Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen
Congregatio Mariae Reginae Immaculatae
AbbreviationCMRI
Formation1967 (1967)
TypeSedevacantist Catholic religious congregation
HeadquartersOmaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Superior General
Mark Pivarunas
Key people
Websitecmri.org
Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church: CMRI church in Sulphur Springs, Ohio, United States

The Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (Latin: Congregatio Mariae Reginae Immaculatae; CMRI) is a sedevacantist Traditionalist Catholic religious congregation.[1] The CMRI is dedicated to promoting the message of Our Lady of Fátima and the devotion of the practice of Total Consecration to the Virgin Mary as taught by Saint Louis Marie de Montfort.[2]

The CMRI holds that the Chair of St. Peter has been unoccupied since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958. The CMRI is not connected to the present Holy See or any territorial church diocese.

The congregation lists over 90 traditional Catholic churches and chapels both in the U.S. and abroad, as well as at least 13 schools staffed by religious.[3]

Names

The group had used and was designated by various names:

  • Fatima Crusade[4]
  • Tridentine Latin Rite Church[4]
  • Oblates of Mary Immaculate[5]
  • Fatima Crusaders[6]
  • Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen[7]

Leadership and core membership

The following people are part of the core membership of the group:

  • The Drahman family has been involved with the CMRI since the early 1970s. Tom Drahman[8] was instrumental in the purchase of Mt. St. Michael in 1977 and his son Fr. Gregory Drahman is a CMRI priest.
  • The Urban family was part of the core leadership with Francis Schuckardt and Denis Chicoine. The Urban family was involved with Schuckardt prior to the move to Coeur d'Alene in the summer of 1967. Alvina ran a house for the boarding school. Notable figures in the family include Alvina Urban[9] who was listed on legal paperwork along with Frater R. Denis Chicoine and "Christ the King Priory, Inc., an Idaho Corporation."

Superiors Generals

Activities

The Sisters at Mt. St. Michael record CDs and perform an annual Christmas concert.[10]

The CMRI hold the Fatima conference at Mt. St. Michael in Spokane, Washington in October each year. The conference includes five days of lectures, daily Mass, devotions, and meals.[11]

The CMRI has been involved with mass media since their founding as a method of recruitment and information. Throughout their history, the CMRI has produced books, pamphlets, and audio recordings. The CMRI runs a bookstore (Mary Immaculate Queen Center)[12] and produces various periodicals: The Reign of Mary (quarterly magazine), Adsum (Mater Dei seminary monthly newsletter), and Anima Mariae, the CMRI sisters' newsletter. The CMRI also produces annual CDs of the Fatima Conference talks, as well as providing a livestream of Daily Mass and devotions from the City of Mary in Rathdrum, Idaho.[13]

History

Speaking tours & Coeur d'Alene beginnings (1967 to 1971)

Francis Konrad Maria Schuckardt (a Catholic layman from Seattle, Wash.) and Robert Denis Chicoine (a former Marine, bricklayer, and newspaper pressman from New Bedford, Mass.) attracted their initial followers through international speaking tours as part of The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima. Chicoine first heard Schuckardt in a 1965 talk in San Diego about the message of Fatima. After listening to Schuckardt for three nights in a row, he became his disciple.[14]

Beginning in the late 1960s, Schuckardt was able to attract numerous vagabond priests.[15]

Schuckardt was ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop by Daniel Q. Brown from 28 October to 1 November 1971 at a motel in Chicago in front of 40 witnesses.[1] Brown had been consecrated a bishop in 1969 by Hubert A. Rogers, a bishop of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church, but had left it and become independent in 1971.[16]

The same year, Schuckardt changed the name of the group to Traditional Latin Rite Catholic Church.[4]

Properties

The CMRI owned and operated numerous schools, camps, and properties.[9]

  • A convent and girls high school in Colbert, Washington about 15 miles north of Spokane.[17]
  • A mansion located at 2314 E South Altamont Blvd in Spokane, Wash. that operated as the priory and Schuckardt's main residence[17]

Chicoine era (1984 to 1989)

On June 3, 1984, Schuckardt and a small group of his followers were expelled from the CMRI and left the Spokane area, taking the name Tridentine Latin Rite Church (TLRC). In addition to Fr. Alphonsus, Schuckardt was followed by 4 religious sisters and 10 religious clerics and brothers.[18] A larger group of the priests, religious, and laity remained with Chicoine at Mt. St. Michael, retaining the CMRI name and the bulk of the church property. Chicoine accused Schuckadrt of abuse & drug addiction.[1] Local media in 1984 reported that there were 5000 followers of the group in the United States, 800 of whom live in the Spokane area.[17] In 1986, local media reported that about half the members of the church's religious orders left.[19]

Following the expulsion of Schuckardt, sedevacantist Bishop George Musey (of the Thuc apostolic line) conditionally re-administered the sacraments imparted by Schuckardt, whose validity was now considered dubious, and conditionally re-ordained the remaining priests.[20]

In 1986, the Congregation held its first General Chapter, which established its rule and constitutions, that were later approved by sedevacantist Bishop Robert McKenna ORCM.[21]

Pivarunas era (1989 to present)

In August 1989, Father Tarcisius Pivarunas (Mark Pivarunas) was elected as the Superior General of the congregation.[22]

On 1 February 1991, sedevacantist Bishop Moisés Carmona expressed his desire to consecrate as bishop whomever the congregation chooses. On 3 April 1991, Mark Pivarunas was elected to be consecrated a bishop. In accordance with Catholic practice, Mark Pivarunas discontinued the use of his religious name, "Tarcisius", and in accordance with the CMRI Constitutions, resigned his post as the Superior General. He was succeeded by Father Casimir M. Puskorius. On 24 September 1991, in Mount Saint Michael, Mark Pivarunas was consecrated a bishop by Bishop Carmona.[23]

In June 2007, 15 sisters (including Rev. Mother Ludmilla) living at Mount Saint Michael in Spokane were expelled from the congregation because they had come to disagree with the congregation's stance of sedevacantism. They later reconciled with the Catholic Church and formed the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church (SMMC) under the authority of William Skylstad, bishop of Spokane.[1]

Criticisms

There has been a criticism from among former members, the media, and others toward the Schuckardt group, CMRI.

  • In 1986, Jim Sparks of the Spokesman-Review Spokane Chronicle wrote a front page article "Tranquility returns to Tridentines" describing abuse, lawsuits, and practices of the group in the previous years, and changes since the departure of Schuckardt in 1984.[24]

The Southern Poverty Law Center in 2006[25] designated Mount St. Michael one of twelve "anti-semitic radical traditionalist Catholic groups." The SPLC 2021 list of "Radical Traditional Catholicism" no longer includes Mt. St. Michael.[26]

Lawsuits

CMRI has been involved in lawsuits beginning in the 1970s across various states. These lawsuits occurred both before & after the Schuckardt split. Notable cases include:

  • In 1981, The Nebraska Supreme Court gave Dennis Burnham custody of his daughter because of his wife's involvement with the church, not based on religious affiliation per se but due to concerns about the daughter's welfare.[27]
  • In 1986, O'Neil v. Schuckardt, 112 Ida. 472, 733 P.2d 693, 67 ALR4th 1065 (1986). A July 3 decision by the Idaho Supreme Court said a Montana man was not entitled to $750,000 from the church. Jerry O'Neil had sought the money on the grounds that the church alienated him from his wife.[28]
  • In 1987, the Supreme Court of Idaho heard a case involving a lawsuit of Jerry Bryant O'Neil against the Fatima Crusade Church itself for alienation of his wife's affections and for invasion of his wife's privacy.[29]

Physical & religious abuse

  • Fr. Chicoine shaved (or cropped) the front part of a girl's hair for explaining to a friend the meaning of a menstrual period and the meaning of a common obscene gesture.[27]
  • A teaching nun gave a child a black eye and swollen face when the child refused to eat their own vomit.[27]
  • A 16-year-old was punished by being ordered to crawl across a parking lot and up a flight of stairs to a chapel on his bare knees, leading to damaged cartilage.[27]

Sexual abuse

Since Schuckardt's departure, information has been released that has shown the CMRI or TLRC were connected to people later accused of sexual abuse. The CMRI does not publish lists of former CMRI-affiliated priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse. The following accusations of sexual abuse have been made public:

  • A priest was accused[30] in December 2018 of ritual sexual abuse of a child at the Holy Innocents Catholic School in Waite Park, MN in the 1970s and 1980s. The Diocese of St. Cloud stated that this school was not affiliated with the diocese, and was operated independently by Robert and Bernice Sis.[31][32]

Notes

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 Graves, Jim (October 19, 2012). "The Return to Rome, Five Years Later". The Catholic World Report. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
    2. ↑ "CMRI's Marian Spirit: Total Consecration to the Blessed Virgin". Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (CMRI). 10 August 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
    3. ↑ "CMRI Directory of Traditional Latin Masses (U.S.)". CMRI: Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen. 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
    4. 1 2 3 Michael W. Cuneo (1997). "4: Catholic Separatists". The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Dissent in Contemporary American Catholicism. Internet Archive. Oxford University Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-19-511350-1.
    5. ↑ Michael W. Cuneo (1997). "4: Catholic Separatists". The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Dissent in Contemporary American Catholicism. Internet Archive. Oxford University Press. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-19-511350-1.
    6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-05-12. Retrieved 2006-04-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    7. ↑ Michael W. Cuneo (1997). "4: Catholic Separatists". The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Dissent in Contemporary American Catholicism. Internet Archive. Oxford University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-19-511350-1.
    8. ↑ "Thomas A. DRAHMAN Obituary (1938 - 2020) Spokesman-Review". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
    9. 1 2 "Alvina URBAN Obituary (2013) Spokesman-Review". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2022-07-30.
    10. ↑ "Who are the Singing Nuns?". The Singing Nuns. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
    11. ↑ "Annual Fatima Conference". CMRI: Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen. 2018-08-20. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
    12. ↑ "Mary Immaculate Queen Center". Mary Immaculate Queen Center. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
    13. ↑ "All broadcasts for Mary Immaculate Queen Church - Rathdrum, ID". BoxCast.tv. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
    14. ↑ Sparks, Jim (July 27, 1986). "Tranquility returns to Tridentines". The Spokesman-Review Spokane Chronicle. pp. A10.
    15. ↑ "Church changes left traditionalist behind". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 2022-08-03 – via PressReader.
    16. ↑ Ward, Gary L.; Persson, Bertil; Bain, Alan (1990). Independent Bishops: An International Directory. Apogee Books. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-55888-307-9.
    17. 1 2 3 Hanson, Tim (August 26, 1984). "A bishop's life on the run". The Spokesman-Review. pp. A8.
    18. ↑ "Bishop Schuckardt, CMRI, Mount Saint Michaels". bishopjosephmarie.org. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
    19. ↑ Sparks, Jim (July 27, 1986). "Tranquility returns to Tridentines". The Spokesman-Review. pp. A1, A10–A12.
    20. ↑ Weaver, Mary Jo; Appleby, R. Scott (1995). Being Right: Conservative Catholics in America. Indiana University Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-253-32922-6.
    21. ↑ "History of CMRI". CMRI: Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen. 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
    22. ↑ "Superior General: Bishop Mark A. Pivarunas, CMRI". Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (CMRI). Retrieved 16 August 2021.
    23. ↑ "Adsum (September 2016)" (PDF). Mater Dei Seminary. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
    24. ↑ Sparks, Jim (July 27, 1986). "Tranquility returns to Tridentines". The Spokesman-Review Spokane Chronicle. pp. A1.
    25. ↑ "12 Anti-Semitic Radical Traditionalist Catholic Groups". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
    26. ↑ "Radical Traditional Catholicism". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
    27. 1 2 3 4 Sparks, Jim (July 27, 1986). "Tranquility returns to Tridentines". The Spokesman-Review Spokane Chronicle. pp. A12.
    28. ↑ Sparks, Jim (July 27, 1886). "Tranquility returns to Tridentines". Spokesman-Review Spokane Chronicle. pp. A10.
    29. ↑ "O'Neil v. Schuckhardt | 733 P.2d 693 (1986) | p2d69311426". Leagle. Retrieved 2022-07-30.
    30. ↑ "Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Filed Against Holy Innocents' Catholic School in Waite Park". Jeff Anderson and Associates. 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
    31. ↑ Uren, Adam. "Woman claims sexual abuse by 'secretive' family that ran Catholic school". Bring Me The News. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
    32. ↑ Hertel, Jordyn Brown and Nora G. "Holy Innocents Catholic School sued over allegation of sexual abuse". St. Cloud Times. Retrieved 2022-08-07.

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