Theologians such as St. Antoninius, St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. Bellarmine amongst others have taught that a heretic cannot be a valid pope. “If however, God were to permit a pope to become a notoriously and contumacious heretic he would by such fact cease to be pope, and the apostolic chair would be vacant.” – St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church: Verita bella Fede. Pt. iii, Ch.viii, 9-10.
This in itself is one way of supporting that it is illegal for any Catholic to defect from the Faith and still hold office.
Sedevacantists do not say they are deposing a Pope but merely saying that the Church has already done this.
How else can the Holy Ghost protect the Church from error and not promulgat heresy If an officeholder defects ?
You accuse me of not answering your questions when you have been given several links that will answer them in detail.I am acussing you of dismissing the opinions of distinguished doctors and theologians such as those quoted above and say that this is unacceptable. How dare you think your opinions can outweigh these Saints and Doctors especially when Canon law and papal documents support what they say. The church safeguards her indefectibilty by these measures and has a history of expelling error in order to do so.
Catholics were always advised to take the safest course. To go against the almost unanimous teachings of the Catholic Church against Papal documents including Bulls and Canon law would be sheer impudence to say the least!
“Moreover , if anyone were …to worship at the tomb of Mahomet, he would be deemed an apostate.”
When reading this quote from St Thomas Aquinas, I find it hard to dismiss the actions of JP2. It amost seems as if he has deliberately gone out of his way to meet the criteria St. Thomas puts forward to identify an apostate! His actions at Assisi being just one example.
As most of us know, St.Thomas Aquinas’ books have been distinguished and raised to the altar, he is a canonised Saint and Doctor of the Church. We are not free to dismiss his words which tell us that Ecumenism is apostacy.
The question must be asked, “Has the Pope promoted ecumenism?”
In all honesty I would have to answer that “yes” he has - not only publicly but notoriously and it has been going on for decades.
Yes it is ugly and yes it does push people out of their comfort zones. So do many other things but we have to deal with them.
In conclusion, let it not be said that the sedevacantist rejects the papacy, the primacy, or the Catholic Church. On the contrary it is because of his belief in the papacy, the primacy, the infallibility and the indefectibility of the Catholic Church that he rejects John Paul II and his Conciliar Church.
For the sedevacantist, the Catholic Church cannot and has not failed. The great apostasy predicted by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Thessalonians has taken place:
“Let no one deceive you in any way, for the day of the Lord will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and is exalted above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sits in the temple of God and gives himself out as if he were God… And now you know what restrains him, that he may be revealed in his proper time. For the mystery of iniquity is already at work; provided only that he who is at present restraining it, does still restrain, until he is gotten out of the way. And then the wicked one will be revealed…” (2 Thess. 2:3-8).
Who is this one “who is at present restraining it… until he is gotten out of the way. And then the wicked one will be revealed”? Perhaps Pope Leo XIII has the answer in his Motu Proprio of September 25, 1888, when he wrote in his invocation to St. Michael:
“These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered.”
All the answers to your questions regarding the Magisterium are easily obtainable.
As the numbers of Sedevacantists continues to grow, so too does the amount of information available. All the answers are there, you will find them if you want to.
If you read them and still have a problem then it is just that - YOUR PROBLEM!
If you are happy with the way things are then, good luck to you. However please realise that many of us are no longer content to accept a “pope” who acts contrary to Catholic teaching…
PS. Good news for all you Sedes out there. Mario Derksen of
www.cathinsight.com has recently announced that he too has become a sedevacantist.
