The true Catholic Church (tCC) is a small Roman Catholic Conclavist (see sedevacantism) group based in Kalispell, Montana, United States. Its adherents believe that the papacy was vacant between the death of Pope Pius XII in October 1958 and their election of Fr. Lucian Pulvermacher, a Traditionalist priest, as Pope in a telephone election in October 1998. Fr. Pulvermacher has adopted the papal name Pius XIII. The tCC uses the lower-case "t" in its name because its adherents believe it to be the remnant of the Catholic Church, which they claim to have "wandered in the wilderness" for 40 years from Pius XII's death to Pius XIII's election. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Sede vacante Coat of Arms, used when there is no reigning pope. ... Kalispell is a city located in Flathead County, Montana. ... State nickname: Treasure State Official languages English Capital Helena Largest city Billings Governor Brian Schweitzer (D) Senators Max Baucus (D) Conrad Burns (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 4th 381,156 km² 1 Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 44th 902,195 2. ... The Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. ... Pope Pius XII (Latin: ), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (March 2, 1876 – October 9, 1958), reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from March 2, 1939 to 1958. ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The new pope, formerly a priest, is raised to the episcopate by Cardinal Bateman Father Earl Lucian Pulvermacher, OFM Cap (born April 20, 1918) became Pope Pius XIII of the true Catholic Church in 1998. ... A traditional Tridentine Mass Traditionalist Catholic and traditional Catholic are terms used to refer to Roman Catholics who want to see the worship and customs of the general body of Roman Catholics return to those prevailing before the reforms of the 1960s. ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Pulvermacher's purported election as Pope was the third such consecutive conclavist election, the first being that of David Bawden (Pope Michael) in Kansas, U.S.A., 1990 and of Fr. Victor von Pentz (Linus II) in Assisi, Italy, 1994. Neither "Linus II" nor the later "Pius XIII" provided any statement why the earlier Conclavist elections were to be disregarded. 24. ...

Sedevacantists and Conclavists claim that John XXIII incurred automatic excommunication for publicly holding heresy from his early years as a priest. The "true Catholic Church" specifically claims that he had became a Freemason in 1935 while serving as papal nuncio to Turkey; such an act would have earned him automatic excommunication, and therefore, according to the provisions of Pope Paul IV's 1556 legislation, Cum ex Apostolatus Officio invalidated his subsequent election as Pope. 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Excommunication is a religious censure which is used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. ... Paul IV, né Giovanni Pietro Carafa (June 28, 1476 - August 18, 1559) was Pope from May 23, 1555 until his death. ... Events January 16 - Abdication of Emperor Charles V. His son, Philip II becomes King of Spain, while his brother Ferdinand becomes Holy Roman Emperor January 23 - The Shaanxi earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China. ...

The proposition has also been made, by a Fr. Brian Harrison ([1]), basing himself on Pope Pius XII's legislation Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis (December 8, 1945)governing the election of his successors, that even an excommunicated cardinal can be elected to and exercise the papal office. This has however been shown to be a falsification of Pope Pius XII's legislation, which only excuses disciplinary (i.e. "minor") excommunication, not doctrinal (or "major") excommunication, which still maintained the provisions of Pope Paul IV excluding such an excommunicate.

The tCC maintains that none of John XXIII's successors (Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI) has been a true Catholic, and that all have hence been ineligible for the papacy. In 2002, it was revealed that Pius XIII had practiced divination since his time as a seminarian, and it was subsequently suggested that he had thereby incurred excommunication and was accordingly, on his own logic, ineligible for the Papacy. One of his cardinals, Gordon Bateman, his one-time principal collaborator, dissociated himself from the tCC as a result. Pope Paul VI (Latin: ), born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini (September 26, 1897 – August 6, 1978), reigned as Pope and as sovereign of Vatican City from 1963 to 1978. ... Pope John Paul I (in Latin ), born Albino Luciani (October 17, 1912 – September 28, 1978), reigned as pope and as sovereign of Vatican City from August 26, 1978 to September 28, 1978. ... Pope John Paul II (Latin, in full: Ioannes Paulus Papa II), born Karol Józef Wojtyła (May 18, 1920 – April 2, 2005) reigned as pope of the Catholic Church for almost 27 years, from 16 October 1978, making his the second-longest pontificate (or the third-longest, as enumerated... Pope Benedict XVI (Latin, in full: Benedictus Papa XVI, Italian: Benedetto XVI) is the 265th reigning pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City. ... 2002 (MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This man in Rhumsiki, Cameroon, tells the future by interpreting the changes in position of various objects as caused by a fresh-water crab through nggàm[1]. Divination is the practice of ascertaining information from supernatural sources. ...

The tCC vigorously denounces the changes within Roman Catholicism associated with the Second Vatican Council ("Vatican II"), regarding the Council as a Latrocinium - an invalid "robber council". It affirms that the acts and policies of the church leadership since Vatican II have violated fundamental principles of Catholicism (as laid down, for example, by the Council of Trent). A distinctive feature of the tCC's worship, which it shares with other, larger Traditionalist Catholic groups, is its continued use of the Latin Tridentine rite of Mass. In the "official" Catholic Church presided over by Benedict XVI, the Tridentine rite has been largely superseded by a revised liturgy which was introduced by Paul VI in 1969 as part of the reform programme that followed Vatican II. The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was an Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. ... Latrocinium is a ecclesiastical Latin word meaning rebel or hostile council. It literally means robber council. ... The Council of Trent (Italian: Trento) was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church held in discontinuous sessions between 1545 and 1563 in response to the Protestant Reformation. ... A traditional Tridentine Mass Traditionalist Catholic and traditional Catholic are terms used to refer to Roman Catholics who want to see the worship and customs of the general body of Roman Catholics return to those prevailing before the reforms of the 1960s. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... A pre-Vatican II altar with reredosThe altar is preceded by three steps, as was most common for a churchs main altar, though some main altars, such as that in Saint Peters in the Vatican, had (and have) much more than three. ... Pope Benedict XVI (Latin, in full: Benedictus Papa XVI, Italian: Benedetto XVI) is the 265th reigning pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City. ... Then-Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) presiding over the 2005 Easter Vigil Mass at St. ... Pope Paul VI (Latin: ), born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini (September 26, 1897 – August 6, 1978), reigned as Pope and as sovereign of Vatican City from 1963 to 1978. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ...

The tCC's critics claim that the tCC has no bishops, and hence no connection to the historic episcopate and no means of transmitting holy orders to future generations of its membership. While a non-bishop such as Fr. Pulvermacher can be validly elected to the papacy under Catholic canon law, it is normal practice in such cases for the new Pope to be consecrated to the episcopate before being formally installed as pontiff. No bishop was willing to consecrate Pius XIII, but the latter granted himself authority to consecrate Gordon Bateman, and Bateman subsequently consecrated Pius. Catholic doctrine holds that only a bishop can carry out episcopal consecrations, and Pius' claim that a Pope can grant authority to a simple priest to consecrate men to the episcopate has been strongly disputed. The episcopate is the status of a bishop. ... Holy Orders in the modern Roman Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Assyrian, Old Catholic, and Independent Catholic Churches, includes three degrees: bishop, priest, and deacon. ...

The tCC claims a worldwide membership, though the available evidence suggests that its adherents are few in number. As of February, 2005, the tCC had two priests (Pius XIII and a married American named Robert Lyons whom he ordained in June 2000, in contradiction with Catholic disciplinary laws prohibiting married clerics of higher rank than deacon, although it is acknowledged that Clerical celibacy is merely Church Law, not Divine Law, and therefore can be dispensed by the Pope, as John-Paul II has done for Anglican ministers converting), and an unknown number of lay members. The number of people who participated in the 1998 papal election has never been disclosed, but the tCC states that more electors voted for Fr. Pulvermacher than had voted for Pius XII in the 1938 conclave in Rome; according to some reports, 61 cardinals cast their ballots for Pius XII. Pius XIII's (alleged) consecration to the episcopate was attended by 28 people. February is the second month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June is the sixth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with a length of 30 days The month is named after the Roman goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter and equivalent to the Greek goddess Hera. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Deacon is a role in the Christian Church which is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. ...

External links

• The webpage of Pope/Antipope Pius XIII
• True Catholic Church