Where are Bishop Williamson and the 'resistance' going?

JMJ

For the most part the 'resistance' associates put forth a more or less continuous stream of attacks against the leadership of the SSPX.

However, periodically they take a breath and pull back the curtain on the principles which guide their actions.

Such an event happened when Bishop Williamson sat at his computer to write EC384.

Sifting out the various insinuations and manipulative tactics (intentional or otherwise) we find the following assertion:

Thus where Archbishop Lefebvre saw clearly that the Conciliar Church, by losing all four marks of the Catholic Church (one, holy, catholic, apostolic), was not the Catholic Church

In this short collection of words, Bishop Williamson has exposed with greater clarity the principle that is at variance with those of the SSPX.

Parsing the quoted statement we find that:

Bishop Williamson believes that Archbishop Lefebvre believed that
The 'Conciliar Church',
by losing all four marks of the Catholic Church
was not the Catholic Church

Before proceeding, it is important to understand that, according to Church dogma, there is only one Church of Christ. There can never be two Churches that possess all four Marks of the Catholic Church.

Since you can't lose something you don't possess, the assertions made by Bishop Williamson (2 & 3) support the conclusion that prior to the loss of "all four Marks of the Catholic Church", the "Conciliar Church" was the Church of Christ.

Joining this with his final assertion, we reach Bishop Williamson's conclusion that the Catholic Church is no longer the Church of Christ.

What is disingenuous of BishopWilliamson, is that he ascribes this belief to Archbishop Lefebvre.

Of course by doing so he gains political capital among his associates by reducing cognitive dissonance, at the expense of the truth.Once one Catholic principle (true obedience) falls, others (Indefectibility of the Church, Catholic doctrine of the Four Marks, etc) are sure to follow.

However, Archbishop Lefebvre and the SSPX have not deviated from their understanding of the phrase "Conciliar Church", if Bishop Williamson ever shared that understanding, it is obvious that he has departed from it.

Should Bishop Williamson publish a correction, I would be very pleased. However, it has been over a year since a traditionalist acquaintance forwarded my original critique of EC281 to his excellency, so I very much doubt that a correction will be forthcoming.

P^3

Prayer

Penance

Patience

Comments

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