Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez

Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez (4 December 1922 – 29 October 2009) was a Venezuelan Independent Catholic priest who rose to the leadership of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (ICAB). Castillo Mendez was arguably the second or third patriarch of ICAB and its 48 dioceses, although none of his predecessors used that title. He was apparently the nominal head of a network of Iglesias Catolicas Apostolicas Nacionales (ICAN) or National Catholic Apostolic Churches and the Worldwide Communion of Catholic Apostolic National Churches (WCCAC), which were unsuccessful attempts to form an international association of Independent Catholic churches.

Although he had little formal education, Castillo Mendez contrived to be ordained priest on 10 August 1944, although he was immediately censured and was at no point recognized as a Roman Catholic priest. On 8 March 1947, Castillo Mendez became the founder of the independent Venezuelan Catholic Apostolic Church (ICAV – Iglesia Católica Apostólica Venezolana). Castillo Mendez was subsequently excommunicated by the Holy See. On 3 May 1948, he was consecrated as bishop and patriarch at the age of 25 for the Venezuelan Catholic Apostolic Church by Carlos Duarte Costa—the excommunicated former Roman Catholic bishop of Botucatu, Brazil—in the Panama Canal Zone. Castillo Mendez later succeeded Duarte Costa and became the president of the Episcopal Council of ICAB in 1982. He died on 29 October 2009.

Biography

Early life and ministry Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on 4 December 1922, and baptized on 22 December in the Parish of Saint John the Baptist. His parents were Castillo Lopéz and Carmen Mendez and he had five siblings: Ramón, Domingo, Cecilia, José de Jesús and Antonio Obdulio. He was twice expelled from Roman Catholic seminaries, each after only one term, was subsequently jailed in 1938 for impersonating a priest, and was suspected of having a pathological fixation with the priesthood. The Roman Catholic authorities immediately rejected his claim to the priesthood, and after being detained by the police he agreed to leave the country.

Upon returning to Venezuela, at a time of massive upheaval in the country, Castillo Mendez claimed to have been involved in a movement called the Curas Criollos ("Native Priests" or literally "Creole Priests"). Having learned through periodicals about the church reform movement led by the left-wing government critic and Vatican critic Dom Carlos Duarte Costa (former Roman Catholic bishop of Botucatu) in Brazil and the founder of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (separated from the Holy See and the Roman Catholic Church) in 1945, Castillo Mendez entered into correspondence with Duarte Costa. Meanwhile, as the Roman Catholic Church sought to affirm its place in society with the foundation of a new Christian Social political party, anticlerical forces from the Democratic Action and Communist parties saw it as in their interests to encourage the young 'rebel' priest, in order to discredit and disrupt the Catholic Church's plans.

Foundation of the Venezuelan Catholic Apostolic Church

Consequently, in 1947 Castillo Mendez and three other clergy formally established the "Venezuelan Catholic Apostolic Church". Like the Brazilian Catholic church led by its first bishop, Dom Carlos Duarte Costa, the Venezuelan church was to be independent of the Vatican, would use Spanish instead of Latin in the liturgy, and would permit its clergy to marry. Castillo Mendez officially registered the new church with the Interior Ministry in early 1947, with signed affidavits from 250 fellow priests who had unanimously elected him as the bishop of Caracas. The Minister of Interior immediately ordered the federal police to ensure that Castillo Mendez did not wear the vestments or insignia of the office of a bishop. The new church did receive public approval from the Democratic Action and Communist parties.

On 8 March 1947, Castillo Mendez and the other three founders of the Venezuelan independent church were formally excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic archbishop, Lucas Guillermo Castillo, stated in the excommunication directive that the four priests had "violated fundamental dogma of the Roman Catholic Church and held concepts blasphemous, as well as several which are offensive to the person and authority of the Roman Pope Pius XII." The notice further stated that any Catholics who supported this new church would also be excommunicated. In 1961 he acquired Brazilian citizenship.

Primacy

Upon Bishop Duarte Costa's death in 1961, leadership of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church was apparently in a flux for several years, with several individuals leading or claiming to lead the church, often for very brief periods of time. Antidio Jose Vargas initially took over as General Supervisor, followed by Pedro dos Santos Silva as first president of the Episcopal Council, and Luigi Mascolo in the 1970s. By 1982 Castillo Mendez was undisputed leader, elected that year as president of the Episcopal Council of ICAB. In 1988 he was officially designated as the "Patriarch of ICAB", and in 1990 he was given the title of "Patriarch of ICAN (a proposed union of National Catholic Apostolic Churches)", which then became the WCCAC, the church's international communion, a position which he held until his death in 2009.

Personal life Despite the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church allowing priests and the clergy to marry, Castillo Mendez never married. He was said to recite the rosary several times every day; a practice that was abolished by the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church under Duarte Costa. Castillo Mendez wore the Church's gray cassock with red piping but after his designation as, Patriarch of ICAB, he began wearing an off-white cassock and zucchetto.

Death On the morning of 29 October 2009, Castillo Mendez suffered a severe heart attack. He was rushed to the hospital and lost consciousness; he was declared dead at approximately 9:00 am, at the age of 86, in Brasília, Brazil. He was the last living bishop consecrated by Carlos Duarte Costa. His funeral Mass took place at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Brasília, where his body was laid to rest; attending were the Presiding Bishop of ICAB Josivaldo Perreira de Oliveira and bishops of the Episcopal Council and a large gathering of clergy and families.