Editing Palmarian Catholic Church (section)

===Background===
====Marian apparitions, Spain and the Second Vatican Council====
{{Main|Marian apparitions|Traditionalist Catholicism}}

[[File:Our Lady of La Salette.jpg|thumb|right|220px|The [[Virgin Mary]] as she would have appeared as [[Our Lady of La Salette]] in 1846. This initiated a series of [[Apocalypticism|apocalyptic]] Marian apparitions, warning modern man of a coming great chastisement.]]
A series of [[Marian apparitions]] starting in the 19th century have led to what Magnus Lundberg calls Marian Apocalyptic Movements.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=29}} These apparitions typically feature the [[Virgin Mary]] bearing an important [[eschatological]] message that warns humanity of a coming chastisement from God for its sinful behaviour and [[apostasy]] which will be followed by a period of peace and virtue for the faithful. When humanity then returns to its sinful ways, a more fearsome chastisement culminates in a final [[world war]] that marks the end of the world.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=32}} Some of these apparitions have been investigated by the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and declared worthy of belief and veneration.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=29}} Palmarians regard several as important steps on the way to the appearance of Our Lady of Palmar, specifically those of [[Our Lady of La Salette|La Salette]] (1846),{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=33}} [[Our Lady of Fátima|Fátima]] (1917),{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=35}} [[Ezkio]]ga (1931),{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=36}} [[Heroldsbach]] (1949),{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=39}} [[:pt:Maria da Conceição Mendes Horta|Ladeira do Pinheiro]] (1960),{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=42}} [[San Giorgio Piacentino|San Damiano]] (1961),{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=41}} and [[Our Lady of Garabandal|Garabandal]] (1961).{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=40}}

The apparitions of El Palmar de Troya took place in Spain at a time of religious and political upheaval, during the final decade that [[Francisco Franco]] was ''[[List of heads of state of Spain|Caudillo]]'' of the [[Francoist Spain|Spanish State]].{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=14}} The government had been established in the aftermath of the [[Spanish Civil War]] and during the war the nationalists identified themselves as engaged in a "[[Crusade]] against the [[Second Spanish Republic]] 1919-1939, international communism and freemasonry."{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=14}} Before and during the Civil War, many [[Red Terror (Spain)|Catholic clerics were killed]] by the republican side and in some places the [[Catholic Church]] had to go underground. After victory, under Franco, [[National Catholicism]] was adopted in Spain, whereby [[Spanishness]] and Catholicism were presented as being inseparable.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=15}} In the worldview of [[Francoism]], Spain was a "providential nation, being a faithful Catholic bulwark against [[liberalism]], [[Freemasonry]], [[Protestantism]] and [[communism]]".{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=15}} Spain was a [[confessional state]] and this broadly had the support of the church; however, by the 1940s, there was some concerns about the power of the state subordinating the church and after the [[Second Vatican Council]] in the 1960s, the high episcopacy, particularly Cardinal [[Vicente Enrique y Tarancón]] began to push against Franco for "reforms" and the creation of a more modern state.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=16}} This was not unanimous and some Spanish priests belonging to the ''[[:es:Hermandad Sacerdotal Española|Hermandad Sacerdotal Española]]'' backed Francoists against the new liberal-leaning line of the [[Spanish Episcopal Conference]] and the Vatican.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=17}}

Following the Second Vatican Council, which took place between 1962 and 1965, there emerged a new openness to [[religious liberty]], [[ecumenism]], [[interreligious dialogue]] and on the back of it, introduced in 1969, a [[New Order of Mass]].{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=44}} These changes scandalised traditionalists within the Catholic Church and an insurgent [[traditionalist Catholic]] movement emerged pushing back against this.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=44}} Prominent early figures included Frenchmen such as [[Georges de Nantes]], who founded the ''[[Ligue de la contre-réforme catholique]]''{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=44}} and Archbishop [[Marcel Lefebvre]] who founded the [[Society of St. Pius X]] (which became by far the most prominent).{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=45}} The early Palmarian themes were a part of this ''milleu'', with direct and indirect relationships with the traditionalist Catholic resistance worldwide, including the SSPX.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=74}} According to Lundberg, traditionalists refused to believe that "a true Catholic hierarchy would make such changes, and saw [[Modernism in the Catholic Church|modernist]], masonic and communist conspiracies".{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=44}} A common traditionalist theme of decrying "infiltration", raised questions about the complicity of the [[Pope]] himself: Lefebvre diplomatically criticised Pope Paul VI, but still considered him a true Pope. At the opposite end, by 1971, [[sedevacantists]] emerged who claimed that Paul VI was a non-Catholic [[antipope]] leading a new heretical religion,{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=47}} an early example of which is [[Joaquín Sáenz y Arriaga]].

====Apparitions of Our Lady of Palmar and Devotion to the Holy Face====
{{Main|Our Lady of Palmar|Holy Face of Jesus}}

[[File:VirgenCarmen Rute.jpg|thumb|right|220px|The [[Virgin Mary]] in the mantle of [[Our Lady of Mount Carmel]]. Her alleged appearance at [[Palmar de Troya]] from 1968 onwards formed the basis of the Palmarians.]]
On 30 March 1968, four Spanish Catholic girls,{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=42}}<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite journal|date=22 March 2005|periodical=El Mundo|title=Clemente Domínguez, el 'Papa' de El Palmar de Troya|url=http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2005/03/22/obituarios/1111488599.html}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=37}} aged 12 and 13—Ana García, Rafaela Gordo, Ana Aguilera and Josefa Guzmán—reported that the [[Virgin Mary]] had appeared to them in the field of ''La Alcaparroa'' farm, close to the village of [[El Palmar de Troya]], which at that time was a district of the municipality of [[Utrera]], in the [[province of Seville]], [[Andalusia]], Spain.<ref>{{cite journal|date=9 May 1976|periodical=José Jiménez Lozano|title=El barroco asunto de El Palmar de Troya: Un aluvión de apariciones|url=https://www.infocatolica.com/blog/infories.php/1107230214-los-origenes-del-palmar-de-tr-1}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{cite journal|date=14 April 1968|periodical=ABC|title=Las Supuestas apariciones del Palmar de Troya|url=http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1968/04/14/102.html}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> On 11 April 1968, a devout Catholic woman named Rosario Arenillas reported seeing the Virgin Mary with the mantle of [[Our Lady of Mount Carmel]] in the same place.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=38}} On 20 May 1968 a neighbor from Utrera named María Marín also said she had seen the Virgin in the same place.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=38}} On 6 June 1968, María Luisa Vila from [[Seville]] went to the farm and said she had a mystical ecstasy in which [[Jesus Christ]] administered communion to her and, according to witnesses, when she opened her mouth there was a [[Eucharistic miracle|bloody host]] inside.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=40}} In the summer of 1968, Antonio Romero, Manuel Fernández, José Navarro, Antonio Anillos and Arsenia Llanos also said they suffered [[Religious ecstasy|mystical ecstasies]] there.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=39}}

On 15 October 1968, [[Clemente Domínguez]] and [[Manuel Alonso Corral]] visited the site for the first time. Manuel "Manolo" Corral worked in an insurance brokerage{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=64}} that [[:es:Serafín Madrid|Serafín Madrid]] used to finance his charitable works. When Corral became involved in the situation at Palmar de Troya he was expelled from the insurance company (belief in the apparitions were strongly opposed by [[José Bueno y Monreal]], [[Archbishop of Seville]], who refused to examine the seers or even open up any enquiries).{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=65}}<ref name="patheos">Hall, Maria. (2016). [https://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionnow/2016/04/the-palmarian-church-new-rome-or-fanatical-sect/ The Palmarian Church: New Rome or Fanatical Sect?]. Patheos</ref> On 15 August 1969, the two men attended a [[Holy Mass]] celebrated by a [[Jesuit]] priest there and during it María Luisa Vila said she had a vision of the Virgin ([[Josemaría Escrivá]], founder of [[Opus Dei]], drawn to mystical phenomenon, held a long interview with Vila who he had met previously at [[Jerez de la Frontera]], [[Province of Cádiz|Cádiz]]).<ref>Infante, Jésus. (2002). [https://www.opuslibros.org/libros/Santo_fundador/capitulo_1.htm Turbosantidad del Fundador del Opus Dei]. Opus Libros</ref> Later they ran into María Marín and [[Nectario María]] who said they had a vision of Jesus Christ. After this point, Domínguez and Corral visited far more frequently.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=57}} There they talked with the visionaries and witnessed their ecstasies and on 14 September 1969, both declared that they had an appearance of a luminous cross.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=58}}

[[File:Santa Faz, de Alonso López de Herrera (Museo de América, Madrid).jpg|thumb|left|220px| ''Santa Faz'' by Alonso López de Herrera. Based on alleged apparitions in 1969, devotion to the [[Holy Face]] of [[Jesus Christ]] would become a prominent aspect of the Palmarians.]]
On 30 September 1969, Rosario Arenillas and Domínguez said they had a vision of Jesus Christ and [[Padre Pio]].{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=59}} A few days later María Luisa Vila declared that she had the same vision.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=60}} On 8 December 1969, Domínguez claimed to have a vision in which the Virgin and the angels gave him a Dominican habit and on 10 December 1969, Domínguez said that [[Dominic de Guzmán]] had appeared to him to recommend praying the [[Rosary]] and the ''[[Pater Noster]]''. On 10 December 1969 he also said that [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]] appeared to him. On 12 December 1969, Domínguez said he had another vision of Dominic and next to him he said he saw the [[Holy Face of Jesus]]. Then he said that Dominic had given him the message that he should expand devotion to the Holy Face, the [[Stations of the Cross]] and the [[Acts of reparation|reparative communion]] on the [[First Thursdays Devotion|first Thursday]] of each month, to repair the outrages to the divine face of the Lord. Domínguez and Corral began to carry a portrait of the Holy Face for prayers in which ecstasy occurred.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=62}}

Domínguez claimed to suffer [[stigmata]] of the [[Five Holy Wounds|Holy Wounds]] during his visions, such as a cross-shaped cut on his forehead{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=77}} and cuts on his hands.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=103}} These visions and stigmata, according to Domínguez himself, also occurred in the boarding house in Seville where he lived. At one point he revealed a 10-centimeter cut on his side, which was a supposed stigmata, representing where Jesus Christ had been pierced in his side by Roman soldier [[Longinus]] with the [[Holy Lance]].{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|pp=108, 109 & 111}} On 16 July 1970, a supposed Marian apparition told him that the waters from a well in the area were miraculous and that it produced healings.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=84}} A [[Pistacia lentiscus|mastic tree]] in the area became the main location associated with some of the visions and on 2 February 1970, the believers put a picture of the Holy Face on it (in Palmarian discourse this is called the "Sacred Place of the Lentisco"). A large number of people were drawn to El Palmar de Troya, with 40,000 people witnessing one of Domínguez' mystical ecstasies and his stigmata.<ref name="elc"/> On 2 February 1970 they put a photo of the Holy Face in the mastic and on 2 March 1972, an image of the ''Divina Pastora'' was blessed. The Virgin of Palmar was placed in the mastic on 12 September 1972.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=62}} On 8 February 1971, there was a reported apparition of Jesus Christ in the mastic to encourage the faithful who gathered at the farm.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=80}}

With the duo of Domínguez and Corral now the people most closely associated with visions at Palmar; the former the visionary stigmatist and the latter the one who wrote down, copied and distributed the information; they set about spreading the message far beyond Spain. The visions were translated into [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]] and [[German language|German]] languages and the newsletter, ''Ecos del Palmar'', was published from [[Barcelona]] by supporter Jóse María Andreu Magri from 1972.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=58}} In the early 1970s, as well as receiving donations form ordinary Catholic followers, they gained some substantial benefactors.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=58}} Most notably, the Baroness de Castillo Chirel, then 90 years old, a devout Catholic woman who had been a follower of Garabandal, gave Domínguez and Corral a donation of 16 million pesatas in 1972 (worth roughly €1.8 million in 2023).{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=59}}<ref name=revista>{{cite journal|author=Moisés Garrido Vázquez|date=March 2008|number=84|periodical=Misterios y fenómenos insólitos|title=El Palmar de Troya: Cuatro décadas de integrismo mariano|url=http://www.ignaciodarnaude.com/ufologia/Rev.%20Misterios,Marzo-2008.pdf}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> As part of their quest to spread the message, throughout the 1970s, the duo, often joined by their ally, Carmelo Pacheco Sánchez (1948–1997), they travelled throughout Spain and Western Europe, before eventually making annual trips across the Atlantic to [[Latin America]] and the [[United States]]. The traffic was not all one way, as pilgrims came to visit El Palmar de Troya from many different countries in the Catholic world, with [[Irish people]] and [[German-speaking people]] ([[Germans]], [[Austrians]] and [[Swiss people]]) being overrepresented.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=107}}{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=108}}

They went to [[Rome]] several times, first on 8 July 1970, where Clemente jumped over a barrier, avoiding [[Swiss Guard]], to kneel before a procession of Pope Paul VI and present a letter (taken by a priest).<ref name="perlado">Perlado, Miguel (1976). [https://hemerosectas.org/palmar-de-troya-12/ El barroco asunto del Palmar de Troya]. HemeroSectas</ref> Corral claimed later the Palmarians met with Cardinal [[Alfredo Ottaviani]] who informed Paul VI. Earlier, on 27 December 1969, they attempted to deliver a letter to the Spanish head of state, Francisco Franco, asking him to read a secret from God to the Spanish nation as part of his end-of-year speech.<ref name="perlado"/> The duo turned up at ''[[Royal Palace of El Pardo|El Pardo]]'' unannounced and ''ad hoc'' meetings were not accepted, they were instead directed to deliver the letter to his private secretariat in the ''[[Royal Palace of Madrid|Palacio de Oriente]]''.<ref name="perlado"/> Stopping off to pray at a Carmelite church on the way, Domínguez had a vision of the Virgin Mary who told him he had been deceived by the devil and to not deliver the letter.<ref name="perlado"/> Another substantial benefactor, gained during their trips to the United States, was the business woman Marguerite Mary Paul (1921–2001) from [[Necedah (town), Wisconsin|Necedah]], [[Wisconsin]] and her husband.<ref>The Daily Tribune (Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin) (2001). [https://wisconsinrapidstribune.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-tribune-marquerite-paul-obit/22292514/ Marguerite Paul Obituary]. The Daily Tribune</ref><ref name=revista/><ref group=lower-alpha>Although compared to their presence in Europe and Latin America (as well as later Africa), the Palmarian following in the [[United States]] was modest in terms of numbers, they had a localised spike in Wisconsin. In 1949, at [[Necedah (town), Wisconsin|Necedah]] there had been Marian apparitions witnessed by Mary Ann Van Hoof (1909–1984), which the Vatican did not accept. Thus a groundwork had been prepared before the Palmarians arrived in the town. The [[Necedah Shrine]], known officially as Queen of the Holy Rosary, Mediatrix of Peace Shrine, exists in the town.</ref> By 1974 Domínguez and Corral were able to purchase the 15,000 square meter plot of land at ''La Alcaparroa''.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=60}} Following an alleged apparition of Jesus Christ on 30 May 1975, the devotees of Palmar were requested to construct a sanctuary at ''La Alcaparroa''.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=96}} Along with the money from donors, a loan was taken out from the Central Bank of Utrera in the name Francisco González, Carlos Girón and Manuel Alonso.{{sfn|Gómez Burón|Martín Alonso|1976|p=96}}

====Foundation of the Carmelites of the Holy Face====
[[File:Coat of Arms of Discalced Carmelites Order.svg|thumb|right|200px|Coat of arms of the Carmelites of the Holy Face, in common with historical usage by [[Carmelites]].]]
Although there were a few ordained priests of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] who were supporters of Our Lady of Palmar and the direction taken by Domínguez and Corral, the majority of those associated with the movement were at that point [[laymen]], as were most of the pilgrims. The nucleus of an organisation began to develop through cenacles (prayer-groups), where the participants referred to themselves as Marian Apostles, or Apostles of the Cross (also Cross Bearers).{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=69}} On 30 November 1975, just ten days after the death of Spanish head of state, Francisco Franco, Domínguez claimed to have a vision of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, announcing that a new religious order would be founded by the Palmarians.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=70}} This order would be a synthesis of "the best" elements of all previous [[Catholic religious orders]] and they were to be the "Apostles of the Last Times" (a reference to the prophecies of [[Louis de Montfort]], a noted Mariologist).{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=70}} With Domínguez himself as General, the order was revealed to the world as the Order of the [[Carmelites]] of the Holy Face on 22 December 1975.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=71}} It was announced that it would have three classes; [[friars]] (for the [[Priesthood in the Catholic Church|priests]] and [[Christian monasticism|brothers]]), [[nun|religious sisters]] and [[third order|tertiaries]] (i.e. — laypeople), each wearing a Carmelite habit and a [[brown scapular]], with the images of the Holy Face of Jesus and Our Lady of Palmar.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=71}}

A major issue that facing the order at the beginning was that it wished to have more ordained priests and indeed consecrated bishops (both Domínguez and Corral wanted this for themselves in particular, as they were officially laymen). They could not rely on the assistance of the local ordinary, Cardinal [[José Bueno y Monreal]], of the [[Archdiocese of Seville]], due to his blanket opposition to anything to do with El Palmar de Troya. Nevertheless, it was ideologically important for the Carmelites of the Holy Face, to receive legitimate [[holy orders]] using the old rite of ordination, from a verifiable bishop of the Catholic Church with (in the Catholic view) undoubted [[apostolic succession]], in communion with Pope Paul VI. The most visible bishop publicly associated with traditionalists was Archbishop [[Marcel Lefebvre]] of the [[Society of St. Pius X]] and the Palmarians had a significant sympathiser within the society, in the form of Maurice Revaz,<ref>Rider, Nick. (2014). [https://www.nick-rider.com/blog/palmar-de-troya/ Journeys to the Bizarre: the Basilica of Palmar de Troya]. Nick-Rider.com</ref><ref group=lower-alpha>Revaz, interested in mythical theories, shared the same belief as the Palmarians on the status of [[Pope Paul VI]]: not only was he a true Pope, but a great [[victim soul]], who was being held hostage in the Vatican by the freemasons who had supposedly infiltrated the Curia. In this conspiratorial telling, these freemasons were supposedly drugging the Pope and in some cases forging his signature on heterodox documents, including for the New Mass. He even proposed to Lefebvre a "mission" to rescue the Pope, but this was dismissed.{{harvnb|Lundberg|2020|p=74}}</ref> a canon of the Swiss [[Great St Bernard Hospice|Abbey of Grand-Saint-Bernard]] who was teaching at the [[International Seminary of Saint Pius X]] at [[Écône]], [[Switzerland]].{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=72}} Revaz asked Lefebvre if he would go to El Palmar de Troya for this purpose, but he declined, pointing them instead to the exiled Vietnamese Archbishop [[Ngô Đình Thục]] with the words "He is orthodox and he is not at present occupied. Go and seek him out. He will most certainly agree with your request."{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=75}}
[[File:Ngô Đình Thục.png|thumb|left|200px|Archbishop [[Ngô Đình Thục]], a prelate of the [[Roman Catholic Church]], ordained and then consecrated clergy for the Carmelites of the Holy Face in El Palmar de Troya.]]
Revaz, along with the McElligotts,<ref name="cc">Chase, Thomas W. (1993). [https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4082 Tridentine Rite Conference and Its Schismatic Cousins, The (Part 1)]. Fidelity Magazine</ref> an Irish Palmarian family who had property in Switzerland, {{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=73}} drove from Switzerland to Rome to approach the Vietnamese archbishop. Revaz and Thục were already familiar with each other as they had both previously met as pilgrims to El Palmar de Troya in 1974. The background of Archbishop Ngô Đình Thục is that he was previously made the [[Archbishop of Huế]], [[South Vietnam|Vietnam]] by [[Pope John XXIII]], but due to the [[1963 South Vietnamese coup d'état]] which killed several close members of his family, he was living in exile in [[Rome]].{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=71}} In 1968, Paul VI had made him the Titular Archbishop of [[Bulla Regia]]. Outraged by the murder of his relatives and deeply [[anti-communist]], he was in good standing in Rome<ref name="spect">[[Damian Thompson|Thompson, Damian]]. (2017). [https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/cult-classic/ Cult classic]. [[The Spectator]]</ref> but increasingly disillusioned with their "diplomatic" approach to communism and started to draw closer to traditionalism in his exile. Revaz convinced Thục that the Virgin Mary sent him to render her a service and that they must leave immediately to [[Andalusia]], he agreed and the party took a three-day car journey to El Palmar de Troya and Thục was celebrating the [[Pontifical High Mass]] there with the Carmelites of the Holy Face by Christmas Eve 1975.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=71}}

While in El Palmar de Troya, on 31 December 1975, without the permission of the local ordinary at Seville, Thục ordained five men of the Carmelites of the Holy Face to the priesthood,{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=71}} conferring holy orders on the two Spaniards; Clemente Domínguez (who took the religious name Ferdinand) and Manuel Alonso Corral (who took the religious name Isidore), the two Irishmen; Paul Gerald Fox (who took the religious name Abraham) and Francis Coll (who took the religious name Gabriel), as well as the Frenchman; Louis Henri Moullins (who took the religious name Zacarias).{{sfn|Garrido Vázquez|2010|p=155}} Following this, the now Father Ferdinand claimed to have a vision from the Virgin Mary declaring that the Carmelites of the Holy Face needed to have bishops consecrated and as proof of this an alleged [[miracle]] was performed, as she had placed the [[Infant Jesus]] in his hands (invisible to the human eye), which Domínguez then passed to Archbishop Thục, who supposedly felt the weight of the Infant in his hands and agreed to the consecrations.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=75}} On 11 January 1976, in a five-hour ceremony through the night, Thục consecrated five Palmarians to the [[episcopacy]], including two men who he had just ordained as priests (Domínguez and Corral), in addition to three priests who had previously been ordained to the priesthood by the Roman Catholic Church, before the visions of Our Lady of Palmar; [[Camilo Estévez (bishop)|Camilo Estévez Puga]] (1924–1997; a Spaniard also known as Leandro), Francis Bernard Sandler (1917–1992; an American Catholic convert from [[Rabbinic Judaism]] who was a [[Benedictine]] and had served as a parish priest in Sweden, also known as Fulgencio) and finally Michael Thomas Donnelly (1927–1982; an Irish priest from [[Belfast]] from the [[Company of Mary]], who within two months left the Palmarians).{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=76}}

[[File:Papa Paolo VI.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Palmarians recognised [[Pope Paul VI]] as a true Pope, but claimed that he was a suffering [[victim soul]] for the church, held prisoner and drugged in the Vatican by [[Masonic conspiracy theory|Masonic infiltrators]].]]
The Vatican, through first Cardinal Bueno, then their Nuncio to Spain [[Luigi Dadaglio]] and finally [[Franjo Šeper]]'s [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]], quickly moved against Thục and the Palmarians.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=77}} They did not question the validity of the orders as such, but essentially declared that they were canonically illicit or irregular, due to not having permission, that they were ''ipso iure'' suspended from exercising their powers and ''ipso facto'' [[Excommunication in the Catholic Church|excommunicated]].{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=77}}{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=78}}<ref name="vat">{{cite web |title=Decree concerning certain unlawful priestly and episcopal ordinations|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19760917_illegitimas-ordinationes_en.html|publisher=[[Vatican.va]]}} Retrieved on 9 November 2023.</ref> The Palmarians for their part, declared their loyalty to Pope Paul VI and argued that the claim of excommunication was illegitimate, claiming that in 1938, [[Pope Pius XI]] had granted Archbishop Thục the special power to ordain priests and bishops without requiring further permission.<ref name="ord">{{cite web |title=Ordinations and Consecrations in El Palmar de Troya|url=https://www.palmarianchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Ordinations-and-Consecrations-in-El-Palmar-English.pdf|publisher=Palmarian Church}} Retrieved on 9 November 2023.</ref> Regardless, in the eyes of the Palmarians, the Roman Curia was categorised as being packed with masonic infiltrators, who were supposedly drugging Pope Paul VI and holding him hostage in the Vatican. In relation to this, Domínguez had another vision in January 1976, where it is claimed Jesus Christ told him to consecrate more bishops and create an episcopal college for Pope Paul VI to come and govern the church from El Palmar de Troya.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=83}} With Thục now fading into the background, the Palmarians under their own initiative between 1976 and 1978 had consecrated 91 additional bishops (mostly Irish and Spaniards, over 40% split almost evenly between these two nationalities, with the rest from mostly German-speaking Europe, as well as English, Nigerians, Argentines, Australians and many more different nations).{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=83}}

In May 1976, a major incident occurred while five Palmarian bishops were returning from a trip to [[Derval]], [[Brittany]], [[France]], as there was a serious automobile crash in the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]].{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=82}} The glass from the windshield shattered and went into the eyes of the General of the Order, Domínguez. Not only was he completely blinded by the incident, but the damage was such that he had to have his eyeballs surgically removed at [[San Sebastián]] hospital.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=82}} The party had gone to Derval to deal with a crisis where a couple of Palmarian bishops there had gone across to the mystic, Pierre Poulain. According to the Palmarians, the devil attacked the car, after Poulain cast a [[black magic]] spell on his rival Domínguez.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=83}} The Spanish media began to call him the "blind-seer." After months of silence, Domínguez reported a vision of Jesus Christ in September 1976, in which Christ is quoted as saying "No one should think that the palm-tree is lying down. It is more upright than ever because victory is found in the passion and crucifixion. Then comes the resurrection."{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=85}} Christ is then quoted as saying that he is preparing Domínguez to be a future Pope.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=85}} God had thus allowed the blinding as a trial, a test of faith and a cross to bear, if he prevailed, he would prove himself worthy of the Papacy.{{sfn|Lundberg|2020|p=85}}
{{Blockquote|text=[[Pope Saint Paul VI]] lived in the Vatican surrounded by enemies, who acted as gaolers and tormentors. This holy Pope passed the days of his pontificate subjected to large doses of drugs, which were administered to him by his tormentors. These were cardinals, bishops, priests and so forth. Among these tormentors there stand out Cardinal [[Jean Villot]], Cardinal [[Giovanni Benelli]], Cardinal [[Sebastiano Baggio|Sebastian Baggio]], Cardinal [[Ugo Poletti|Poletti]],—and among others there also stands out [[Agostino Casaroli|Casaroli]], of the Vatican's diplomatic service, the great traitor, who opened the gates for satanical dialogue with the Marxists. Pope Saint Paul VI is not guilty of the heresies introduced, since he was coerced and drugged. Also the holy Pontiff's signature was forged, and in addition, falsified documents were promulgated. The Masons and other infiltrated heretics in the [[Roman Curia]] reached the point of destroying the Catholic Mass, changing it and putting in its place the [[Mass of Paul VI|heretical Mass]] of the great Mason and traitor [[Annibale Bugnini|Bugnini]].<BR><BR> We give guarantee and assurance, pledging Our word in the name of Christ, that the life of Pope Saint Paul VI was exemplary and virtuous. This holy Pope gave himself up completely to prayer and penance, and, of course, to continual self-sacrifice, his pontificate having been a sorrowful ascent to Calvary. This holy Pope was vilely murdered by the traitors of the Roman Curia.|author=Pope Gregory XVII|source=''Twenty-Fourth Document'', 24 October 1978.<ref name="clementedocs"/>}}