Mark Pivarunas
Encyclopedia
Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen
The Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen is a Sedevacantist Traditionalist Catholic religious congregation dedicated to promoting the message of Our Lady of Fatima and devotion to the Virgin Mary according to the teachings of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, whom they regard as their...
(born October 31, 1958) is a U.S. based sedevacantist
Sedevacantism
Sedevacantism is the position held by a minority of Traditionalist Catholics who hold that the present occupant of the papal see is not truly Pope and that, for lack of a valid Pope, the see has been vacant since the death of either Pope Pius XII in 1958 or Pope John XXIII in 1963.Sedevacantists...
and Traditionalist Catholic
Traditionalist Catholic
Traditionalist Catholics are Roman Catholics who believe that there should be a restoration of many or all of the liturgical forms, public and private devotions and presentations of Catholic teachings which prevailed in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council...
bishop
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....
and Superior General
Superior general
A Superior General, or General Superior, is the Superior at the head of a whole religious order or congregation.The term is mainly used as a generic term, while many orders and congregations use other specific titles, notably:* Abbot general...
of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen
Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen
The Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen is a Sedevacantist Traditionalist Catholic religious congregation dedicated to promoting the message of Our Lady of Fatima and devotion to the Virgin Mary according to the teachings of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, whom they regard as their...
.
Biography
He is a proponent of sedevacantismSedevacantism
Sedevacantism is the position held by a minority of Traditionalist Catholics who hold that the present occupant of the papal see is not truly Pope and that, for lack of a valid Pope, the see has been vacant since the death of either Pope Pius XII in 1958 or Pope John XXIII in 1963.Sedevacantists...
, a position that holds the papacy
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
is currently vacant; thus he is not in communion with the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
nor is he recognised as a bishop by the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. He can therefore be classed as a member of the Independent Catholic movement.
Pivarunas was born to his father, Walter Pivarunas and an ethnic Italian mother in Chicago, Illinois. He has three brothers and a sister. He entered the religious life
Consecrated life (Catholic Church)
In the Roman Catholic Church, the term "consecrated life" denotes a stable form of Christian living by those faithful who feel called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way recognized by the Church...
in September 1974, entering the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen
Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen
The Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen is a Sedevacantist Traditionalist Catholic religious congregation dedicated to promoting the message of Our Lady of Fatima and devotion to the Virgin Mary according to the teachings of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, whom they regard as their...
taking the religious name Brother Mary Tarcisius. He made his final profession on September 12, 1980, at CMRI's headquarters at Mount Saint Michael
Mount Saint Michael
Mount Saint Michael is a traditional Catholic church in Spokane, Washington. It serves as the home of Saint Michael's Academy and as a parish center for traditionalist Catholics in the Spokane area. It is staffed by the priests, brothers and sisters of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen...
in Spokane, Washington
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
. In May 1984, Pivarunas was among the clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
who removed Bishop Francis Schuckardt
Francis Schuckardt
Francis Konrad Schuckardt was an American Traditionalist Catholic independent bishop and the first known bishop of the sedevacantist movement in the United States. Sedevacantism holds that Pope Paul VI —sometimes going back to include John XXIII— and his successors are not valid Popes...
, founder of the CMRI, under controversial circumstances. On April 23, 1985, after some time without a clear leader, Pivarunas and the clergy met with Bishop George Musey
George Musey
George J. Musey was a Traditionalist Catholic bishop from Galveston, Texas.He was ordained a priest on May 22, 1952 by Bishop Wendolin Nold of Galveston. Musey was consecrated to the episcopate on April 1, 1982 in Acapulco, Mexico, by Bishop Moises Carmona assisted by Bishop Adolfo Zamora.From...
(an independent, Thuc line bishop), who agreed to advance Pivarunas and two others to the priesthood
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
on June 27, 1985. Bishop Musey's connections with Mount Saint Michael were limited after that.
The priests concluded that, while it was important to dispense the Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
and sacraments
Sacraments of the Catholic Church
The Sacraments of the Catholic Church are, the Roman Catholic Church teaches, "efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper...
, the condition of sedevacantism
Sedevacantism
Sedevacantism is the position held by a minority of Traditionalist Catholics who hold that the present occupant of the papal see is not truly Pope and that, for lack of a valid Pope, the see has been vacant since the death of either Pope Pius XII in 1958 or Pope John XXIII in 1963.Sedevacantists...
(Sede vacante, the empty papal see
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
) in the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
resulted in a vacuum of canonical ecclesiastical authority. A coalition of the priests elected the 30-year-old Pivarunas to the post of Superior General
Superior general
A Superior General, or General Superior, is the Superior at the head of a whole religious order or congregation.The term is mainly used as a generic term, while many orders and congregations use other specific titles, notably:* Abbot general...
of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen
Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen
The Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen is a Sedevacantist Traditionalist Catholic religious congregation dedicated to promoting the message of Our Lady of Fatima and devotion to the Virgin Mary according to the teachings of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, whom they regard as their...
in August 1989.
In 1991, the CMRI clergy made contact with another sedevacantist bishop, the Mexican Moises Carmona, who offered to elevate Pivarunas to the episcopate
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....
, without the normally required papal mandate. On September 24, 1991, Father Pivarunas was consecrated a bishop by Carmona at Mount Saint Michael.
On November 30, 1993, Bishop Pivarunas conferred episcopal consecration to Father Daniel Dolan
Daniel Dolan
Daniel Lytle Dolan is a sedevacantist traditionalist Catholic bishop.A Detroit, Michigan native, Dolan began his preparation for the priesthood in 1965 at the archdiocesan minor seminary in Detroit...
in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, and on May 11, 1999, he also consecrated Martin Davila for the Union Catolica Treno to succeed Moises Carmona.
Bishop Pivarunas now resides in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
serving as Superior General of CMRI and as rector of the congregation's Mater Dei Seminary there.