Fourth, Bro. Dimond’s chief charges of heresy against Pope John Paul II are entirely false. First, the teaching of Dignitatis humanae (the Vatican II Document on Religious Liberty) regards a question of the natural law and a matter that has never been proposed before or after by the Church as teaching to be held de fide divina et catholica. Even if Dignitatis humanae contradicted Pope Leo XIII’s Immortale Dei (November 1, 1885), both Pope John XXIII and Paul VI unanimously agreed that Vatican II documents did not intend to teach infallible doctrine (cf. preface to “Troubles with Gaudium et Spes” for references). And hence Pope John Paul II’s reaffirmation of Dignitatis humanae is not heretical. The teaching of Dignitatis humanae vis-á-vis the teaching of Popes Leo XIII, Pius IX etc. has been subjected
by the traditionalist Dominican Community to a 10 year theological inquiry, that included an examination of every Papal Document on the topic. For a copy of their findings you can write the Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer. As for Pope John Paul II’s statements on the Redemption of mankind, one must remember the distinction, long held in Catholic Theology, between the objective and subjective Redemption. The Objective Redemption is the work of wining the graces of the Redemption, which work Christ (and Mary with Him) worked on Golgotha. The Subjective Redemption is the actual application of those mertis to individuals. “To say that Christ redeemed all men from the power of the devil” is a perfectly Catholic statement. But to say that all men are saved simply because they are members of the human race, is quite another thing. All the statements Bro. Dimond brings forward on the question of the redemption can easily be understood as regards the objective redemption. In cases of such distinctions as these, the speaker always is due the benefit of the doubt, for charity thinketh no evil.
Fifth, as regards all the other statements, even if the Pope did say them as quoted (which is not at all proven since Bro. Dimond’s footnotes are so vague and cite second hand sources), Christ never promised that the Pope, as a person, would not fall into error, just that he would not impose heresy on the Church. There are many things erroneous in theology, philosophy and in other sciences which if held would not destroy the habit of supernatural faith in the soul of the person who held them. Error by definition is a theological category that comprises statements which are counter to truths of theology, philosophy, etc., which themselves not directly deal with matters which have been revealed by God and defnined as being so revealed by the Church. In short, holding error does not make one a heretic. And as such, one would still be Pope even if in error. Even St. Alphonsus dei Liguori admits this: “For who will not deny that the Pope can be obnoxious because of his errors?” [Theologia Moralis, vol. 2, n. 135, critical edition]. Needless to say that any other sin, such as sacrilege, blasphemy, fornication, etc., does not make the Pope a heretic.
Then there are Bro. Dimond’s misquotes. Take for example his quote of Vigesimus Quintus on p. 7, left column. He quotes the Pope saying, “attatched themselves only and uniquely to the previous liturgical forms very deplorably held as the one authority of the integrity of the Faith.” Whereas the Pope said, “altri, purtroppo, si sono ripiegati in maniera unilaterale ed esclusiva sulle forme liturgiche precedenti intese da alcuni di essi come unica garanzia di sicurezza nella fede.” Which in English is, “others, unfortunately, have attatched themselves in an unilateral and exclusive manner to the preceding liturgical forms, understood by some of them as the unique guarantee of security in the Faith.” If this is true of one quote, that is in a publically accessible document, how much more of other quotes presented by Bro. Dimond in obscure, rare publications?
Finally, I ask what is to be gained by Bro. Dimond’s assault on the legitimacy of Pope John Paul II and Pope Paul IV? If there has not been a true pope since Pope Pius XII then the Church has failed and Christ is a liar when He said, “The gates of Hell will never prevail against it (My Church)”.
Is Bro. Dimond, calling Our Lord Jesus Christ a liar? Better to pray for Our Pope, sinner though he be, that he may find grace, mercy, and strength to carry his heavy office faithfully until death.
This is just ONE aspect of the brothers Dimond errors. Elsewhere, Br. Bugnolo states that the Dimond Brothers CLIM to be Benedictines – but there is NO Benedictine orgainzation which recognize them as such.
