apostate dioceses - NOT the true Catholic remnant faithful in the catacombs (you don't build million-dollar seminaries in the catacombs!); and the venerable, but sadly mistaken, Cardinal Slipyi who addresses the arch-heretic of Rome as "his holiness" and pledges his fidelity to the apostate hierarch of the Church of the Beast - the Mystical Body of Satan?"
21. ^ The Reign of Mary. Issue 18. Page 3. "Who would be so bold or so foolish as to call these bishops Catholic or to pretend that they possess any legitimate authority? Including the arch-heretic in Rome?
22. ^ Kelleher, S. (2002). The Seattle Times. "The sect behind the shroud".
23. ^ Years Beneath Her Mantle. Published by Students of Maria Regina Academy. June 9, 1972.
24. ^ Our Lady of Fatima Crusader Bulletin. Issue number 71. Page 8. "In other words, smoking or any other form of delayed-action suicide is a sin against the fifth commandment. Further, if a person is addicted to smoking to the point where he cannot readily stop doing so, he no longer has complete control over his free will and smoking has become for him (or her) a gravely sinful vice."
25. ^ "But you especially, ... as Bishops to rule the Church of God, must ... promote by all your power, everything which has to do with the protection of modesty ... to admonish and exhort, in whatever way seems most apt, people of all stations, but particularly youth, to avoid the danger of this kind of vice (immodest dress), which is so opposed, and potentially so hazardous to Christian and civic virtue ..." Pope Pius XI.
26. ^sinofflesh Ven. Jacinta: "Our Lady said that more souls to go Hell because of sins of the flesh, than for any other reason," and that "certain fashions will be introduced which will offend Our Divine Lord."
27. ^ "But every women praying or prophesying with her head not covered disgraceth her head..." (St. Paul) - 1 Cor. 11:5.
28. ^ "If the Church is shut, and you are all inside, yet let there be a separation, men with men, and women with women: lest the pretext of salvation become an occasion of destruction." St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Father of the Church, Catechetical Lecture, Catholic Encyclopedia.
29. ^ "They, then, are but abandoned and ungrateful wretches, in deep and fast bondage to that malign spirit, who complain and murmur that men are rescued by the name of Christ ... Only such men could murmur that the masses flock to the churches and their chaste acts of worship, where a seemly separation of the sexes is observed; where they learn how they may so spend this earthly life, as to merit a blessed eternity hereafter…" St. Augustine, Father of the Church, City of God, Bk. 2, Ch. 28.
30. ^ Canons 335, 362, 1572
31. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: "Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary" (1912)
32. ^ Bouscaren & Ellis: "Canon Law - A Text and Commentary" (1957) Canon 1395.
33. ^ Canon 1384: "Literature is morally bad if it endangers faith or morals, and no one has a 'right' to publish such literature any more than one has a right to poison wells or sell tainted food." Bouscaren & Ellis ibid.
34. ^ "[Y]ou are the powerful barrier against the overflowing tide of useless literature. Such reading matter threatens to drag the great dignity of human nature into the mud of error and perversion... In such matters, of the gravest danger to souls, the intervention of some higher authority is justified and necessary." Address to Ecclesiastics Employed as Book Critics - Pope Pius XII (2/13/56).
35. ^ Encyclical on Christ the King - "Quas Primas" by Pope Pius XI (12/11/1925).
36. ^ Encyclical: "On Christian Education" by Pope Pius XI )12/31/29).
37. ^ Canon 1374. Bouscaren & Ellis ibid.
38. ^ "Everyone knows well that children can often avoid an epidemic so long as the disease is outside their own home, but cannot escape it when it lurks within the the home itself. It is an evil thing to bring the sanctity of the home into danger. The Church, therefore, as her right and duty demand, has always striven with all her resources to prevent these sacred portals suffering violence, under any pretext, from evil televisions shows." Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius XII - "Miranda Prorsus (9/8/57).
39. ^ Canon 1129.
40. ^ Canon 1131.
41. ^ O'Neil v. Schuckardt, Idaho Case #80086.
42. ^ 733 P2d 693, 698.
43. ^ "I say unto you: but unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish." Luke 13:3.
44. ^ "I chastise my body..." (St. Paul) 1 Cor. 9:27.
45. ^ "The Virtue of Penance" - The Catholic Encyclopedia (1912).
46. ^ Encyclical of Pope Pius XII "On the Mystical Body of Christ" on June 29, 1943.
47. ^ "[I]f anyone says it is not by the institution of Christ... that blessed Peter should have perpetual successors in the primacy over the whole church;... let him be anathema." - Vatican Council 1, Session 4, Ch. 2 (1870).
48. ^ The time between the death or resignation of one pope until his successor in office replaces him.
49. ^ Clerical Dress & Insignia of the Roman Catholic Church, Rev. McCloud, 1948.
50. ^ “The crime of one who voluntarily separates himself from the Catholic Church through refusal to submit to the authority of the Church…” The Concise Catholic Encyclopedia (1957)
51. ^ Canons 183-195.
52. ^ “[W]e believe that Bishop Francis Konrad Maria… represents the lone bastion of true, traditional Catholicism in the midst of universal apostasy so evident in the United States and throughout the world.” Letter of Rev. Chicoine (2/11/76).
53. ^ “A pope can only be deposed for heresy, expressed or implied, and then only by a general council. It is not strictly deposition, but a declaration of fact, since by his heresy he has already ceased to be head of the Church. This has never occurred …” Catholic Dictionary (1997).
54. ^ “I and the members of the Tridentine Latin Rite Catholic Church no longer accept or recognize any of the above named defendants [Bishop Schuckardt et al] as members of or as religious officials of the Tridentine Latin Rite Catholic Church…” Affidavit of Rev. Chicoine (6/6/84) - Case 84-2-01445-2.
55. ^ “Detraction, usually associated with calumny, both being unjust injuries to the good name of another. Detraction is committed by revealing the true faults of our neighbor; calumny is by imputing false defects. Both include sinful judging and censuring of one’s neighbor and arise in resentment and envy. A detractor assumes that which belongs to God alone as judge (Jas. 4:11-12). Detraction and calumny are seriously sinful, being sins against justice… The sins of detraction and calumny demand restitution or repair to the neighbor’s reputation…” The Catholic Concise Encyclopedia (1956).
56. ^ Washington Case 84-2-014450-2.
57. ^ Ibid.
58. ^ Corporation number 2-345308-7.
59. ^ Automatic excommunication occurs upon the commission the crime; it is immediately effective, and there is no recourse. Penance and absolution are the only way out. The consequences of a Catholic excommunication are significant. The excommunicated cleric may not receive nor administer the Sacraments except under rare circumstances, and acts requiring jurisdiction are invalid. This means for example, that if anyone went to Chicoine for sacramental absolution, he would be unable to absolve them from their sins. Bouscaren & Ellis ibid
60. ^ Utah Case 276-3839 - Memorandum Decision.
61. ^ "[M]indful that the validity of these orders will always be doubtful in the minds of some... Personally, I have found no reason to doubt that these men had valid orders..." Open letter of Rev. Musey (4/23/95)
62. ^ Bishop Schuckardt had Rev. Chicoine and the other priests give public talks warning the people about the Bishop Thuc progeny and the doubtful validity of their orders in a Cleveland Ohio Seminary, circa 1980.
63. ^ Bishop Schuckardt, in fleeing for his safety, did not lose his ordinary jurisdiction in Spokane, WA and has had continuously, for over 30 years, faithful followers living in the Spokane area to whom he still ministers to.
64. ^ "Neither may an excommunicated person receive the sacraments, and after a declaratory or condemnatory sentence, not even the sacramentals." Canon 2260. Bouscaren and Ellis, ibid.
65. ^ The Catholic Church teaches that any person who dies in the state of excommunication goes to Hell. Code of Canon Law: Canon 2257; A Catholic Concise Encyclopedia, 1957. Church law does however state that any validly ordained priest can remove any penalty of excommunication from any penitent who is in danger of death. (Canon 2252)
66. ^ Calif. Case 87 2823.
67. ^ Ibid.
68. ^ Ibid.
69. ^ Case 87-12190.
70. ^ Case 87-12258.
71. ^ Cases 13096 & 13097.
72. ^ Case 87-4047.
73. ^ Case CV87-13584.
74. ^ Case C872893.
75. ^ Case 84-2-01445-2.