As for ABL, his excommunication was remitted and declared void of any juridical effects, thus his excommunication was lifted as was the other saints mentioned.
The Archbishop’s excommunication was never remitted. Remitted does not mean null and void. Remitted means lifted. It has never been lifted. Pope Benedict’s decree mentions only the four bishops who survived the Archbishop.
Nevertheless, those who argue ABL was legally excommunicated continually refuse to address the clear instructions in Canon Law that state if one is acting under what one believes to be a case of necessity, automatic penalties do not apply.
Those instructions were addressed in 1989 by Bl. Jon Paul II. He stated that he would not hear their appeal because he decided that he would not allow the canon to apply to them. As the Living Law of the Church and the Law Giver, a pope can actually do this. He can effectively tell you that a law is not meant for you and you’re stuck. You either step down or remain excommunicated. Church law is at the will and pleasure of the pope. It does not bind him. In other words, he does not have to follow it. He’s the only Catholic who is free from every law except moral law. When Pope John Paul refused to hear the appeal on the grounds that there were no grounds for an appeal, the law ceased to apply. That’s why Traditionalists were angry at him, because they quoted this law and he would not allow the law to speak.
The excommunication can later be remitted, as was done in the Archbishop’s case, therefore he could most certainly be canonized in the future.
Whoever told you this, misinformed you. This never happened. That’s why he cannot be canonized. This does not mean that he’s not in heaven. They’re two very different questions.
Can a person be in heaven who dies outisde of the Church? Yes.
Can a person be received back into the Church on his deathbed? Yes.
Was this the Archbishop’s case. No. He was not received back into the Church before he died. However, because he was dying, the priests of the SSPX were allowed to grant him absolution. In case of necessity, the Church spplies. A deathbed confession is certainly a necessity. Even a runaway pirest with five mistresses and 24 children can validly absolve you on your deathbed.
And the Church has said the excommunication was remitted. Rome has spoken, the matter is settled.
Where and when?
Pope’s must follow their own Canon Law at the time the act occurs. If they clearly do not, the act is not valid. The Pope can change Canon Law, but not retroactively. The Pope is not a dictator who rules by fiat. He follows his own Code of Canon Law which he himself approved.
No he does not have to do so. There have been many cases when popes have bypassed Canon Law. The law does not bind him. I’ll give you a simple example.
The canons in effect in 1228 said that you neede an investigation into a cause for a canonization. You needed the consent of the cardinals. You needed two miracles for a beatification and one miracle for a canonization. You could not begin the process for 50 years.
Pope Gregory IX canonized St. Francis in 18 months and St. Anthony in 11 months with no study, no beatification, no proven miracles. Whe questioned as to his hurry, he said that these men were his friends. Therefore, he knew them well enough to know of their sanctify and that he did not need proof of the alleged miracles that people claimed took place after their death, because he believed that they did happen.
Later, Pope Alexander IV, his nephew, would do the same with St. Clare.
Recently, Pope Benedict bypassed the five-year waiting period to begin the investigation on Pope John Paul and commanded that it begin less than a year after his death, even though Canon Law says that you have to wait five-years to begin. Pope John Paul waved Bl. Teresa of Calcutta’s waiting period as well.
Popes can add, delete, dispense with and ignore canon law at their own discretion.
**The sovereign pontiff is the most fruitful source of canon law; he can abrogate the laws made by his predecessors or by Ecumenical councils; he can legislate for the whole church or for a part thereof, a country or a given body of individuals; if he is morally bound to take advice and to follow the dictates of prudence, he is not legally obliged to obtain the consent of any other person or persons, or to observe any particular form; his power is limited only by Divine law, natural and positive, dogmatic and moral. Furthermore, he is, so to say, the living law, for he is considered as having all law in the treasury of his heart (“in scrinio pectoris”; Boniface VIII. c. i, “De Constit.” in VI). **
As St. Boniface handed down, the pope is not bound by canon law.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
