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Lucian Pulvermacher

Lucian Pulvermacher (born Earl Pulvermacher, 20 April 1918 – 30 November 2009) was a traditionalist schismatic Roman Catholic priest and a modern-day antipope. He was the head of the True Catholic Church, a small conclavist group that elected him Pope Pius XIII^[1][2][3]inMontana in October 1998. At the time of his death, he lived in Springdale, Washington, United States.

Born on April 20, 1918, in Rock, Wisconsin, near Marshfield, Earl Pulvermacher was one of nine children of a farm family.^[4] His three brothers (Robert, Omer, and Gerald) also became priests in the Capuchin Order.^{[5] [6]}

In 1942, at the age of 24, he joined the Capuchin Order, taking the religious name Lucian. He was subsequently ordained to the priesthood on June 5, 1946.^[7] At first he was posted to a parish in Milwaukee, but in 1948 he was sent to the Ryukyu Islands of Japan.^[8][9] He spent the greater part of his career as a Capuchin (from 1948 to 1970) in the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa. In 1970, he was transferred from Japan to QueenslandinAustralia, where he continued his missionary work until his disillusionment with the changes that followed the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965.^[10]

In January 1976 he left the Capuchin Order and returned to the United States to join forces with traditionalist priest Conrad Altenbach in Milwaukee. "I was without money," he later remembered, "without a home or anything. The few things I brought along with me I could carry in two bags." He left what he called "the Novus Ordo, bogus Council Vatican II Church" and began to collaborate with the Society of Saint Pius X, which rejected Vatican II, until he distanced himself from them as he adopted more extreme sedevacantist views. He later wrote that he had spent eight months "with the general Latin Mass traditionalists until I saw there was no unity. Hence, I am alone on the job here in the States since August 1976."^{[1][9][10][11]}

From 1976 on, Pulvermacher lived with his parents in Pittsville, Wisconsin, celebrating Mass in the traditional rite in private chapels, until 1992, when he moved his ministry to Antigo, Wisconsin. By 1995 he had adopted conclavist views. In 1998 he moved to Kalispell, Montana, invited to say Mass in a chapel there.^[9]

In October 1998 a group of sedevacantist lay Catholics met in Kalispell, constituting a conclave for a papal election. They elected him, and he adopted the title of "Pope Pius XIII".^[1][12] From Montana he issued statements, appointed advisors as cardinals, and performed ordination rites. After 2005, he made no more public statements as his health declined.^[9]

Pulvermacher died on November 30, 2009.^[13][14]

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Pulvermacher claimed that by becoming Pope, he would become able to confer the Sacrament of Holy Orders despite not actually being consecrated a bishop before.^{[15][better source needed][16][better source needed]} He then ordained Gordon Bateman on June 13, 1999^{[17][better source needed]} and eventually consecrated him a bishop on June 20, 1999.^{[18][better source needed]} After this, Bateman consecrated Pulvermacher on July 4, 1999.^{[19][better source needed]} Although Pulvermacher and Bateman claimed to be bishops, no other religion with apostolic succession has recognized them as such.^{[citation needed]}

• Sedevacantism for a more general discussion of this phenomenon
• David Bawden and Manuel Corral for other conclavist claimants to the papacy
• Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, whose papal reigns "Pope Pius XIII" claimed to be illicit and invalid.

• True Catholic Church website
• Roddy, Dennis (April 10, 2005). "Popes in the wings". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
• Lucian PulvermacheratFind a Grave