Palmarian Catholic Church

The Palmarian Catholic Church (Spanish: Iglesia Católica Palmariana), officially registered as the Palmarian Christian Church and also known as the Palmarian Church, is a Christian church with an episcopal see in El Palmar de Troya, Andalusia, Spain. The Palmarian Church claims to be the exclusive One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ. It claims that the Holy See, the institution of the Papacy and the headquarters of the Catholic Church was moved to El Palmar de Troya at the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Crowned Mother of Palmar, under the auspices of the Patriarchate of El Palmar de Troya, in 1978, due to the alleged apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church from the Catholic faith. The origins of the Palmarians as a distinct body can be traced back to the alleged Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Palmar, which took place in Andalusia, Spain, from 1968 onward. Two men became particularly associated with this movement as time went on, Clemente Domínguez y Gómez and Manuel Alonso Corral. The former was known as a charismatic visionary and seer, while the latter the intellectual éminence grise. The messages of these visions were favourable to a traditionalist Catholic pushback to the liberalising changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council and alleged a Masonic infiltration of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1975, the Palmarians founded a religious order known as the Carmelites of the Holy Face and had a number of priests ordained, then consecrated as bishops by Archbishop Ngô Đình Thục, giving them holy orders. After the death of Pope Paul VI in 1978, Clemente Domínguez claimed that he had been mystically crowned pope of the Catholic Church by Jesus Christ and was to reign as Pope Gregory XVII from El Palmar de Troya. Four subsequent Palmarian popes have reigned. Its current head since 2016 is Pope Peter III. Critical scholars, journalists and former followers often describe the organization as a religious cult. Members of the Church are required to comply with a wide range of compulsory moral and behavioural standards known as the Norms, from strict modesty in dress, to restricted media consumption and limitations on social interaction with non-Palmarians, among many other rules. Non-compliance can lead to excommunication for members, which has led some Palmarians to engage in shunning of those who have either been expelled or apostatized from the Palmarian Church.