Clemente Domínguez y Gómez

Who was Clemente Domínguez y Gómez?

Clemente Domínguez y Gómez was a self-proclaimed successor of Pope Paul VI, and was recognised as Pope Gregory XVII by supporters of the Palmarian Catholic Church breakway movement in 1978. His claim was not taken seriously by mainstream Roman Catholicism, the vast majority of whom were unaware of his existence.

Clemente Domínguez y Gómez was born in Seville, Spain. He was known as la Voltio among the Seville gays. He became closely associated with the Palmar de Troya movement, which had its origins in an alleged apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 30 March 1968 in El Palmar de Troya, a little village near Utrera in the Province of Seville. He claimed to have experienced visions of the Virgin Mary from 30 September 1969. He claimed that the Virgin in her messages condemned heresy and what was called progressivism, namely the reform of the Catholic Church underway as a result of Vatican II. His followers claimed he possessed the stigmata, the wounds of Jesus after crucifixion, on his hands. However, the Catholic Church cast doubts on the legitimacy of the alleged visions and apparitions.