Palmarian Christian Church "was all a hoax from the beginning" to profit from believers and supporters of the alleged apparitions of Our Lady of Palmar, and in 2020 expressed regret over not dissolving the church when he was pope. His successor, Pope Peter III, published an encyclical letter in response, in which he accused Hernández of discrediting his former Church in his interview and of stealing two million euros from the Palmarian Catholic Church, alongside several goods (including a BMW X6): he subsequently declared him an apostate, excommunicated him and declared all of his acts to be null and void. Hernández denies the charges of stealing. He and his wife subsequently reconciled with the Roman Catholic Church. Peter III After the abdication of Gregory XVIII, a new pope was elected in the Palmarian Church on April 23, 2016. As expected it was Swiss Joseph Odermatt, who was previously Gregory XVIII's Secretary of State. Odermatt adopted the papal name Peter III. Odermatt disbanded the papal guard corps instituted by his predecessor, deeming it unnecessary for his security. In 2018 he travelled to the United States for the first time. During his office, the Palmarian Christian Church established an online presence for the first time, opening a website and accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and a channel on YouTube. Present In a sermon delivered in August 2011, Gregory XVIII said that the Palmarian Church had between 1,000 and 1,500 members, but in the following years many were excommunicated. In 2015 the number of bishops was probably down to about 30 and the number of nuns were around 30. According to Magnus Lundberg, "except for at the very beginning, most new members were children of Palmarian couples and not people coming from outside". , 32 bishops remained out of 192 men who were consecrated as bishops between 1976 and 2015, according to Lundberg. During the papacy of Pope Peter III, the church established an online presence for the first time, opening a website and accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest and a channel on YouTube. In January 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, it was reported that there were 70 positives, including 4 deaths, within the church premises. The rate of COVID-19 cases in El Palmar was 3,713 cases/100,000 inhabitants, triggering confinement measures for the town in spite of the reduced contact between the church members and the rest of