Papacy began July 16, 1990 Nationality American | Name David Bawden | |
 | ||
Opposed to John XXIIIPaul VIJohn Paul IJohn Paul IIBenedict XVIFrancis Born 22 September 1959 (age 65) ( 1959-09-22 ) | ||
"Pope Michael" Trailer
David Allen Bawden (born September 22, 1959 in Oklahoma City), who takes the name Pope Michael, is an American citizen and a conclavist claimant to the papacy. He stated in 2009 that he had approximately 30 "solid" followers.
Contents
- Pope Michael Trailer
- Pope Michael or David Allen Bawden Exposed Beliefs Heresies and Practices
- Background
- Claim to the papacy
- Documentary
- Ordination to the priesthood and consecration as a bishop
- References
Bawden was elected by a group of six laypeople, which included himself and his parents, who had come to believe that the Catholic Church had seceded from the Catholic faith since Vatican II, and that there had been no legitimate popes elected since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958.
Pope Michael or David Allen Bawden Exposed Beliefs, Heresies and Practices
Background
In 1975, Bawden and his family began to follow the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). Bawden attended the SSPX seminary in Écône, Switzerland, and Saint Joseph's Priory, Armada, Michigan, but was dismissed from the seminary in 1978.
Bawden claims to have been elected to the papacy in 1990, in a papal conclave attended by five other people, including his parents.
Claim to the papacy
Bawden believes that all the popes since the death of Pope Pius XII on October 9, 1958, are modernists, heretics, and apostates, and that, therefore, their elections are invalid. He considers them to have incurred latae sententiae, or automatic excommunication, for violating Pope Pius X's laws.
Documentary
In 2010, independent filmmaker Adam Fairholm created a feature-length documentary.
Bawden was the subject in a chapter of the 2004 book What's the Matter with Kansas? by American journalist and historian Thomas Frank.
Ordination to the priesthood and consecration as a bishop
At some point during 2011, Bawden claims he was ordained a priest, and then consecrated a bishop, by an episcopus vagans, and thus claims to be a validly ordained priest and consecrated bishop and able to validly celebrate Catholic sacraments, offer the Mass, ordain other men to the priesthood and consecrate them as bishops. The bishop that ordained and consecrated him was Bishop Robert Biarnesen who is from the Duarte-Costa and Old Catholic Lineages.