by Br. Alexis Bugnolo
When we speak of schism, we can speak of two realities, the theological and the factual; of two kinds of failing, the sin and the canonical crime; and of two species of schism: separation from other members of the true Church and separation from the true pope.
In this article I will discuss the precise meaning of the truth that: All who accept Bergoglio as Pope are in formal schism from Jesus Christ, by explaining those 3 words: accept, formal and schism.
Let us begin with the word: schism.
“Schism”, the English word, is derived from the Greek word meaning a separation by cutting. In theology, it refers to the separation of one part of the Church from another part, or from one part of a community from another part.
In canon law it is the crime of deliberately refusing communion with other members of the true Church. It is punished by immediate excommunication latae sententiae, in canon 1364. Catholics in communion with the true pope, and with all other Catholics who are in communion with him, can never be, thus, guilty of this crime.
Take for example, the Greek Orthodox Churches today. They are in schism from the Catholic Church and from the Popes since 1054. The Patriarch and clergy who started the schism were guilty of the sin and the canonical crime. The schism was first canonical, then theological and then factual. It lead to a schism both from the Church and from the Popes. It was a perfect schism, in the sense that it fulfilled all conditions.
Not every member of the Greek Orthodox Churches today accept that schism. Many of them think it is wrong. Several laymen in the Greek Orthodox Church in America told me the schism exists only among the clergy, the vast majority of the laity wish their clergy would repent of it.
For those laity, the schism remains as factual and canonical, but perhaps no longer theological, because they are moved by Faith to see that it is wrong and they reject it.
The Schism of 2013
In the Catholic Church, we have a major schism also. It began in March of 2013, on March 13, when the College of Cardinals presumed to elect another pope in an illegal conclave. The conclave was objectively and canonically illegal because it convened when there was no legal sede vacante, Pope Benedict XVI not having yet renounced the petrine munus, as Pope John Paul II required in canon 332 §2 of the Code of Canon Law of 1983. The Papal Law on elections, Universi Dominici Gregis, in n. 37, forbids a conclave if there is no legal sede vacante.
Due to the flippancy and presumption of at least some of the College of Cardinals the invalid resignation of Pope Benedict XVI was announced as valid. The rest of the Cardinals, including Cardinals Burke, Sarah, Brandmueller etc.., all proceeded to the Conclave without doing their due diligence or in spite of it.
Now since Canon Law presumes guilt in those who should know the law, the Cardinals are all canonically guilty of the crime of Schism, and in virtue of canon 1364 were excommunicated from the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II on March 13, 2013.
The rest of us who were deceived by the false announcement, however, did not enter into schism, neither canonically nor as a sin. But by following the false announcement we were factually separated from the true Pope, Pope Benedict, and theologically entered into schism from Jesus Christ, objectively speaking.
It has been seven years, and the Holy Spirit has stirred many souls to speak about the invalid resignation and announce the truth, that Benedict XVI is the true Pope.
The clergy who refuse to examine the facts, when laymen and clergy and now 2 Bishops give testimony to the truth, move from being in de facto schism to canonical schism, because they show a mens rea, a guilty mind. They are guilty because all who are led by the Spirit of God are open to the truth and accept the truth, and they realize that communion with the true Pope is more important than communion with all of the rest of humanity or all of the rest of the clergy.
The ones who knew from the beginning the resignation was invalid, are in perfect schism from Christ, since they are separated from the true Pope and from the true Church, by a personal sin, by canonical penalty, by fact and by theological reality.
Those who still do not know of the schism, are theologically and factually separated from Pope Benedict, since they no longer consider him the true pope, but they are not guilty of the sin or crime of schism, because they honestly think they are in communion with the true pope.
But if we consider schism under the notion of formal and material, then all those who are not duped, but reject the evidence, are in formal schism from Jesus Christ, because they chose to not care to be in communion with the true pope and thus are responsible for risking to be outside of communion with the true pope, even if Benedict is the true pope. That is called a sin in causa. And it is a formal sin of schism, even if it is not a direct sin of schism, as one who examines the facts, sees that Benedict is the true pope, but still rejects him as the pope.
However, of those who think Bergoglio is pope, but who have never refused to examine the evidence, they cannot be said to be in formal schism since they lack ill will and have never formally accepted on that account the big lie that Benedict resigned, even though they think he did resign, basing their opinion on the hearsay that they still have not bothered to examine as unreliable. They are in material schism, that is, de facto schism.
However, as Pope Boniface VIII said in his Bull, Unam Sanctam, all who de facto refuse to be subject to the true pope shall be damned. This is no small thing. And thus, all who belittle the controversy over the renunciation of Pope Benedict are manifestly deceiving themselves and others. And that is a mortal sin against truth and fraternal charity.
I say de facto, because even if you have good will, but are deceived, if you follow Bergoglio you will be led into mortal error and mortal sin: sacrilege, approbation of adultery, approbation of sodomy, etc.. As such, there is for you, in such a case, no good hope of salvation, because there is no salvation outside of the Catholic Church, which has always been defined as those in communion with the true Pope, who is now Benedict XVI. For this reason, the more some persons attack Pope Benedict and the truth of the canonical problem in his renunciation, the more they become depraved morally speaking, because by acting in that way they become more and more formally in schism from Jesus Christ and reject more and more firmly in mind and heart the truth.
Here at FromRome.Info all the writers are dedicated to the truth. That is why, day and night we preach from the housetops: Benedict is the true Pope, Bergoglio never was. In communion with Pope Benedict, Archbishop Paul Lenga and Bishop Rene Henry Gracida, Don Alessandro Minutella, Don Enrico Roncaglia, Father Paul Kramer, Father Paul Renato Dornelles, Father Walter Covens and many other hundreds of thousands, we are members of the true Roman Catholic Church. We invite you to return home! We invite you back to the only Barque of Salvation!
Do not risk your immortal soul by acting or not acting because of the hearsay of Cardinals who perpetrated the schism. Look to the documents of the Church and employ the laws which Pope John Paul II left us for discernment in this controversy. Consider how insane it is to accept any claims as true from men who will not separate themselves from such a fraud and monster!
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CREDITS: The Featured Image is a detail of the fresco depicting the famous vision of Don Bosco, of the Church in the midst of a great battle at sea, with the bark of the true Pope attacks by all the other ships, but finding refuge between the two columns of the Eucharist and Our Lady Help of Christians.
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