Mark Anthony Pivarunas (born 31 October 1958) is an American

sedevacantist Sedevacantism ( la, Sedevacantismus) is a doctrinal position within traditionalist Catholicism, which holds that the present occupier of the Holy See is not a valid pope due to the pope's espousal of one or more heresies and that therefore, for ...

Traditionalist Catholic Traditionalist Catholicism is the set of beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions, and presentations of Catholic teaching that existed in the Catholic Church before the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council ( ...

bishop and the

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized ...

of the

Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen The Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen ( la, Congregatio Mariae Reginae Immaculatae; CMRI) is a sedevacantist Traditionalist Catholic religious congregation. The CMRI is dedicated to promoting the message of Our Lady of Fátima and the devo ...

(CMRI).

Biography

Early life and family

Mark Anthony Pivarunas was born to his father, Walter Pivarunas, and to an ethnic

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

mother, on 31 October 1958, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. He was baptized on 7 December of the same year, in Seven Holy Founders Church in the same city. He received his first Communion on 7 May 1966, and was confirmed on 6 June 1967.Adsum
(September 2016). ''Mater Dei'' Seminary. Retrieved 16 February 2021.

Religious life

Pivarunas entered the

religious life Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way. It includes those in institutes of consecrated life (religious and se ...

in the

(CMRI) in September 1974. After a year's postulancy, he entered the novitiate on 8 September 1975, taking the religious name of Brother Mary Tarcisius. He made his first profession of vows on 12 September 1976. On 12 September 1980, he made his final profession of vows.

Priesthood

Pivarunas received the usual seminary training. On 27 June 1985, in the CMRI's

Mount Saint Michael Mount Saint Michael (''known colloquially as "The Mount"'') is a former Seminary, School, Farm and Retreat for the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic Church in Spokane, Washington. It was later sold to Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen ( ...

, having received the commendation of his superiors, he, along with two others, was ordained a priest by Bishop George Musey.

Superior Generalship

In August 1989, Pivarunas, now thirty years old, was elected to the post of

of the CMRI. Pivarunas traveled extensively throughout

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the so ...

, United States, and into neighboring states to provide the Mass and sacraments.

Episcopacy

In January 1991, Bishop

Moisés Carmona Moisés Carmona Rivera (31 October 1912 – ?) was a sedevacantist traditionalist Catholic bishop from Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, who propagated sedevacantism in Mexico. He was one of the bishops consecrated by the Vietnamese sed ...

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has ...

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in Municipalities of Guerrero, 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acap ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, another sedevacantist bishop whose episcopal lineage traces to Thục, visited Mount Saint Michael. Before his return to Mexico, on 1 February 1991, he left behind a letter expressing his desire to consecrate as bishop whomever the congregation chooses. On 3 April 1991, Pivarunas was elected to be consecrated a bishop. In accordance with Catholic practice, he discontinued the use of his religious name, "Tarcisius". On 24 September 1991, in Mount Saint Michael, Pivarunas was consecrated a bishop by Carmona.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
On 30 November 1993, in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, United States, Pivarunas consecrated the sedevacantist Father

Daniel Dolan Daniel Lytle Dolan (28 May 1951 – 26 April 2022) was an American Catholic sedevacantist bishop. Biography Daniel Lytle Dolan was born on 28 May 1951, in Detroit, Michigan, United States. In 1965, he began his preparation for the priesthood ...

a bishop. On 11 May 1999, in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, with Dolan assisting as co-consecrator, Pivarunas consecrated Father Martín Dávila of the sedevacantist ''Sociedad Sacerdotal Trento'' (Priestly Society of Trent) a bishop. Since his episcopal consecration, Pivarunas has traveled to the United States, Mexico,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, New Zealand,

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

, and

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 subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

to provide Confirmation and other sacraments to several thousand children and adults. According to the CMRI, there are over a hundred priests and Religious under his spiritual care.

References

External links

Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pivarunas, Mark 1958 births Living people People from Chicago American people of Lithuanian descent American people of Italian descent Thục line bishops Sedevacantists American traditionalist Catholics