Rómulo Antonio Braschi (born December 25, 1941) is an Argentine

independent Catholic Independent Catholicism is an independent sacramental movement of clergy and laity who Independent Catholicism#Appeal of Independent Catholicism to Catholic and Christian tradition, self-identify as Catholic (most often as Old Catholic or as Ind ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, not in communion with the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Braschi was labeled as being an ''

episcopus vagans In Christianity, an (plural ; Latin for 'wandering bishops' or 'stray bishops') is a person consecrated, in a "clandestine or irregular way", as a bishop outside the structures and canon law of the established churches; a person regularly con ...

'' in the early 2000s.

Biography

Born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' re ...

in August 1966, he was associated with members of the

worker-priest Worker-priest () was a missionary initiative by the French Catholic Church in particular for priests to take up work in such places as car factories to experience the everyday life of the working class. A worker-priest was any priest who was "fre ...

movement in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and the Movement of Priests for the Third World. He was arrested and questioned for these activities during the

Dirty War The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...

. Disillusioned by what he perceived as the silence and tacit condemnation of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the face of progressive Church movements, he distanced himself from the Roman Church while resolving not to abandon his priestly ministry.

Catholic Apostolic Charismatic Church of "Jesus the King"

In 1975 he set up an independent Catholic church in Buenos Aires Province. In 1978 this became the Catholic Apostolic Charismatic Church of "Jesus the King", now present in several

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an and

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

countries, per its own claims. He was ordained as a

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

by Roberto Garrido Padin, a bishop of the

Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church The Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (, ; ICAB) is an Independent Catholicism, Independent Catholic Christian denomination, Christian church established in 1945 by Excommunication in the Catholic Church, excommunicated Catholic Church in Brazi ...

, and

Hilarios Karl-Heinz Ungerer Hilarios Karl-Heinz Ungerer (born 1941 in Nuremberg) is a bishop of the Free Catholic Church in Munich, a small Independent Catholic denomination. Ungerer, with Bishop Roberto Garrido Padin, ordained Bishop Rómulo Antonio Braschi in 1998, who ...

, a bishop of the Free Catholic Church in Germany. Braschi gained notoriety in 2002 when he took part in the

ordinations Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform vari ...

of seven Roman Catholic women, who became known as the Danube Seven. The ordinations led to the women's

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...

by the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

. Braschi and the women asked the Vatican to revoke the excommunication, but they were denied in the Decree on the Attempted Ordination of Some Catholic Women. His excommunication was confirmed before this decree because he was already a leader of a schismatic denomination.Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Decree on the attempted ordination of some Catholic women
In the course of these meetings the members arrived at the collegial decision to confirm the decree of excommunication. In the case under consideration, in fact, hierarchical recourse is not possible as it concerns a decree of excommunication issued by a Dicastery of the Holy See acting in the name of the Supreme Pontiff (cf. Canon 360).

Notes

References

External links

*http://jesustheking.20fr.com/

*http://www.independentmovement.us/index.php?title=Historical_Jurisdictions {{DEFAULTSORT:Braschi, Romulo Antonio 1941 births Living people People excommunicated by the Catholic Church Clergy from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine bishops Bishops of Independent Catholic denominations Argentine Christian clergy Women's ordination activists Ordination of women and the Catholic Church

Biography

Catholic Apostolic Charismatic Church of "Jesus the King"

See also

Notes

References

External links