Background
Pivarunas was born to his father, Walter Pivarunas and an ethnic Italian mother in Chicago, Illinois.
Pivarunas was born to his father, Walter Pivarunas and an ethnic Italian mother in Chicago, Illinois.
He entered the religious life in September 1974, entering the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen taking the religious name Brother Mary Tarcisius. He made his final profession on September 12, 1980, at Central Mining Research Institute"s headquarters at Mount Saint Michael in Spokane, Washington. On April 23, 1985, after some time without a clear leader, Pivarunas and the clergy met with Bishop George Musey (an independent, Thuc line bishop), who agreed to advance Pivarunas and two others to the priesthood on June 27, 1985.
Bishop Musey"s connections with Mount Saint Michael were limited after that.
A coalition of the priests elected the 30-year-old Pivarunas to the post of Superior General of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen in August 1989. In 1991, the Central Mining Research Institute clergy made contact with another sedevacantist bishop, the Mexican Moisés Carmona, who offered to elevate Pivarunas to the episcopate, without the normally required papal mandate.
On September 24, 1991, Father Pivarunas was consecrated a bishop by Carmona at Mount Saint Michael. On November 30, 1993, Bishop Pivarunas conferred episcopal consecration to Father Daniel Dolan in Cincinnati, Ohio, and on May 11, 1999, he also consecrated Martin Davila for the Sociedad Sacerdotal Trento to succeed Moisés Carmona.
Bishop Pivarunas now resides in Omaha, Nebraska serving as Superior General of Central Mining Research Institute and as rector of the congregation"s Mater Dei Seminary there.
