History and Commentary by Br. Alexis Bugnolo
It has been two years and nearly 5 months since the death of Pope Benedict XVI.
Back then, those who claimed he was the valid pope had to confront the reality that the See was vacant and there had to be a new election. Cardinal Re was duly informed by letter in the Vatican Post, and by two channels in Italy, one on YouTube and another a TV station at Rome. The latter aired 4 programs: one interviewing me on the problems in the renunciation, one interviewing me warning the Cardinals from the steps of the Basilica of Saint Peter’s in Chains, one listening to the press release issued on behalf of the Catholics calling for an election by Apostolic Right, and another which was an infomercial aired for nearly an entire week, to everyone in Lazio, announcing the time and place of the Election. All paid for by the readers of FromRome.info and perhaps a half-dozen of my Italian supporters.
Back then Mark Docherty and Ann Barnhardt would have none of it. And when the election results were in, they joined in a vicious bout of ridicule of those who attended. For Ann, I was the green frog like Friar who should have croaked, rather than participated in the Assembly.
But now Mark forgets his principles, and says the next Conclave will be valid
How did that happen, Mark? Seeing that some 80% of the cardinal electors were nominated by Pope Francis, and perhaps 60% of them while Pope Benedict XVI was the pope.
Two years ago, did you not sustain that a Conclave with fake Cardinals could not validly elect the pope?
Or do you now see that you and Ann were wrong to oppose those Catholics (readers of FromRome.Info) who actually worked to restore the juridical order in the Church by organizing and supporting the Catholics at Rome to elect their own Pope, a right they have from the Apostle, and a right they still enjoy when the entire College of Cardinals refuses to act?
How soon you have forgotten. But at FromRome.Info we document everything and have long memories.
On January 18, 2023: “An Antipope has no jurisdiction”, you said, Therefore, he could not appoint valid Cardinals to have a valid Conclave to elect his successor. Remember that?
Then on January 28, 2023: “Br. Bugnolo now threatening Eternal Helfire on anyone not supporting his Monday Marriot faux Conclave”, you said, Remember that? You said that faithful Catholics who held that Pope Benedict XVI never validly abdicated would hold a “faux Conclave”? Where did you get the “Conclave” accusation from, remember? Yes, it was Steve O’Reilley, the ex-CIA agent who dished up that slur, to prevent the public, psychologically, from even looking into the facts. In that article, you said, “As an act of fraternal charity, I want to alert the readership that this is hogwash.” — A very strange notion of “fraternal charity”, if I must say so.
How is it you disagreed with Stevie for 7 years, since he insisted the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI was valid, but now you agree to use his slur of a “Conclave”, knowing well what a Conclave is and is not, and knowing well that I never used that term in reference to the Assembly on January 30th?
Well then, how is the Conclave of 2025 not a “faux Conclave” according to what you have said in the past?
It is not a faux conclave? because all the Cardinal electors are valid cardinal electors precisely because Pope Francis was elected in a juridically valid manner on January 30, 2023? As Br. Hogwash said?
Or have you invented a new presto-magico juridical clause? where a Conclave is valid when Mark says it is, and not valid when Mark says it is not. And Mark can even say that a Conclave of faux Cardinals can be valid? And that an Assembly of the Faithful is a “Conclave”, when it is not; and that all popes in history were elected in Conclaves, which is actually false?
And as for your assertion that the election of Pope Martin V, at the end of the Great Western Schism (September 20, 1378 to November 11, 1417 A. D.), took place with valid and invalid cardinals, that is totally false: because, before the death of the true Pope, the Roman claimant, he came to an agreement with the other popes to accept their cardinals, while they agreed to elect no one else as pope until after his death. So all the Cardinals were valid electors.
Thus, this your recent post, this year, proves that one of us a blatant calumniator and libeler, and the other is at least consistent in what he claims, whether you like it or not.
So read that scripture again, about “Desire the rational milk”, because your position is totally irrational, and the rational milk you rejected 2 years and 2 months ago.
I have published this critique, because as I said two years ago: those who held that Pope Benedict XVI was pope until his death, will either have to become sedevacantists or accept that the election on January 30, 2023 was juridically valid, unless of course they dump their principles and pretend that invalid Cardinals can validly attend a Conclave, which is absurd. So either they have to lose their souls as sedevacantists, or lose their souls for dishonesty, or they can accept that election on January 30th.
And those are the facts, not a threat or even idle threat from anyone on earth.
All the Catholics who attended or supported that election did this for the love of all the Faithful, since without being communion with a valid successor of Saint Peter, we would all wander away from the saving truth of the Gospel. Pope Francis being validly and juridically elected thus, at least all the Faithful returned to communion with a validly elected Successor of Saint Peter, and all the Cardinals of whom were by that election, convalidated, as I explained on February 1, 2023 A. D. in my article: Canonical questions regarding the election of an antipope to the Papacy.
For more information see, “The Triumph of the Lamb of God“, which recounts the entire history regarding the election of Pope Benedict XVI’s successor, and which was published on Feb. 5, 2023 A. D..