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

independent Catholic Independent Catholicism is an independent sacramental movement of clergy and laity who self-identify as Catholic (most often as Old Catholic or as Independent Catholic) and form "micro-churches claiming apostolic succession and valid sacrament ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, not in communion with the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Braschi was labeled as being an ''

episcopus vagans In Christianity, an ''episcopus vagans'' (plural ''episcopi vagantes''; 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 estab ...

'' in the early 2000s.

Biography

Born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, and

ordained 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 va ...

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 layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

in August 1966, he was associated with members of the

worker-priest Worker-priest (french: Prêtre ouvrier, Prêtres au travail) 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 ...

movement in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and the

Movement of Priests for the Third World The Movement of Priests for the Third World (Spanish: ''Movimiento de Sacerdotes para el Tercer Mundo'', MSTM) was a tendency among the Catholic Church in Argentina which aimed at combining reform ideas which followed the Second Vatican Council w ...

. He was arrested and questioned for these activities during the

Dirty War The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 a ...

. 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 large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an and

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

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

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

by Roberto Garrido Padin, a bishop of the

Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church , image =Emblema da Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira.png , imagewidth = , caption =Emblem of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church , main_classification = Western Christian , orientation =Independent Catholic , polity = Episcopa ...

, 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 of seven Roman Catholic women, who became known as the

Danube Seven The Danube Seven are a group of seven women from Germany, Austria and the United States who were ordained as priests on a ship cruising the Danube river on 29 June 2002 by Rómulo Antonio Braschi, Ferdinand Regelsberger (bishop), Ferdinand Regelsber ...

. The ordinations led to the women's

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

by the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

. 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 Decree on the Attempted Ordination of Some Catholic Women is a canonical decree issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and approved by Pope John Paul II on December 21, 2002. It can be found in A ...

. 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://ar.groups.yahoo.com/group/iglesiacarismaticajesusrey/ *http://www.independentmovement.us/index.php?title=Historical_Jurisdictions {{DEFAULTSORT:Braschi, Romulo Antonio 1941 births Living people People excommunicated by the Catholic Church People 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