David Allen Bawden (September 22, 1959 – August 2, 2022),[1] who took the name Pope Michael I, was an American conclavist claimant to the papacy. Bawden believed that the Catholic Church had apostatized from the Catholic faith since Vatican II, and that there had been no legitimate popes elected since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958. In 1990 he was elected pope by a group of six laypeople, including himself and his parents. In 2011, he was ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop by an Independent Catholic bishop.
David Bawden | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Pope Michael I | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Installed | July 16, 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Term ended | August 2, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Rogelio Martinez | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Opposed to | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Orders | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ordination | December 11, 2011 by Robert Biarnesen | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Consecration | December 11, 2011 by Robert Biarnesen | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | September 22, 1959 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | August 2, 2022 (aged 62) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ordination history | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life and education
editBawden was born in 1959 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Clara (née Barton) and Kennett Bawden.[1][2][3] He attended elementary school and high school in Oklahoma City.[2] He had one brother.[3]
Bawden's parents were traditionalist Catholics who rejected Vatican II.[4] In the mid-1970s, he and his family became followers of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX).[5][6] Bawden entered the SSPX seminary in Écône, Switzerland, in 1977, then transferred to Saint Joseph's Priory in Armada, Michigan. He was dismissed in 1978.[4][6] His family subsequently moved to St. Marys, Kansas, where the SSPX ran Saint Mary's Academy and College. Bawden worked for the school and his brother attended it.[7] In 1981 Bawden broke with the SSPX.[5] Prior to claiming the papacy, he worked as a real estate agent and furniture maker.[8]
Claim to the papacy
editBawden believed that all the popes since the death of Pope Pius XII on October 9, 1958, were modernists, heretics, and apostates, and that their elections were invalid.[9] On July 16, 1990, Bawden, his parents, and three other laypeople held a papal conclave at the Bawden family's thrift store in Belvue, Kansas.[5][3] Bawden, then aged 30, was elected pope.[10][11] He styled himself "Michael I" after Saint Michael the Archangel.[8] Bawden had invited hundreds of Independent Catholic bishops and sedevacantists to the election, but none attended.[12] As Bawden was not ordained until 2011, he was unable to celebrate Mass or confect the sacraments as a priest.[4]
Later years and death
editAfter the election, Bawden continued living at home with his parents.[3] In 1993, they relocated to Delia, Kansas.[5] His father died in 1995.[13] Bawden established a presence on the internet as an alternative claimant to the papacy;[14] in 2009 he stated that he had approximately 30 "solid followers".[15] He supported himself through donations and by republishing out-of-print religious literature.[6] In 2010, the independent filmmaker Adam Fairholm released a feature-length documentary about him, Pope Michael.[16]
Bawden announced that he had been ordained a priest and then consecrated a bishop on December 11, 2011, by an Independent Catholic episcopus vagans, Bishop Robert Biarnesen of the Duarte-Costa and Old Catholic episcopal lineages.[17][18] Bawden said that he was able to validly celebrate Catholic sacraments, offer the Mass, ordain other men to the priesthood, and consecrate them as bishops, since he believed that the Duarte-Costa and Old Catholic lineages were recognized as valid by the Catholic Church.[19]
In a 2022 interview released posthumously, Bawden said that his church had grown to more than 100 members.[20]
On July 10, 2022, his church's Twitter account posted that Bawden had to have emergency surgery and was in a coma.[21] Bawden died on August 2, 2022, in Kansas City, Missouri.[1][22]
On July 29, 2023, some of his followers elected Rogelio Martinez, a bishop from the Philippines, as his successor. He took the name Michael II.[23]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Obituary for Father David A. Bawden". www.davidsonfuneral.com. Davidson Funeral Home. Archived from the original on August 3, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
- ^ a b Seba, Erwin (July 23, 1990). "'Pope' explains theological conflicts". Kansas State Collegian. Vol. 96, no. 165. pp. 1, 5.
- ^ a b c d Henning, Sarah (October 17, 2009). "The gospel of Pope Michael: Kansan stakes own claim to Catholic Church". Lawrence Journal-World. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ^ a b c Brisendine, Steve (May 30, 2005). "Despite few followers, 'Pope Michael' holds to beliefs". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Archived from the original on November 28, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Melton, J. Gordon (1994). "Catholic Church (Pope Michael I)". Encyclopedia of American Religions: Fourth Edition Supplement. Detroit: Gale Research Inc. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-8103-8818-5.
- ^ a b c Bawden, David; Asadi, Torang (September 2, 2010). Pope Michael Oral History. Religious Studies Department, University of Kansas. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ^ Crumbo, Christine (August 17, 1990). "Kansas worshippers secede, elect pope". Miami Herald. Knight-Ridder News Service. Archived from the original on August 3, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ^ a b Fruhling, Larry (November 4, 1990). "Papal pretender twits the real one". The Des Moines Register. pp. 1A, 9A.
- ^ Frank, Thomas (2004). "Antipopes among us". What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. Macmillan. pp. 217–224. ISBN 978-0-8050-7339-3.
- ^ "Group elects area man pope". Kansas State Collegian. Vol. 96, no. 164. Associated Press. July 19, 1990. p. 8.
- ^ Fox, Robin (2011). The Tribal Imagination: Civilization and the Savage Mind. Harvard University Press. p. 104. ISBN 9780674059016.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Vatican in Exile. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- ^ "Obituary: Bawden, Kennett". Rossville Kansas Genealogy. Archived from the original on August 5, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ Last, Jonathan V. (December 2005). "God on the Internet". First Things. No. 158. pp. 34–40. ISSN 1047-5141. Archived from the original on August 3, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ^ Fairholm, Adam (director) (2010). Pope Michael (Documentary). Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- ^ Mills, David (February 28, 2012), "We have a Pope, but not that one", First Things, Institute on Religion and Public Life, archived from the original on August 5, 2022, retrieved December 25, 2018
- ^ Jarvis, Edward (2018). God, Land & Freedom: the true story of ICAB. Apocryphile Press. p. 169. ISBN 9781947826908.
- ^ Anderson, Phil (January 13, 2012). "Kansas 'pope' leads a flock in exile". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Archived from the original on August 5, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ^ Bawden, David (November 2, 2016). "Validity of The Ordination and Consecration of Pope Michael". Pope-Michael.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
- ^ Interview with Pope Michael. Pontifacts Podcast. September 2, 2022.
- ^ #Vatican in Exile [@Francis5Domini3] (July 10, 2022). "Please keep His Holiness Pope Michael in your prayers. He had emergency brain surgery this evening. Blood was found on the brain. For the time being he is being kept in a coma" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ #Vatican in Exile [@Francis5Domini3] (August 3, 2022). "Today at 10:18 Pope Michael passed on into eternity. RIP" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Habemus Papam!: Michael II". Magnus Lundberg. August 10, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.