If Only Wishing Made It So!

JMJ

Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

I move through a number of different Catholic 'circles'. Conservative Modern Catholic, Diocesan Latin Mass, and SSPX Traditional Catholic,

The sedevacantist issue has popped up once in a while in my 40+ years as a Traditional Catholic.

Pope Francis has, in some ways, become a unifying point. I've had to talk some Modern Catholics off the Sedevacantist ledge because Pope St. John Paul II was the only thread of Catholicism that they knew.

So here's my off the top of my head points vs sedevacantism:

When one stands on the judgment that a current Pope isn't the Vicar of Christ, then what is to stop someone else from making the same judgment on previous Pontiffs?

I know a person who started down that path with Pope B16, and found that Pope JP2 also didn't pass muster. Next fell Pope P12, B15 and so on down the line.
So where does it stop? Well with the people I know, last I heard they were home-aloners who isolated themselves from everyone they had previously known.

That a Pope loses the Papacy is a theological opinion. Not a dogma and not even doctrine.
It is Dogma that the Catholic Church will always have a Vicar of Christ

Decrees of the First Vatican Council (link) Chapter 2 Art 5: if anyone says that it is not by the institution of Christ the lord himself (that is to say, by divine law) that blessed Peter should have perpetual successors in the primacy over the whole church; or that the Roman pontiff is not the successor of blessed Peter in this primacy: let him be anathema.

The Pope is one half of the Dogma of the Visibility of the Catholic Church.

So without a Pope the Visibility of the Church is affected,
Consequently, to have a sedevacante for decades prompts the question of how can the Catholic Church exist for such a long duration without a core element of its visibility?

It is a Dogmatic Fact that the acceptance of a recently elected Pope means that there were no barriers or impediments to Pope Francis' elevation to the Pontificate of the Catholic Church (i.e. he is the Vicar of Christ). He is simply the latest in a long list of bad or mediocre Popes that started with Pope St. John XXIII.

So, as a Catholic, in order to not contravene a dogma or doctrine of the Catholic Church we must affirm the following:

That there will be perceptual successors in the primacy over the whole church until the end of the world. (Dogma)
The Catholic Church as a moral agreement (Bishops or Bishops + Faithful) accepted Pope Francis and those before him as Popes. Therefore they were licitly elected and served as the Vicar of Christ. (Dogmatic Fact)
The prolonged absence of a Vicar of Christ impacts the Visibility of the Catholic Church - i.e. one of the Four Marks (Dogma)

Sedevacantists offer up various arguments such as the Vicar of Christ is supposed to be the 'rule of faith' - without explaining the extents of this etc and continue to hold up a lessor doctrine or worse theory to contradict Dogmas or Doctrines of higher authority.

By their logic, there is no 'middle ground'. The Pope and V2 are either right ... or Pope Francis isn't the Pope and the Catholic Church has failed.

Whereas there is a third alternative ... that described as Recognize and Resist. Following the Catechism of the Council of Trent and other teachings - we stand ready to obey legitimate commands of the Vicar of Christ.

P^3

Church Teaching Vs SedeVacantism: Re Blog: Yes Sally, Pope Francis IS the Pope and is in great need of our prayers!; Tradicat - Sedevacantism; Tradicat - Dogmatic Facts; Sedevacantism and Heresy; Sedevacantism Kill Chain - True of False Pope; Everything You wanted to know the Infallibility of the Catholic Church but were afraid to ask about - Part 1; Everything You wanted to know the Infallibility of the Catholic Church but were afraid to ask about - Part 9; Dogmatic Fact or Fancy; Dogmatic Fact or Fancy II; Dogmatic Fact or Fancy III; Decrees of the First Vatican Council - Papal Encyclicals

The Curious Case of Steve Skojec and the Dangers of Deep Diving into the Crisis Sub-Titled: The Failings of Others

+ JMJ It's been a while now since Steve Skojec sold 1P5 and abandoned the Catholic Faith. I've been a 'Trad' since 1982 and in those 40+ years I seen this death-spiral before with a similar end point. It seems that anyone who jumps into the fray unprepared for the enormous task of righting wrongs will, eventually, become discouraged by not the task but the people who surround them. I remember when Skojec complained of the treatment his family received from a traditional priest. This seems to have been the start of the end for him. So what can we learn from the likes of Steve Skojec, Michael Voris (maybe?), Louie Verrecchio, Gerry Matatix and other celebrity Catholics? Probably quite a lot about what not to do. First, don't burn out on the crisis? When you burn out, on work or anything else, little things assume a more greater importance than they are due. This is one of my 'canary in the coal mine' signals that I've been stretching myself too th...

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3

Communique about Avrille Dominicans - SSPX.org

+ JMJ Having completed the review of the 'Avrille' perspective, this communique from the French District Superior is perfectly timed. I believe that the 'resistance' has lost rationality and further argumentation simply results in their holding on to their false ideal all the more firmly. Pray much ... First, for them to acquiesce to the grace of humility in order to obtain a clear perspective on the principles involved. Second, that we may remain faithful to the Church, and Her Dogmas, Doctrines and Principles. Lest we become that which against we strove ... P^3 Courtesy of SSPX.org

Cathinfo and the 'resistance' perspective (updated with response to comment)

+ JMJ Matthew, the owner of Cathinfo - a resistance forum has posted a response to a person that indicated his reasons for continuing to go to the SSPX.

What the heck is a congregation of "Pontifical Right"

+ JMJ In a discussion with a friend the question occurred to me that I didn't actually know was is involved in being a religious order of 'pontifical right'. I had a vague notion that this meant they reported to Rome as opposed to the local diocese. I'm also aware that, according to the accounts I have heard, the Archbishop received 'praise' and the written direction to incardinate priests directly into the SSPX. This is interesting because it implies that the SSPX priests were no longer required to incardinate in the local diocese but in the SSPX. This is something that belongs to an order of 'pontifical right'. Anyway here's some definitions: Di diritto pontificio is the Italian term for “of pontifical right” . It is given to the ecclesiastical institutions (the religious and secular institutes, societies of apostolic life) either created by the Holy See or approved by it with the formal decree, known by its Latin name, Decretu...

Tradicat

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