Introduction to the Palmarian Church: Part One

The Palmarian Church is a small group of Roman Catholic dissidents who believe that in 1978, following the death of Pope Paul VI, the Holy See of Rome was transferred to a Spanish village called El Palmar De Troya.

Also Known As: Order of the Carmelites of the Holy Face The Order of the Last Times The Palmarian Catholic Church The Church of El Palmar De Troya Palmarian Church

When four young girls were picking flowers on farmland near El Palmar De Troya, in 1968, they claimed they saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary by a small tree.

Hundreds of people soon flocked to the tree. Amongst them were accountant Clemente Dominguez and lawyer Manuel Alonso Corral, both from Seville. They also reported visions at the sight and stated that people could be cured by going there. Dominguez soon became the ‘principal seer’. Dominguez apparently had stigmata and bled 14 litres of blood. He also claimed, in his visions, the Virgin Mary commanded him to rid the Catholic Church of “heresy and progressivism”, which would include Communism, Freemasonry and Zionism based on his future statements.

In 1982, Associated Press wrote about Dominguez:

“On Aug. 15, 1970, over 40,000 pilgrims, most of them blind or paralysed, converged on the dusty Seville suburb of Palmar de Troya to hear his tales at an open-air Mass.”

The Roman Church rejected the validity of the El Palmar De Troya visions and prohibited Catholics from attending services there.

In 1972, Dominguez purchased the 12-hectare farmland of La Alcaparrosa, the sight of the visions. This is where they began building the Palmarian Cathedral and the surrounding 5-metre high walls. It is unclear where exactly Dominguez got the money from but he apparently received a large sum from an aged baroness. It has also been said that they received support from Ultra-Rightists within the local authorities.

In 1975, Dominguez formed a new religious order, “The Order of the Carmelites of the Holy Face”. At this point they were still loyal to the Roman Catholic Church and Pope Paul VI but believed he was being held captive and drugged by Masonic, Liberal Cardinals. They later went on to state in 1978 that Pope Paul VI “was manipulated and coerced to visit the cursed organisation of the United Nations… who for the greater part, represented Masonry, Marxism and Zionism.”

In 1976, Marcel Lefebvre and Maurice Revaz from the Society of St Pius X persuaded Vietnamese Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc of the authenticity of the Palmarian apparitions. Soon after, Dominguez, Corral and three priests were ordained as bishops by Thuc. The ordinations were performed without authorisation from the Holy See of Rome and therefore Pope Paul VI excommunicated Thuc and the five ordained “bishops”.

In 1976, Dominguez was blinded in a car accident.

I will continue this post next week where we will discuss Dominguez’ declaration as Pope and the creation of the Palmarian Church.