Kenneth's Story

I am a Traditional Catholic man, although not always so. I came of age during the changes following the Second Vatican Council. The "autodemolition" of the Church and the horrors of the aftermath had become evident to me. Eventually I led my parents and most of my siblings away from the Concilliar Church in search of Tradition.

I also want to point out that I am not claiming to be perfect or to have a perfect understanding. I have accepted plenty of blame in this. What is related going forward has nothing to do with myself or my wife, but rather the damage done by those we went to for counseling.

In our search for Tradition, our family became associated with the CMRI. At the time they presented themselves as holy traditional Catholic clergy. Our family went as far as buying property and moving an old Catholic church in which we could hold services. Things felt right and everything appeared to proceed as tradition would have it. And then everything changed.

My wife and I were married by a traditional Priest in 1984. Many couples find that things are not always easy. We had our struggles and occasional discord. However, as my wife entered menopause, things changed drastically. She became increasingly more hostile and we went to our CMRI priests for help with our problems. At the time we did not know that they had little or no formation and were ill prepared to help. In the end their activities destroyed my marriage and drove our family apart.

When this whole thing began, I believed that I was working with honorable people. I was naive and did not think it necessary to document what happened. As contradictions began to appear I began to make notes of what happened. Much of the early interactions are therefore relegated to memory, but there is a lot of documentation as to what happened in the latter stages of this fight. Following is a taste of what I have done to try and save my family.

Initially I suffered from a blindness that many traditional Catholics suffer from. We are so desperate for the Traditional Sacraments, that we cannot see what is in front of us. We cling to the appearance of tradition, but in some instances find ourselves supporting lies and fraud. Such is the case with the CMRI and their leader. I have concluded that this group does not have true Apostolic succession, their orders are at best illicit and more often invalid, they lack all authority, and are in it for the thrill of power/prestige or money. As one Priest recognized, "If they have a pulse and can 'say' Mass, they make them a Priest." The clergy they produce are not formed in the Catholic Faith and are incapable of leading souls to Heaven.

I am very stubborn and believed that I could save Pivarunas from his delusions. I finally realized what he was when he filed a protection order against me. The deceit in the petition for the protection order was bad enough, but sitting in the courtroom listening to him lie under oath was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. The pathetic display for the judge made my stomach turn. In the end it reinforced that it was all done to protect his little empire. There was no concern for truth or souls.