HT to Jean-François Mayer – Église palmarienne: Grégoire XVIII perd la foi et va se marier, le nouveau pape Pierre III est un Suisse
This must be a cataclysm in the Palmarian Church (see Palmar de Troya to know what this odd phenomenon is). This set-up, founded in late 1975, is based in the village of Palmar de Troya in the Andalusian countryside near Seville in southern Spain. Their third pope, Gregory XVIII, is abdicating his functions to get married after thirty-two years of religious life. His successor is of Swiss origin and has taken the name Peter III.
Going through Dr Mayer’s article, he notes that it is difficult to find reliable information about this very secretive cult. He bases the part of his article devoted to Gregory XVIII (Ginés Jesús Hernández Martínez) on work by the Swedish researcher Magnus Lundberg. Martinez seems to have had a positive effect over the decline of the sect. The delicate financial situation seems to have improved, allowing the completion of that amazing church of theirs. Martinez has left the sect and intends to marry an ex-Palmerian woman. Apparently, he has taken a luxurious car with him and a large sum of money. One wonders whether the sect will prosecute him for theft. The goings-on seem to have been suspected for some time by the senior clergy of the Palmarian Church. The woman’s name would be Nieves Triviño Girela (an entertainer, separated with two children). A newspaper of Seville seems to have interviewed the ex-Pope, who would have confirmed that he was no longer a believer and that he had fallen in love with this woman. He seems to have claimed to have wanted to do everything honestly and in order. The car and the money?
No need for a conclave, once Gregory XVIII was gone on 22nd April, the Secretary of State became Pope the next day with the name Peter III. A Palmarian Pope nominates his successor. Pope Peter’s worldly name is Markus Josef Odermatt, German-speaking Swiss.
The article thinks it very unlikely that the sect would prosecute the former Pope for fear of having to wash its dirty laundry in public. What would be the consequences? Possibly, the role of the Pope would be demythologised as with the real Popes Benedict XVI and Francis. The sect would lose its hold over its adepts, and everything will just dribble away. If Peter III is a good manipulator, he would add an apocalyptic meaning to the Pope’s “apostasy”. There could be, in the interests of survival, a movement of opening to the outside world and dialogue with other Christians. That is an interesting idea for such a radical cult as Palmar de Troya has been for the last forty years. Depending on how well the aggiornamento would be stage-managed, and whether it would be along traditionalist or “modern” lines, it would bring in thousands of curious souls.
Watch Dr Mayer’s space…
The Blue Flower 
My translation of the core section of Dr Mayer’s article:-
Three issues are of particular interest:
It seems to me that in these questions we see the perennial issues that beset religious edifices and organisations – values, mechanisms of control, the problems of human ego, evolution and differences. And this applies equally to larger organisations like the Roman and Eastern churches as much as fringe groups like this one. It means, I think, that no institution can claim some kind of superior authority over truth or in the field of moral virtue. No-one and nothing is indefectible.
A friend who was raised Roman Catholic and who is now an Eastern orthodox priest, has family members who are deeply embedded in the Parmarian cult. I’ll ask him if he has any insights into this.