Gommar A. DePauw (11 October 19186 May 2005) was a traditionalist Catholic priest and founder of an organization that he called the Catholic Traditionalist Movement.

Early life

DePauw was born in

Stekene Stekene () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. Since 1976, the municipality has comprised the towns of Kemzeke, Klein-Sinaai and Stekene proper. It also includes the village Koewacht. In 2021, Stekene had a total ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, the son of a newspaper editor. After graduating as a Diplomate in Classical Humanities, magna cum laude, from the College of St. Nicholas, he entered the diocesan seminary of

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

for his philosophical and theological studies. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he served as a combat medic with the 9th Belgian Infantry Hunters Regiment, and was taken prisoner at

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.

in 1940. After escaping from prison camp, he returned to his seminary studies and was ordained priest for the

Diocese of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent ( Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brusse ...

in 1942. He served as a battle-field chaplain with the Belgian Underground Army and the

Polish 1st Armoured Division The Polish 1st Armoured Division ( Polish ''1 Dywizja Pancerna'') was an armoured division of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. Created in February 1942 at Duns in Scotland, it was commanded by Major General Stanisła ...

until the end of the war.

Education and career

For three years DePauw studied at the University of Leuven, where he earned a bachelor's degree in

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is t ...

and a licentiate in canon law,

moral theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics"/ref> A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply sati ...

and

church history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritua ...

. In 1949 DePauw joined his family in the United States. He served as an assistant priest in two

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

parishes: St. Stephen's in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and St. Clare's in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

. At the same time he pursued graduate studies at

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

in Washington, D.C. In 1953 he received a doctorate in canon law with a dissertation entitled ''The Educational Rights of the Church and Elementary Schools in Belgium''. From 1952 to 1963 DePauw taught canon law at Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in

Emmitsburg, Maryland Emmitsburg is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania. Founded in 1785, Emmitsburg is the home of Mount St. Mary's University. The town has two Catholic pilgrim ...

. In 1955 he requested and was granted

incardination Incardination is the formal term in the Catholic Church for a clergyman being under a bishop or other ecclesiastical superior. It is also sometimes used to refer to laity who may transfer to another part of the church. Examples include transfe ...

from the Diocese of Ghent to the

Archdiocese of Baltimore The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore ( la, link=no, Archidiœcesis Baltimorensis) is the premier (or first) see of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese comprises the City of Baltimore and nine of M ...

and was named academic dean of the seminary.Cuneo, Michael W., ''The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Dissent in Contemporary American Catholicism'', JHU Press, 1999, p. 90
/ref> On 9 May 1955 he became a United States citizen. While teaching at the seminary, he contributed articles to the ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'', the ''Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible'', ''Homiletic and Pastoral Review'', and ''Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses''. During the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

he was called to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to serve as a

peritus ''Peritus'' (Latin for "expert") is the title given to Roman Catholic theologians attending an ecumenical council to give advice. At the Second Vatican Council, some ''periti'' (the plural form) accompanied individual bishops or groups of bisho ...

, a theological advisor to bishops at the Council. At the request of the

Cardinal Secretary of State The Secretary of State of His Holiness (Latin: Secretarius Status Sanctitatis Suae, it, Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità), commonly known as the Cardinal Secretary of State, presides over the Holy See's Secretariat of State, which is the ...

Amleto Giovanni Cicognani Amleto Giovanni Cicognani (24 February 1883 – 17 December 1973) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Vatican Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969, and Dean of the College of Cardinals from 1972 until his death. Ci ...

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

made him a

domestic prelate Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ...

with the title ''Right Reverend Monsignor''. Towards the end of the Second Vatican Council DePauw came into conflict with Cardinal

Lawrence Shehan Lawrence Joseph Shehan (March 18, 1898 – August 26, 1984) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Baltimore from 1961 to 1974 and was made a cardinal in 1965. Shehan was an advocate for civil rights a ...

, Archbishop of Baltimore, over the interpretation of the council's teachings, particularly about liturgical matters. In January 1965 DePauw incorporated an organization called the ''Catholic Traditionalist Movement'' in New York State, purportedly with the support of Cardinal

Francis Spellman Francis Joseph Spellman (May 4, 1889 – December 2, 1967) was an American bishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 1939 until his death in 1967, he served as the sixth Archbishop of New York; he had previously served as an auxiliary ...

, Archbishop of New York. Shehan demanded that DePauw break with the organization. In summer 1965 Shehan removed DePauw from teaching duties at Mount Saint Mary's Seminary and transferred him to a parish in a Baltimore suburb. Shortly thereafter DePauw left for Rome. On 15 November 1965 Luigi Faveri,

Bishop of Tivoli The Diocese of Tivoli ( la, Dioecesis Tiburtina) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Latium, Italy, which has existed since the 2nd century. In 2002 territory was added to it from the Territorial Abbey ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, signed a document transferring DePauw's incardination from the Archdiocese of Baltimore to the Diocese of Tivoli. Faveri said that he had taken this step at the request of Cardinal Spellman and of the Cardinal Secretary of the

Holy Office The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible f ...

Alfredo Ottaviani Alfredo Ottaviani (29 October 1890 – 3 August 1979) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII named him cardinal in 1953. He served as secretary of the Holy Office in the Roman Curia from 1959 to 1966 when that dicaste ...

. This transfer would have allowed DePauw to continue his work with the Catholic Traditionalist Movement in New York. In January 1966 after the attempted transfer from Baltimore to Tivoli became public, Cardinal Shehan said that the transfer was never legally completed and that DePauw was still a priest incardinated in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. In order to excardinate and incardinate, a priest must request excardination of his bishop, and it must be granted. As Cardinal Shehan was following the universal law of the Church, the Bishop of Tivoli supported Cardinal Shehan. Shehan suspended DePauw from his priestly functions. Bishop Blais Kurz, the exiled

Prefect Apostolic An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although i ...

of Yungchow in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, supported DePauw. On 23 June 1968 DePauw established the Ave Maria Chapel in

Westbury, Long Island The Incorporated Village of Westbury is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is located about east of Manhattan. The population was 15,404 at the 2020 census. History The fir ...

, where he ministered until his death. He became well known among traditionalist Catholics for his Sunday radio Mass, his video and audio cassettes, and pamphlets. He edited two magazines: ''Sounds of Truth and Tradition'' and ''Quote .. Unquote''. His two best-known works are the ''Traditional Roman Catholic Mass'' and ''The Challenge of Peace through Strength'', a critique of the American Catholic bishops' pastoral letter on war and peace, ''The Challenge of Peace''. DePauw died on 6 May 2005.

References

External links

Catholic Traditionalist Movement

''Conciliar or Catholic''
1967 lecture by DePauw
''The Educational Rights of the Church and Elementary Schools in Belgium''
DePauw's book from

Catholic University of America Press The Catholic University of America Press, also known as CUA Press, is the publishing division of The Catholic University of America. Founded on November 14, 1939, and incorporated on July 16, 1941,Roy J. Deferrari ''Memoirs of the Catholic Unive ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Depauw, Gommar 1918 births 2005 deaths American traditionalist Catholics Belgian traditionalist Catholics People from East Flanders Belgian emigrants to the United States Catholic University of America alumni Mount St. Mary's University faculty 20th-century Belgian Roman Catholic priests KU Leuven alumni Participants in the Second Vatican Council Coetus Internationalis Patrum People from Westbury, New York Dissident Roman Catholic theologians Traditionalist Catholic priests 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests Belgian military personnel of World War II Belgian Army soldiers Belgian resistance members Belgian military chaplains World War II chaplains Belgian prisoners of war in World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Belgian escapees Escapees from German detention Combat medics