Lucian Pulvermacher (1918–2009) was an American Catholic priest who became a papal claimant outside the Roman Catholic Church. In 1998, a small conclavist group elected him in Montana, and he adopted the name Pius XIII.
He should not be confused with a pope recognized by the Holy See. During the years when Pulvermacher used the title Pius XIII, the Roman Catholic Church recognized John Paul II and later Benedict XVI as popes. The significance of Pulvermacher’s story lies in the history of radical Catholic traditionalism, sedevacantism, and conclavism rather than in the official succession of Roman pontiffs.
Who was Lucian Pulvermacher?
Pulvermacher was born Earl Pulvermacher in Wisconsin in 1918. He entered the Capuchin Franciscan order and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1946. He later worked as a missionary and priest before separating from the post-Vatican II structures of the Roman Catholic Church.
Like some other traditionalist Catholics after the Second Vatican Council, Pulvermacher rejected major developments in the Catholic Church and eventually adopted a sedevacantist position. Sedevacantists hold that the Holy See is vacant because they believe one or more recent popes were not valid popes.
From sedevacantism to conclavism
Sedevacantism creates an obvious practical problem: if the papal office is vacant, how can a new pope be chosen? Conclavism is one answer developed by small groups on the margins of Catholic traditionalism. Conclavists attempt to organize their own election of a pope, outside the College of Cardinals and the procedures recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.
Historian Magnus Lundberg, who has studied modern alternative papal movements, documents several such elections. Pulvermacher’s group was one of them.
The 1998 election in Montana
On 24 October 1998, Pulvermacher was elected by members and supporters of a small group in Montana. Many participants were laypeople, and some cast ballots from a distance. Pulvermacher took the papal name Pius XIII and led the group that called itself the “true Catholic Church.”
From the group’s perspective, the election ended a long vacancy in the papacy that they believed had existed since the death of Pius XII in 1958. That claim was not accepted by the Roman Catholic Church and did not receive recognition from the worldwide Catholic episcopate.
Was Pius XIII a Roman Catholic pope?
No. In historical and ecclesiastical terms, Lucian Pulvermacher was a papal claimant associated with a small conclavist movement. His use of the name Pius XIII did not place him in the recognized line of Roman Catholic popes.
This distinction is essential. Calling him simply “Pope Pius XIII” without qualification can make it appear that the Catholic Church elected or recognized him. It did not.
What did his movement believe?
Pulvermacher and his supporters rejected the legitimacy of the post-Pius XII popes and opposed many developments associated with the Second Vatican Council. They regarded their own community as preserving authentic Catholic continuity while believing that the official hierarchy had departed from the faith.
Those beliefs belong to the movement’s own theological interpretation. Mainstream Catholic doctrine and canon law did not accept its conclusions or its alternative election.
Later years and death
Pulvermacher continued to use the title Pius XIII and issued writings for his followers. His public activity declined in his later years. He died in 2009.
His movement remained very small compared with the Roman Catholic Church and with larger traditionalist Catholic organizations. Nevertheless, it is useful to historians because it illustrates how disputes over authority can produce alternative institutions and competing claims to religious legitimacy.
Why the terminology matters
For a reference article, neutral terminology is important. “Pius XIII” can be used when explaining the name Pulvermacher adopted, but the article should identify him as a conclavist papal claimant, not as an officially recognized pope.
This approach neither endorses nor ridicules the movement. It simply distinguishes the group’s internal claim from the institutional position of the Roman Catholic Church and from the historical record of recognized papal succession.
