Chester Olszewski, alias “Peter II”, is a defrocked Episcopalian bishop who claims to be the "Catholic Archbishop of Bradford, Pennsylvania". He is a sedevacantist claimant to the papacy, appointed by Jesus Christ himself, along with His mother, Mary, making him an antipope.

Activity

He commonly goes by the name Fr. Chrizekial Elias, which he took for himself as a Franciscan,and is the pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church. There, he incorporates Eastern Catholic elements into the Tridentine Mass, occasionally wearing Eastern Orthodox vestments and chanting parts of the Mass in Church Slavonic and Hebrew. Originally having his church based in Eddystone, Philadelphia he moved to Bradford, PA in the early 90's when he heard of visions on the wall of an independent Greek Orthodox Church. There, he met Paula [Last Name Unknown] who was originally of the Greek Orthodox Faith. She has since become his only nun and goes by the name Sr. Veronica. There is one other validly ordained priest in his monastary, an elderly monk named Fr. Peter James. It is known that Fr. Elias and Sr. Veronica spend much of their time at the convent, which is simply Sr. Veronica's Home. It is known that he has a wife and children in Buffalo, New York.

There is a small congregation of approximately twenty followrs, few, if any, of whom are Bradford locals, with the majority traveling several hours. The following can be largely attributed to miracles surounding his church.

Alleged Miracles

He is known to have had a small Spanish statue of Jesus which began to bleed from the hands. The bleeding was witnessed by many people in the Philadelphia area. He smashed the statue at the order of Our Lady only to be revisited and told to save the hands from which the blood issued. He did so, and had a special statue made that allowed one to reinsert the hands into it. They bled on one other occasion, but are not known to have bled since.

Another event that has attracted followers are the aforementioned visions on the church wall. They received extensive world news coverage in 1996, and although the Church investigated, no conclusive results were published. Hundreds of witnesses claimed to be able to see the Crucifixion, Our Sorrowful Mother, and various other images coming out of the wall. The wall - which is still intact although the church has since undergone major revisions - does not seem to have been tampered with or altered in any way.

Teachings

As with most claimants to the title Peter II, Olszewski's theology is highly apocalyptic. His church puts considerable weight into the secrets of the visions at La Salette and Fatima. He uses the following verse from the Book of Apocalypse to validify his papacy:

"And to the angel of the church of Philadelphia, write: These things saith the Holy One and the true one, he that hath the key of David; he that openeth, and no man shutteth; shutteth, and no man openeth (Apocalypse 3:7)"

Olszewski can be contacted at:

Fr. Chrizekial Elias or A-Pope Peter II<br>
Holy Family Catholic Church<br>
5 Walker Avenue<br>
Bradford, PA 16701