Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen

The Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen was formed in 1967 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho by Francis Schuckardt,[1] with Denis Chicoine's assistance. In 1969, with the approval of Bishop Sylvester William Treinen, of the Diocese of Boise, Shuckardt formed the group into a religious congregation of sisters and brothers.

With the implementation of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, Schuckhardt and his group came to believe that Pope Paul VI was not a valid pope, and therefore sought services from priests who shared Schuckhardt's views in this regard. In the early 1970s Schuckhardt received holy orders as a priest and as a bishop from Bishop Daniel Q. Brown, an Old Catholic Church bishop.[1]

In the late 1970s CMRI acquired the old Jesuit scholasticate Mount Saint Michael in Spokane, Washington, making it their congregation's center.

In June 1984, Chicoine expelled Schuckardt from the congregation.[1]

In autumn of 1984, the priests sought out a bishop to ordain clergy for CMRI, and found Bishop George Musey of Galveston, Texas, whose episcopal lineage can be traced to Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục. On April 23, 1985, three of the four remaining priests "formally and publicly" took an "Abjuration of Error and Profession of Faith ad cautelam" before Bishop Musey in case, through their previous actions, they had incurred any ecclesiastical censures. Bishop Musey then conditionally ordained them, although he publicly stated he personally had no doubts as to their validity of their earlier ordinations.

In 1986, CMRI held its first General Chapter establishing a formal set of Rules and Constitutions. In the same year, the Rule was approved by Bishop Robert F. McKenna, OP, whose episcopal lineage can also be traced to Archbishop Thục.

In 1989, Father Tarcisius (Mark Pivarunas) was elected Superior General of the Congregation. Father Pivarunas received episcopal consecration in 1991 by Bishop Moisés Carmona, also of the Thục lineage.

In June 2007, 15 sisters living at Mount Saint Michael in Spokane were expelled from the Congregation because they had come to disagree with the Congregation's sedevacantism and to accept the authority of the post-Vatican II popes.[1] They joined the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane and formed the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church (SMMC) under the authority of William Skylstad, bishop of Spokane.[1]

The Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen operates a major seminary, Mater Dei Seminary in Omaha, Nebraska, as well as a minor seminary in Rathdrum, Idaho, known as St. Joseph's Minor Seminary, while the Sisters' motherhouse is located in Spokane, Washington. They have expanded into Canada, Australia, and New Zealand; Central and South America, with centers in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico; and Europe, with Mass centers in England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Russia, and Ukraine.[2][3] All in all, the Congregation is responsible for over 70 Mass centers in the United States and other countries, as well as 20 schools ranging from K-8 to K-12 in the United States,[4] several publications, and a comprehensive online Catholic store.[5]

• Griff Ruby, The Resurrection of the Roman Catholic 2002, p. 166.
• Michael W.Cuneo, The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and traditionale dissent in contemporary American Catholicism, 1999, p. 103, 104.
• Gary Waller, Walsingham and the English Imagination. 2011, p. 42.