Argentine Catholic Apostolic Church - Foundation

Foundation

Leonardo Morizio Dominguez had been ordained a Priest of the Roman Catholic Church, apparently after converting from Judaism, and served as a Military Chaplain during the 1960s. He was consecrated Bishop by a Bishop of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, Luigi Mascolo. The Italian–born Monsignor Mascolo, also a former Roman Catholic priest, had apparently initially been given the task of infiltrating the Brazilian National Church with the intent to divide it and destroy it. Instead he affiliated himself to it and became Bishop of Rio de Janeiro (consecrated by Dom Artidio Jose Vargas, in turn consecrated by Duarte Costa). Mascolo’s elderly Italian mother ended her days in the belief that her son was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the city, rather than the representative of a schismatic or separatist movement. According to some reminiscences Mascolo, consecrated Bishop in 1964, bore a striking resemblance to his near–contemporary fellow Italian Pope John XXIII.

Once founded in Buenos Aires the Church set about claiming its status as the National Church of Argentina. The movement was registered with the Dirección Nacional de Cultos (National Register of Religions) in 1973, the same year in which a noted and extraordinary Roman Catholic priest, Pedro Ruiz Badanelli (1899–c.1984) joined its ranks and was consecrated Bishop by Morizio Dominguez.