Los Fundamentos Primitivos de la Ecclesia Gnóstica: Historia, Sucesión y Expansión de una Tradición Subterránea

This study examines the historical foundations of the Gnostic Ecclesia, one of the most persistent and marginalized expressions of heterodox Christian tradition. Through a historiographical approach, it reconstructs the major phases of this current from classical Gnosticism in the early centuries to its contemporary institutional forms that emerged in Europe and the Americas. The article addresses both the suppression of Gnostic doctrines by dominant ecclesiastical structures and the successive reappearances of alternative ecclesial forms, often in contexts of secrecy or through esoteric syncretism and initiatic Masonry. Special attention is given to the 19th-century movements in France (such as the Église Johannite, the Église Gnostique, and the Carmelite movement of Vintras), to the patriarchate of Jean Bricaud and the doctrinal consolidation of the Église Gnostique Universelle, as well as to the alternative apostolic succession initiated by Joseph René Vilatte. The study also explores the expansion of these currents in Latin America through the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church and their later development in North America. Finally, it offers a critical reflection on ecclesial legitimacy, the transmission of initiatic lineages, and the role of secrecy in the preservation of these non-conventional religious structures.