Texas Bishop Gracida dies at 102 – considered Francis an antipope, Benedict’s resignation invalid

He was the only bishop in the United States and one of only a few in the world to state publicly that Francis was not Pope. In his statement of faith published on his blog in 2019, Bishop Gracida said:

I believe that Pope Benedict XVI was criminally forced to resign the office of Pope and did so by means of a letter he read to a meeting of Cardinals, not assembled in Conclave, and that the resignation was not valid.

In a September 5, 2017, blog post, the bishop stated:

In my estimation, for what it is worth, Jorge Bergoglio is an Anti-Pope and Pope Benedict is still the reigning pontiff.

He added:

All of this combined with doubt about the validity of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI justifies doubt concerning whether Francis is THE pope. … If Pope Benedict’s resignation was forced it was invalid and he is still the Pope of the Church but with the chair of Saint Peter occupied by an antipope.

In his March 19, 2019, Open Letter to the Cardinals, he laid out a detailed canonical case that the 2013 conclave was null and void due to violations of Universi Dominici Gregis (pre-conclave campaigning/conspiracy by the “St. Gallen Mafia,” breaches of secrecy, etc.).

In conclusion he told the cardinals, “Monsignor Jorge Mario Bergoglio was never validly elected as the Bishop of Rome and Successor of Saint Peter—he never rightly took over the office of Supreme Pontiff … Monsignor Bergoglio is most certainly not a valid Roman Pontiff … the conclave [was] an utter nullity.”

He called on only cardinals created by John Paul II or Benedict XVI to declare the election invalid, proclaim an interregnum, and hold a new conclave.

Gracida was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on June 9, 1923, and served as a fighter pilot in the Second World War before being ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 1959, by His Excellency Hugh Louis Lamb. Gracida held numerous posts throughout his long career, most notably heading the Diocese of Corpus Christi from 1983 to 1997. He is believed to have been the oldest prelate in America, and the second oldest in the world at the time of his death.

He became a Benedictine monk in 1951, angering his father in so doing, and was ordained a priest in 1959.

Finding monastic life was not for him, he left in 1959 and was incardinated in the Archdiocese of Miami.

In 1971, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Miami and was given his own diocese in 1975. In 1983, John Paul II appointed him as the diocesan bishop of Corpus Christi, Texas.