Clemente Dominguez y Gómez, an insurance accountant who declared himself the true leader of the Catholic Church, recently died. The exact date and cause of his death were not released. He was 59.
In 1968, four girls claimed they saw visions of the Virgin Mary on a bush in the southern Spanish town of El Palmar de Troya. Hundreds of pilgrims, including Dominguez, traveled to the village to see this miracle. Within a month, however, Dominguez claimed he had visions of the Virgin Mary, as well as conversations with her. He also said he experienced spontaneous bleeding from his hands, a condition known as stigmata which signifies the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The combination of these wounds and his charming personality turned Dominguez into a cult figure.
Dominguez was ordained as a priest by a renegade archbishop in 1975, and founded his own religious sect known as the Order of the Last Times (The Carmelites of the Holy Face). Based out of a walled, cathedral-like complex in Seville, Spain, the order's adherents dress as nuns and priests and believe the Vatican is controlled by the Devil. A few months after forming the order, a car accident blinded Dominguez, but the injury didn't halt his religious aspirations.
Dominguez then took on the name Father Ferdinand and elevated himself to the rank of bishop. For such hubris, the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated him and his entire congregation.
When Pope Paul VI died in 1978, Dominguez proclaimed himself Pope Gregory XVII and named El Palmar de Troya as the new papal seat. During the course of his two-decade rule of the secretive sect, Dominguez traveled the world as a missionary and conducted his religious rituals in Latin. He also canonized Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and excommunicated the Spanish royal family.
Posted on March 27, 2005 10:50 AMI would love to be able to post a tribute to this man, but as an ex "Palmarian", I suffered for 18 years under the rule of this CRAZY HYPOCRIT. In the process, he distroyed my family and contributed to the final painful years in my parents lives and their lonely deaths. He spent many years telling us that there was no salvation for the soul for those outside Palmer, and I hope that he is now suffering for the pain and anguish he has put many people through. I am lucky enough to have been able to put those awful days behind me, and I pray daily for those left suffering under the rule of his sucessor.
Posted by J on February 11, 2007 7:58 PMPope Gregory apparently bought the Catholic church to perfection. I am unsure. In the end the strict rules broke up families. Many nuns and priests ended up with breakdowns.
Posted by Rosa on February 19, 2007 3:12 AMGregory did not bring the catholic church to perfection. He was a dictator who used his power to sexually and mentally abuse all his followers and if he had been able to, he would have been up there with Hitler, Sadam and Osama.
Posted by J on October 26, 2007 11:01 AM