Apostles of Infinite Love
A traditionalist Independent Catholic religious group headquartered in Quebec, Canada.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
The Apostles of Infinite Love, formally known as the Order of the Magnificat of the Mother of God, is a traditionalist Independent Catholic religious group based in the Saint-Jovite area near Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. It presents itself as a community established to preserve what it regards as the traditional Catholic faith against modernizing developments in the Roman Catholic Church, particularly the liturgical, theological, and institutional changes associated with the Second Vatican Council. The movement is not part of the Roman Catholic Church's recognized hierarchy and is commonly discussed in reference works alongside other independent Catholic, millenarian, and sedevacantist or related movements. The group's origins combine two religious communities. Michel Collin, a French priest from Lorraine ordained in 1935, claimed during the 1930s to have received extraordinary episcopal authority directly from Christ. He founded a movement initially associated with the Order of the Mother of God and promoted devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. During the 1940s, his followers developed small devotional communities, sometimes described as foyers-cenacles, where consecrated hosts were kept in permanent exposition. Collin later claimed that God the Father had placed a papal tiara on him during a vision and adopted the papal name Clement XV. The Roman Catholic Church laicized him in 1951. In Canada, Jean-Gaston Tremblay, Gilles de la Croix, and Léonard du Rosaire founded a community near Saint-Jovite in 1952 under the name Congregation of Jesus and Mary. The community initially received support from Paul-Émile Léger, then Archbishop of Montreal, but that support later declined as the community's direction came to be regarded as excessively extreme. Tremblay encountered Collin in 1961, and the two communities merged under the name Apostles of Infinite Love. Collin subsequently consecrated Tremblay as a bishop within the movement. The merger gave the Canadian community a central role in the organization's later development. The group grew during the early years of the Second Vatican Council, reaching more than 300 people at Saint-Jovite in 1966 according to accounts cited in reference material. Its members opposed changes in Catholic worship and doctrine as well as broader secularization in Quebec, including the transfer of schools and hospitals from church control to government administration. The organization accepts both men and women as religious members. They are described as making vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and following the Rule for the Apostles of the Latter Times, which the group attributes to the Virgin Mary's reported message at La Salette in 1846. Leadership and authority within the movement have been shaped by competing claims of divine appointment. Collin and Tremblay disagreed over succession during the late 1960s. Tremblay claimed in 1968 to have become pope under the name Gregory XVII, while Collin later affirmed that Tremblay was pope. The French branch fragmented after Collin's death in 1974. The Canadian-centered organization continued to maintain an international presence, including communities in the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the United States. Its leader was crowned under the name Pope Gregory XVIII in 2012. The Apostles of Infinite Love has also attracted sustained controversy. Former members and others brought allegations involving sexual abuse, rape, and extortion in proceedings spanning 1978 to 2001. Police raided the Saint-Jovite community in 1999 during a long-running investigation, although the public prosecutor abandoned the charges against Tremblay in 2001. Critics have characterized the movement as a cult because of its apocalyptic worldview, rejection of the outside world, and claims to alternative papal authority. The group's land and institutional presence also became the subject of a Quebec expropriation measure in 2005. Despite these controversies, the organization continues to identify itself as a religious community devoted to traditional Catholic observance and maintains its Quebec headquarters and overseas connections.
History
The Apostles of Infinite Love developed from independent Catholic and Marian movements associated with Michel Collin and Jean-Gaston Tremblay. Collin, a French priest ordained in 1935, claimed in 1936 that Christ had granted him episcopal authority. He organized a community initially called the Order of the Mother of God and promoted devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. During the 1940s, his followers formed small devotional houses in which the Eucharist was continuously exposed. In 1950, Collin reported a vision in which God the Father placed a papal tiara on him and subsequently took the name Clement XV. The Roman Catholic Church removed his clerical status in 1951. Tremblay established a Canadian community near Saint-Jovite in 1952 with Gilles de la Croix and Léonard du Rosaire. Known initially as the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, it had some early support from Montreal Archbishop Paul-Émile Léger. That relationship weakened as the community's practices and positions became more radical. Tremblay later met Collin in 1961, and the two communities merged to form the Apostles of Infinite Love. Collin consecrated Tremblay as a bishop within the movement. The organization made the Saint-Jovite area its principal centre and developed a religious rule combining traditionalist Catholic observance, Marian prophecy, vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and an apocalyptic interpretation of the Church's future. The group expanded during the opening years of the Second Vatican Council. It rejected the council's modernizing direction and criticized what it viewed as the secularization of Quebec society. Its protests addressed changes in Catholic worship, gender roles, and the movement of schools and hospitals from church administration to government control. By 1966, the Saint-Jovite community reportedly exceeded 300 members. The organization accepted both men and women into religious life and created or supported communities outside Canada. The movement experienced internal disputes about succession and papal authority. Collin denounced Pope Paul VI as an antipope after Paul VI's election. In 1967, Collin claimed that divine instructions required him to bypass Tremblay as his successor. Tremblay announced in 1968 that he had become pope as Gregory XVII; Collin later affirmed Tremblay's papal status. After Collin's death in 1974, his French movement divided into factions, while the Canadian organization continued under Tremblay's influence and maintained international connections. The organization established communities in Guadeloupe, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Italy, France, South Africa, and the United States. A convent in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, became associated with pilgrimage after a girl reported a Marian apparition called Our Lady of Tears in 1977. The movement's theology and social structure have led observers to describe it as millenarian, apocalyptic, separatist, or cultic, although the group presents itself as a guardian of authentic traditional Catholicism. From 1978 through 2001, the organization faced litigation and criminal allegations involving rape, extortion, and sexual abuse. A major police raid took place at Saint-Jovite in 1999. The public prosecutor abandoned charges against Tremblay in 2001 after a 34-year investigation. In 2005, Brébeuf secured a Quebec government decree allowing expropriation of the group's land. In 2011, the movement again received media attention after a novice at its East Flatbush convent made and later recanted a rape allegation. The leader was crowned Pope Gregory XVIII in 2012. The group continues to operate from Quebec and to maintain a limited international presence.
- 2012
Gregory XVIII crowned
[1]The movement's leader was crowned under the name Pope Gregory XVIII.
- 1999
Police raid Saint-Jovite community
[1]Police raided the group's secluded Quebec community during a long-running investigation into alleged abuses.
- 1977
Reported Marian apparition in Guadeloupe
[1]A reported apparition associated with Our Lady of Tears helped make a convent in Pointe-à-Pitre a pilgrimage site.
- 1974
Death of Michel Collin
[1]Collin's death was followed by fragmentation among factions of his French movement, while the Canadian organization continued.
- 1966
Saint-Jovite community expands
[1]The Quebec community reportedly grew beyond 300 members during the early years of the Second Vatican Council.
- 1961
Communities merge
[1]Tremblay and Collin merged their communities under the name Apostles of Infinite Love.
- 1952
Canadian community founded near Saint-Jovite
[1]Jean-Gaston Tremblay, Gilles de la Croix, and Léonard du Rosaire founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary in Quebec.
- 1951
Collin is laicized
[1]The Roman Catholic Church removed Michel Collin from the clerical state after his claims to papal and episcopal authority.
- 1936
Collin claims supernatural episcopal authority
[1]Michel Collin announced that Christ had ordained him a bishop and began organizing the movement that preceded the Apostles of Infinite Love.
Products and positioning
A traditionalist Independent Catholic movement positioned as a custodian of pre-conciliar Catholic belief and practice, with strong Marian, apocalyptic, and alternative-papal themes.
Religious services
Traditional Catholic worship
The group's principal offering is communal religious practice based on its interpretation of traditional Catholic belief and worship. This includes prayer, Eucharistic devotion, sacramental activity conducted within its own independent structure, and observance shaped by opposition to post–Second Vatican Council reforms.
Monastic and convent life
Religious community life
The organization operates religious communities for men and women who undertake vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Members are expected to live according to the movement's Rule for the Apostles of the Latter Times and to participate in its distinctive Marian and apocalyptic religious worldview.
Devotional practice
Marian and Sacred Heart devotion
Devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary is central to the movement's religious identity. Its communities also promote Marian prophecy and pilgrimage traditions connected with La Salette and the reported Our Lady of Tears apparition in Guadeloupe.
Controversies
2011
Recanted rape allegation involving East Flatbush novice
A novice at the group's East Flatbush convent reported a rape, later recanted the allegation, and was recalled to Quebec after a police investigation began.
2001
Charges against Tremblay abandoned
The public prosecutor abandoned charges against Jean-Gaston Tremblay after an investigation that had continued for 34 years.
1999
Police raid amid abuse allegations
A large police operation targeted the Saint-Jovite community during an investigation involving allegations of rape, extortion, and sexual abuse.
Marketing campaigns
- 1960Anti-modernization and anti-secularization protests
Canada
The organization publicly opposed changes associated with the Second Vatican Council and criticized the secularization of Quebec, including government control of schools and hospitals and changing social roles.
Outcome. The protests reinforced the movement's traditionalist identity and helped attract Catholics dissatisfied with reforms in the Roman Catholic Church.
Brand decisions
2012
Crown the leader as Gregory XVIIIOtherBackground
The organization continued its tradition of recognizing an internal papal authority separate from the Roman Catholic Church.
Action taken
The movement's leader was crowned under the name Pope Gregory XVIII.
Aftermath
The coronation reaffirmed the group's independent ecclesiastical structure and alternative claims to papal leadership.
1968
Assert an alternative papal successionStrategyBackground
Disputes between Collin and Tremblay concerned divine appointment, succession, and the legitimacy of the Roman Catholic leadership.
Action taken
Tremblay claimed the papal name Gregory XVII, while Collin later recognized him as pope within the movement.
Aftermath
Alternative papal claims became a defining feature of the organization's identity and contributed to factional divisions in related branches.
1961
Merge the Collin and Tremblay communitiesM&ABackground
Tremblay's Canadian religious community had lost the strength of its initial ecclesiastical support, while Collin's movement supplied a distinctive independent Catholic doctrine and leadership structure.
Action taken
The two communities combined under the name Apostles of Infinite Love.
Aftermath
The merged organization established its principal base in Quebec and expanded during the Second Vatican Council period.
Sources2 sources
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