Tag Archives: Sedevacantism

Faith

The Heresy of classical Sedevacantism

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by Br. Alexis Bugnolo

“Sedevacantism” is the term for the ideological position that there has not been a legitimate occupant of the Apostolic See, that is of the Catholic Bishopric Diocese of Rome, since time X, because long ago there was some secret conspiracy during a conclave which rendered that conclave invalid.

Those who hold such positions, for the most part, either go back to the Conclave of 1958 or that of 1963. These are called “sedevacantists”, and I call them “classical” because of new types such as those who hold after the death of Pope Benedict XVI there can no longer be valid popes — a thesis encouraged by Andrea Cionci and Don Minutella, here in Italy.

But one of the core theological positions often found with classical Sedevacantism is that the ritual for the consecration of Bishops in the New Rite after Vatican II cannot validly effect the consecration of a Bishop.

There are a number of problems with their position, such as this, that they reject the principles of sacramental theology explained so well by Saint Thomas Aquinas and sustained by Saint Alphonsus dei Liguori.

Their chief motivation for adopting this denial is to justify their conspiracy theories about invalid conclaves and invalid popes. They say, for example, that Pope Benedict XVI could not validly be a pope because he was never validly consecrated as a Bishop, even though his principle consecrator, Msgr. Josef Stangel, was consecrated a Bishop in 1957, in the “Old Rite”.

The problem with this theological position of theirs regarding episcopal consecrations is that the formula or prayer used during the new rite for the ordination of Bishops is modeled nearly word-for-word with those used by the Maronites and Copts from time immemorial, at least from the 4th Century after Christ.

So if these formulae or prayers, which form the essential part of the very act of consecrating a Bishop, were not able to validly consecrate a celibate Catholic man as a Bishop, these Churches would then not have valid sacraments of the Eucharist, Ordination, Penance, Extremunction and Confirmation.

But the Roman Church has always regarded these eastern Rites as having valid sacraments.

So if you sustain the position of classical Sedevacantists, you have to admit that the Roman Church fell into error with these two other Churches before the 4th century A. D., and that therefore the Roman Church is not a legitimate Church, and its Bishops have never been true successors of the Apostle Saint Peter.

However, being inconsistent, classical Sedevacantists will claim that their position against the ordination of Bishops in the New Rite is based on the teachings of Pope St. Pius X and Pope Leo XIII!

I hope you now can see that Sedevacantists who hold such a theological position against the validity of episcopal consecration in the Novus Ordo are actually a form of extreme protestant who believes that the Church fell away from Christ in the first centuries, and that they alone are true Christians, since their private personal judgement is the only thing infallible since Christ ascended into Heaven, and if you do not bend to their magisterium of error you will be damned.

The reality is however that they are heretics and schismatics far worse than any form of heretic and schismatic since the time of the Donatists in 5th Century North Africa, and that they surely will be damned in the worst pits of hell for attacking the very legitimacy of Holy Mother Church from ancient times.

What these classical Sedevacantists are doing, in addition, is diverting the attention of Catholics away from the deficiencies in the New Rite towards the bogus argument denying validity. These ideologues actually have a very shallow understanding of the Sacraments and ignore totally the impetratory and sanctificatory nature of prayer and ritual. — The true Catholic position, however, is that, in the New Rites, in which many rituals or prayers were removed, which formerly asked more explicitly for grace, and inculcated better and more effectively the spirit of humility and the dispositions to practice theological Faith, Hope and Charity, are thereby not as able to prepare for and communicate grace to those who attend them, as the old rites were. — And by this shell game, of misdirection, Sedevacantists actually perpetuate the errors of the Aggiornamento, by creating a distraction, based on the false claim of invalidity, to terrorize and psychologically control Catholics through fear and error.

I won’t even mention that most of them cannot read Latin and know nearly nothing about how to make theological or philosophical distinctions. Nor, that they do not actually believe what they attempt to convince others to believe, because they have never filed a canonical complaint for heresy or an invalid election against any of the Popes they reject. Never. Ever! — Even though, in the Catholic Church from at least the 18th Century, to the Code of Canon Law of 1983, if you did not denounce a heretic, within 30 days, you yourself would be suspect of heresy.

It is good and sane to keep in mind, that consecration as a Bishop of itself does not guarantee that a man be holy or even honest, nor does it make him impossible to fall into error. All the Bishops who approved of Vatican II were consecrated in the old rites, but that did not prevent them from being beguiled by the notion of “aggiornamento” (updating). Contrariwise, just because a Bishop is ordained in the New Rites does not mean he is a dishonest man, since at present in the Roman Rite, at least, it would be considered illicit to be consecrated in the Old Rite. These divisions, errors and sins in the Church can only be exorcised with a Catholic Pope, legitimately elected, at Rome. They cannot be solved by complaining and then doing nothing or running away from that battle.

For those who want more information about Episcopal Consecrations, you can read my two part study, published more than 5 years ago, about the Ritual for Consecration of Bishops, with original texts in Latin and English translation, by clicking this image below:

Ecclesiology, Editorials, Faith

False and True Catholic Militancy

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by Br. Alexis Bugnolo

Traduction française

In the world controlled by Freemasonry, the hallmark of their civilization is to constantly offer the masses the fake version of the truth.

We see this in every aspect of daily life.

In the supermarket, you can find cheese food, instead of natural cheese; wonder bread, instead of real bread; corn syrup instead of sugar; and vegetarian meat substitute instead of real meat.

In the personal care aisle, you can find sunscreen with cancer causing chemicals, body wash with lubricants, cold remedies which cure nothing, and vitamins with daily dosages at toxic levels.

I could go on about almost every other aspect of life, from political parties which claim to be nationalistic, run by Jews, and home construction companies selling houses which will fall apart within 5 years, or appliance companies making dishwashers which self destruct.

And in the Catholic Church we have been given in Vatican II the fake varieties of nearly everything, from the priesthood which is dedicated to social justice, rather than the salvation of souls; religious nuns and monks who are concerned more with action than prayer and personal santification; a Mass which is about entertainment, rather than the worship of God, etc..

False Militancy in the Church

But the push to turn the Catholic Church into a globalist control and recruitment NGO is chiefly advancing because Catholics are beset on all sides with fake offers of militancy.

I say “fake offers” of “militancy”, because as the Church Militant our chief duty is to hear the Holy Spirit and take up arms, sometimes even physical ones, against the opponents of God, Divine Revelation and Sacred Tradition.

But an offer of fake militancy neutralizes this work of the Holy Spirit by convincing Catholics that the tried and true work of Catholic Saints preaching against sin, rebuking errant clergy, and calling for the deposition of heretics, schismatics and the perverse, while sometimes even supporting and participating in Crusades, is wrong, evil, out of date or inappropriate.

On top of that, the forms of militancy which we are urged to embrace are actually designed to take us out of the fight and let the enemies of Christ take control of the battle field.

Among these false forms are Sedevacantism, Sedeprivationism and Traditionalism.

Sedevacantism, a concept developed by a pedophile, is the assertion that after Pius XII or any other given pope, there can never be another valid pope simply because I say so. Sedevacantists use the protestant error of private judgement along with the masonic journalistic error of misquoting your alleged opponent, to convince Catholics to despair that Christ wills the restoration of His Church and will give victory to those who enter the battlefield.

Instead, Sedevacantists push a gospel of despair while satisfying themselves with a spirituality of Jansenists, who thought that their select few were the only righteous persons to be saved.

Sedevacantists spend all their time, accordingly, trying to convince good Catholics to give up the fight, by calling this or that Pope or cleric a heretic, instead of trying to remove from office the cleric they attack.

The other kind of false militancy is Sedeprivationism, where it is claimed that because the Pope(s) has (have) erred or veered from the right path, while he (they) remain(s) in office, there is nothing other Catholics can do but ignore him (them) and found their own churches.

This kind of false militancy attempts to convince Catholics to give up the effort to liberate the Church from ecclesiastical criminals and to simple settle back at be satisfied with their own private chapels.

The most common form of classical sedeprivationism is Cassicianism, which holds or held that Paul VI veered so much from the Faith, that while remaining Pope, he no longer could morally oblige any Catholic by his decrees.

Those who recognized that Pope Benedict XVI was pope until death but refused to seek that he have a successor are also involved in a false militancy, which has dedicated them to seeking a pope in Don Minutella or in making useless petitions to the Cardinals who have no authority to act (Cioncism).

But the most common form of false militancy today is the Traditionalist movement which aims only at having the perfect Latin Mass Chapel, either independent from the local Bishop or under him, as if having the perfect liturgy celebrated by pacifists is going to win this war. In each case, having the chapel and traditional Latin Mass is put at the top of the list, and everything, even fighting corruption in the Church or in the group which says the TLM is sacrificed for that.

True Catholic Militancy

As readers of FromRome.info know, I am always advocating militancy, but of the true kind.

Love for Christ, when it is true, will always lead to the love of the salvation of souls and hence for love of the Catholic Faith, Religion and Church. Such love will always include the desire to remove criminals from the clergy, correct errors in practice and denounce heresies and apostasy, while opposing sacrilege, simony and blasphemy.

True love of Christ requires that we actually rebuke those who are guilty and not be satisfied to talk about their sins in public or private.

True love of Christ is founded also upon an unshakeable trust in Christ that He will always be at one’s back if one fights to purify and protect His Church, His faithful and His teachings.

Thus true militancy is the consequence of a soul on fire with the Holy Spirit, inspired to do something constructive to solve a problem in the Church and in a canonical that is lawful manner. It aims not at acquiring some advantage for myself but for the whole people of God. It employs one’s own personal reputation, resources, talents, time and effort, and it crusades with the zeal of charity and truth, never separating.

True Militancy follows the examples of the Saints of old, putting prayer in the first place, personal integrity of life in the second, and specific goals for reconstructing what has always been on the agenda of the Holy Spirit.

This is why true Militancy today requires a different approach than sedevacantism or sedeprivationism.

And the approach is not pretending that there is no problem with Fiducia supplicans.

  • Nor is it pretending that it is tolerable that some priests comply with that Declaration and others do not.
  • Nor is it in pretending that whatever my priest does in private does not concern me.
  • Nor is it satisfied in only having some voices speak against it now and then forgetting about it tomorrow.
  • Nor does it consist in grifting on the issue today and moving on to grifting on another issue tomorrow.
  • And it certainly DOES NOT consist in listening to grifters for entertainment today and forgetting about the controversy tomorrow, as the grifter moves on to something else.

Rather, it recognizes that Fiducia supplicans must be withdrawn and entirely repudiated by everyone in the Church, beginning with the Pope. And in demanding everyone who has endorsed it, to repent. And if they fail to repent, in removing them from office in the Church.

This true Catholic Militancy is not for the self-centered Catholic. The warriors in this crusade need to be those who never lay down their arms until victory is won. They also have to be true lovers of Christ who fight for the whole Mystical Body and not just to conquer back their neighborhoods.

We must recognize that this horrendous sin of endorsing Fiducia supplicans puts the Apostolic See and every diocese, where its bishop endorsed it, into an impeded state. We must stop funding all their projects and insisting that until they repent they have lost all moral authority to rule over us, being as they are enemies and rebels against God, and we must urge the clergy who remain Catholic to publicly rebuke them for their public sin.

We should form a committee in our diocese, if our Bishop is guilty of such a sin, to see this done, and recruit militant Catholics to participate. And we must constantly emphasize and demonstrate the wickedness concealed in this horrendous document.

Let us pray to the Holy Spirit that He might raise up a generation of Catholics who truly love God and His Church, who truly care for the salvation of all and who are awake enough to avoid the fake forms of militancy which are offered to us to control and neutralize any effort to fight against the enemies of God.

Here at FromRome.info we sponsor the Sutri Movement, which is the effort to get Pope Francis removed from office using the Canonical Means of a Provincial Council. — In addition, I explain to Bishops and clergy that their best canonical position for resisting Fiducia supplicans is in recognizing and publicly declaring the Apostolic See impeded by the horrendous betrayal of Pope Francis of the Gospel. — These two efforts require work and self-sacrifice. They also commit you to true militancy, because they aim at solving the problem for everyone, not simply lamenting it.

For those who want to seek the repentance of their own clergy and Bishop who support Fiducia  supplicans, FromRome.info will be publishing this week a free pamphlet in English, and then in other languages, explaining the horrible evil of the document. This pamphlet will be offered in PDF format so that you can, without charge, have it printed locally in the thousands and get your friends and fellow Catholics to distribute it in your Diocese. The purpose of this pamphlet will be to raise up an army of Catholics who militate for the repentance of your local clergy and the repudiation of this Declaration.

Canon Law, Faith

Discernment vs. the Arrogation of Juridical right

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by Br. Alexis Bugnolo

FRANÇAIS

In the Catholic Church, the authority to judge comes from God alone. Catholics cannot maintain their status as Catholic for long, so long as they do not accept that principle.

Thus, by the Faith which comes from God we can, if we understand it well, discern who is teaching wrongly or not. And we can then discern whether a man be teaching contrary or apart from Christ, His Apostles or Prophets.

And this personal discernment is an ability, but not all have the capacity. Since though we all receive faith in Baptism, not all have faith, and not all understand the Faith.  Faith is the virtue, the Faith is the sum of the doctrines of our holy religion. Both come from God. But having the knowledge of one does NOT guarantee the other.

Now in the Church, since the authority to judge for the community comes from God, God has given it to Bishops alone, and to the Bishop of Rome in its highest grade here on earth. These alone can take away the canonical rights of an individual or community.

The recognition of this is what separates and distinguishes Catholics from protestants and orthodox schismatics. These latter two refuse to accept the Pope as supreme judge in matters of faith and discipline. And protestants refuse also to accept bishops as judges in matters of discipline in their own dioceses.

And here is the pitfall of all those Catholics who take the first step on the road of Sedevacantism: they refuse to admit that while they have the ability by faith to discern who is a heretic, they have no juridical authority to declare anyone such, as to deny that accused of his canonical rights.

This is affirmed in the very important passage in Universi Dominici Gregis, n. 35. This rule echoes the long standing debate among canonists, which Pope Paul IV in 1559 spoke, of what is to be done with a Cardinal who deviated publicly from the faith prior to his election to the Pontificate. Paul IV wanted in his Constitution, Cum ex apostolatu officio, that his election be declared null and void. His constitution however was annulled by his successor. And the precedent of his opinion was refuted in the above manner in every subsequent Papal Law on elections.

The reason for this, is, if an undeclared person could be refused the canonical right to vote (active voice) or be elected (passive voice), then it would introduce into the election a doubt which could possibly render many or most elections doubtful and hence invalid.

And the theological justification for removing this doubt, is the Faith of the Church in the promise of Jesus Christ and His always efficacious power of impetration, when He declared, “Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to sift you all as wheat, but I have prayed for YOU, that your faith may not fail, and when you are converted, confirm your brethren.”

Note, our Lord says, “when” not “if”, because His is always efficacious in His prayer to the Father and obtains all that He asks for.

And since the man elected pope becomes the target of Christ’s prayer, thus promised, it matters not if he had deviated from the faith beforehand, so long as he was not declared by the Church to have done so.  For if he was declared by the Church, then the word, of Christ would apply: “He who hears you hears Me.”

Those who become Sedevacantists do not avert to these words of Jesus Christ, and once they start on that path, out of pride they refuse to accept them, so as to justify the path already undertaken. And so they fall into heresy and schism, and go to perdition, because if you do not believe in every word of Jesus Christ, you cannot be saved.

And now, this is the temptation of those who refuse the juridically valid election of Bergoglio on Monday, and who are attempting to argue thus: that election cannot be valid, because it elected a man whom I consider a heretic.

To these I say: YOU are not the Church. YOU do not have the juridical authority to declare someone a heretic. Yes, you have by faith the ability to discern heresy, if you know your faith. But that is not the same thing. To presume that your judgement of heresy is equivalent to a juridical pronouncement is to arrogate to yourself a right which God has not given you. Even Cardinals in the Conclave do not have this right. How much more a bishop, priest, or layman anywhere else at any time, when the person to be judged is not even under their jurisdiction.

Perhaps, the ignorant confound the possibility that some tribunal or future pope might agree with their judgement as sufficient authorization, but they are confusing the ability to discern from the authority to issue a judgement binding on the community.

Have a little humility.

Have faith in Christ.

Only those who have both, can be saved.

ADDDENDUM

Only in certain cases, where the Church herself or the very nature of the act prescind from the necessity of a public judgement, can Catholics act on the basis of personal discernment.  Such is the case of papal renunciations, which must be manifest in themselves, and when doubtful, can be considered invalid by all Catholics who thus discern them to be. This is because a renunciation of papal office cannot be judged or interpreted by anyone, since there is no one who can judge it. For if it was invalid, the pope would remain the pope yet hold it valid. And if it was valid, the man who was the pope could not longer judge it. This is why in such cases Catholics do not arrogate to themselves a right which belongs to others, as Sedevacantists do who refuse the validity of this or that papal election.

Canon Law, Editorials

From straw man to superstition

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By Br. Alexis Bugnolo

I have watched Steve Skojek’s argumentation over the last 14 months go from straw man arguments, to unreasoning blather, to insults and vicious invective against almost anyone who would point out the unreasonableness of his approach to the problems with the Declaratio of Pope Benedict XVI and its consequences in the Church.

And I have kept silent about it, except for a passing comment here and there, here at FromRome.Info, because I am not concerned with nit picking the sophistries of immature people who do not have the intellectual or moral integrity to discuss something honestly as an adult. I am concerned with the truth of history in this matter, not in the sense of what people might write about it now or in the future, but in the sense of what really did happen, and what it really does mean in canonical and theological terms.

But as Skojec’s private magisterium has become a personal superstition and grows daily among some minds as a cult of superstition, I consider it necessary to say something, because I want every one to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. And for this, error must be refuted, by all who can ably refute it.

So I will broach this topic by commenting on some twitter conversations, the screen shots I was given. Here Steve comments on two groups, as he calls them, the Sedevacantists and the Bennyvacantists. Steve says he did not invent the latter term, but he keeps using it as a 13 yr old petulant school-boy uses a phrase he thinks is cool, but which makes him appear in reality stupid. Because by the term, Steve thinks he is referring to those who hold that Pope Benedict is still the pope, but the term obviously refers to those who think that Benedict vacated the see. So the term really refers to himself. The other term, for those who do not know, refers to those who think there have been no popes since Pius XII. — So of these 2 groups, Steve says:

Screenshot_2020-02-04 Steve Skojec on Twitter JZmirak chesterbelloc3 I think if the Catholic Church's claims were ever some[...]

Steve, if my sources are correct, has admitted to taking one introductory course to Canon Law at Steubenville, where he graduated. My sources tell me that Steve also cannot read the Code of Canon Law, because he does not read Latin. So he reads it, when he does, in the English translation, which, as I have mentioned many times, is both not authoritative and full of errors. As far as I know, also, Steve has never tried to investigate the matter further than his limit of knowledge and has not gone to Rome to speak with anyone about the questions of law or fact. — I have it that he corresponds or at least knows Ryan Grant, whom I showed the other day does not know the basic principles of Canon Law. Ryan, himself, though he is a published translator, is not a very good one. The passages I have examined in his translation of Saint Alphonsus have more than one error in every sentence, and hence I conclude they are worthless for anyone to use.

For this reason, I think that Steve’s first tweet, above, is very honest. I do not think he has the intellectual preparation to see the differences or appreciate them. Even if he knew what they are. Sedevacantists are a group of individuals who do not care about the Church in the least. They only care about condemning others so that like Jansenists they can revel in a being better than everyone else kind of spirit.  Catholics, on the other hand, when they encounter schism and heresy, do something about it, by either trying to reconcile the parties involved or seeking their canonical solutions, because their love is for the Church and for the salvation of souls.

That is why, if you love the Church, you can probably see the difference between Sedevacantists and Catholics. It is not just an argument over what was said by so and so and whether that is heretical or not. Though, Sedes nearly always get this wrong, because they have an animus to find fault where not as much fault is found as they would want, in order to continually justify themselves as better than everyone else.

Catholics, concerned about the canonical problems in the Declaratio of Pope Benedict XVI, are obviously not interested at all in themselves, they are interested solely in the good of the entire Church and solving the problems at the root. To deny that is merely a glib ad hominem of a person who cares nothing for the Church and has no consideration for the possibility that his fellow man might actually care for the common good of the Church. His desire, rather, is always to put him down, because that is the only way to prove his superiority.

In his next, tweet Steve recites his straw man argument, which he brings out and dangles about like a shaman does with the bones of a dead man, before reciting an incantation on cue.  Steve has been shown by many interlocutors over the past year that the opinion of John of Saint Thomas about universal acceptance refers to a canonical election, not to a doubtful or uncanonical election — taking doubt here in the objective positive sense. — So his continued appeal to universal acceptance is simply dishonest. And his continued use of it as a dogma is superstition.

At this point A. J. Baalman shares a series of tweets, drawing on the commentary on Canons 332, 187 and 188 made by Cathy Caridi on her blog, Canon Law Made Easy, which I reviewed yesterday.  A. J. says:

Screenshot_2020-02-04 Steve Skojec on Twitter AjBaalman chesterbelloc3 But if there is such doubt about this centuries-old [...]

Notice how Steve brings out his straw man, again, and rattles it in the air, as if by such an incantation you can participate in a rational argument. He omits the word “canonical” in front of “papal” once again, to make it seem more supportive of his position. But here he goes one step further. There can be no question of an problematic papal election so long as it was accepted. No need to investigate. — I do not know what others might thing about such a line of reasoning, but it sounds to me the kind of thing a canon lawyer working for the Lavender Mafia might use, because it really aids and abets almost any possible course of corruption and interference in a papal election, as to defy rational explanation. No honest man can reason thus.

A. J., counters and insists on an investigation, and Steve responds:

Screenshot_2020-02-04 Steve Skojec on Twitter AjBaalman chesterbelloc3 But if there is such doubt about this centuries-old [...](1)

Steve says an investigation should be done, but it won’t be completed in the life time of the Pope or of Bergoglio. That is a very bold claim coming from someone who is not an investigator and who has shown no inclination to examine the facts already presented in the historical record. It is also another attempt at gaslighting, because it takes about 5 seconds to see the Renunciation is invalid.

Because all you have to do is 1) see that the Latin of Canon 332 §2 says munus, and that the Latin of the Declaratio says ministerium, and 2) recognize that what you do not renounce, you keep.

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Editorials, Faith

Heresy, Heretics and Imperfect Councils

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by Br. Alexis Bugnolo

A good number of laymen who never studied theology, or studied it at B rated institutions are at it again on social media, over the question of whether a heretical pope is still the pope.

So let us make some distinctions, so as not to get lost in the fog of controversy.

Saint Robert Bellarmine classifies the true and Catholic position as the 5th opinion, namely that a formal heretic loses all office in the Church ipso facto, that is, by the very adhesion to heresy. This is the position of all the ancient Fathers. And it is the only Catholic position. It is enshrined in Canon 1364 of Pope John Paul II’s Code of Canon Law of 1983.

Remember, heresy is both a false proposition in of itself, an erroneous judgement in the mind and a deviant profession of the mouth.

  • It is a false proposition, whether written down or comprehended in the mind. And example of this is:  Jesus Christ is not God.
  • It is an erroneous judgment of the mind as if when you were to think: I judge that Jesus Christ is not God.
  • It is a deviant profession of the mouth, as if you were to write or say aloud:  Jesus Christ is not God.

As a canonical crime, however, one deals only with the external profession. Thus no one can be judged by the Church to be a heretic without an external profession of heresy. The profession must be witnessed or recorded on paper or other medium.

If you know anything about Church History, however, you know that very few men have been condemned by name as heretics in the entire history of the Church. Why is this? Because the Church, which was founded to save souls, recognizes that every deviant profession might not come forth from a mind which adheres to error. It might come forth from a mind which is ignorant, or from a will which wants to offend others. So not every deviant profession represents formal heresy (of the kind which is a sin, though canon law presumes that such deviant profession is presumed to be imputable, until proven otherwise in a due process). Nor does every deviant profession represent pertinacity. Pertinacity is the quality of adhesion to the error such that even when shown that it contradicts revealed truth, the one holding the error remains steadfast in its profession.

Pertinacity is determined canonically after 3 reproofs before witnesses. In the great Councils of the Church even notorious public and certainly pertinacious heretics were asked 3 times to recant.

But if the Church has a process for deposing heretics from their offices, does not that mean that St. Robert Bellarmine was wrong when he said the 5th opinion was the true thesis?

Here we must remember that there is a distinction between what is true in itself and what is true inasmuch as the Church can know it. As soon as one commits the sin of heresy, even in secret, you lose the gift of faith and commit a mortal sin. You are separted from God. This is true whether any man ever knows of your sin or not, before the General Judgement on the Last Day.

However, in the Church, since some men have a better ability and some a worse ability to detect heresy, there has to be a public process for determining who is a formal pertinacious heretic, so as to officially deprive them from office. For otherwise, there would be chaos in the Church. Here the Church has recourse to the teaching of Jesus about fraternal correction, first in private, then with witnesses, and finally before the whole Church. This also confirms the principles of the cessation of power is not presumed. You cannot therefor presume a heretic has lost his office on the basis of your personal discernment. You are not infallible and you cannot know hearts.

In the case of notorious professions, which are made in public and spread on social media, every Catholic has the right to condemn the profession as heretical. You need not go to the person in private or correspond with him in private. His Bishop should and his superiors should. But not everyone has to. Because the common good requires that every public heretical profession be immediately confuted by a public orthodox profession.

At the same time, none of this denies that by the Catholic Faith each of us is capable of discerning heresy which is formal, even if in the person it may not be pertinacious. This ability is simply the application of comparing revealed truth with the perverse profession to manifest that it is perverse and deviant.

Likewise, since the salvation of souls is the greatest law, every Catholic has the right to separate himself from heretics, whether by avoiding them at all times or avoiding them in their Churches. So no one can be forced to receive the Sacraments from someone they know has made a deviant profession. And in this, the individual cannot be coerced, and the Church has never coerced them in such matters, because it has happened that heretics have  been men who once occupied offices of power in the Church before.

Nor are you obliged to obey your superior in anything when his heretical spirit becomes manifest. Canon 41 gives you this right broadly. So the right to resist illegitimate commands is sufficient, in the law, to defend the rights of the faithful from a superior, who is heretical, before he is condemned as such by the Church and declared to have lost his office.

For this reason, IT IS THE GRAVE DUTY OF EVERY CATHOLIC to publicly denounce deviant professions, whether they be made by laymen, clergy or even those they think are the pope. Without the public denunciation, the faith is not guarded, the consciences of the faithful are not stirred to action, and souls are put in danger, because without the true Faith it is impossible for anyone to be saved — though admittedly God requires the faith that is willing to believe Him in everything (the perfect kind formally), more than the faith which knows every revealed truth and accepts all of them (the perfect kind formally and materially)

Therefore, there is an absolute necessity to call Synods and Councils to condemn the most notorious heretics and heresies. And if the man whom you think is the pope is one whom you consider a heretic, then you should not be silent, you should urge a council. And a council of Bishops, anywhere on the planet, has the Apostolic right and duty to hear the case, because if he is a heretic, he is no longer the pope, but it remains the duty of Bishops to discern and judge that fact.

Finally, if you take pleasure condemning others for heresy, because it suits your fancy, you probably do not have right discernment and you surely risk damnation for risking the mortal sin of falsely or rashly judging others, not to mention damaging or destroying their reputations. Likewise, if you know a man is a heretic and refuse to correct him, when he shows an ability to be corrected, you sin against charity. If he is harming souls and you remain silent, then you are complicit in that harm. And if you think you do not have to seek a canonical condemnation of a heretic, because you judge all in authority heretics, then you might be committing all those sins I just mentioned. This is what distinguishes Catholics from sedevacantists. We believe that the Church will never be overcome by any single or by every heresy together, because there will always be at lest one Bishop willing to condemn them. And to him we turn for their condemnation.

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CREDITS: The Featured Image is of an ancient Greek Icon, depicting the Saints who defended the Creed of Nicaea, which is written in Greek on the scroll they are holding in hand.

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Book Reviews

“True or False Pope?” — Book Review

2 Comments

by Br. Alexis Bugnolo

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Click image to go to official Promotional site for this book.

In my many years, since college, I have rarely come upon a book written by a modern author, of which I can say, that its value will endure long after I am dead.  There are books which are very well written and even those which refute current errors, but of few of them can it be said that they will have anything other than a timely usefulness.  But of this new book by John Salza and Robert Siscoe, which deals not only with a timely issue — the moral and doctrinal error of Sedevacantism:  the error of judging by one’s self, who is or is not a legitimate pope today — but does so in a perennial manner (by searching out the founts of Catholic Theology and Canon Law and applying them not only to the specific problems presented by the Sedevacantists, but by addressing the Catholic solution to those problems, in the same manner that Catholics have done for 2016 years), one can truly proclaim: “It shall endure the ages as a monument of Catholic Theology and be sought out by Catholic Librarians for centuries to come,” — so well written, researched and organized it is.

For this reason, “True or False Pope?” is a book which I believe merits to be on the bookshelves of every Pope, Cardinal, Bishop, Priest, Deacon, Religious, Theologian, and learned Layman, not just in the hands of those afflicted or attacked by, or tempted to the error of Sedevacantism and its adherents.

But even more so, due to the present crisis brought on the Church by Team Bergoglio and the Kasperian thesis it has intentionally, deceitfully and maliciously promoted in all its actions, “True or False Pope?” is a book which needs to be read by all Catholics and the perennial Catholic teaching which it contains, put into practice: not only by those who confront Sedevacantists, or who are tempted by that error, but by every Theologian, Religious, Deacon, Priest, yes even Bishop and Cardinal, who has a duty to represent, though in different manners, the true teaching of the Faith and the right praxis of it, on questions of “Can the Pope be a heretic or schismatic?” and “What the Church and Bishops ought to do about it, if it should happen.”

For this reason, I wholeheartedly recommend each Catholic buy this book and give as many copies of it as a present to other Catholics, as they can, as its good effect in all the Church is something which we can not only expect in our present age, but be certain of through the generations to come which have the blessing to find a copy.

To order a copy and/or read more about this Book, go to: http://www.trueorfalsepope.com/