Tradicat

 + JMJ I think that the biggest challenge in assessing the Sedevacantist Thesis is perspective. A good bit of perspective is provided by Unam Sanctam Catholicam (USC) in an article published in October 2022. The basic thesis is that becuase of Cum Ex Apostolatus, a bull issued by Pope Paul IV in 1559, "a heretic cannot be elected as Pope." I have a lot of issues with the thesis. The first of which is 'how do you know that a person is a heretic in the formal sense?'  My general thought is that either the person in question tells you or the Church tells you.   Is the 'heresy' clearly against a De Fide Truth of the Catholic Church? This is really important.  Let's take 'Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus' - outside the Church there is no salvation. However, Popes have said that protestants can be saved. The solution to this conundrum is that both statements are true if one understands what the Church has taught in regard to both statements.  So - not all sta...

 + JMJ Very soon, I think that the 'schismatic' accusation is going to cease to be an option for the opponents of Tradition within the Catholic Church. It would appear that they are casting about for a new derisive label.'Jansenists' The SSPX has written two articles (links below), putting that charge to rest. P^3 Courtesy of SSPX.org Traditionalists-as-Jansenists: A Misplaced Charge – Part 1 Traditionalists-as-Jansenists: A Misplaced Charge - Part 2

 + JMJ Luke 22:57 And he disowned him; Woman, he said, I have no knowledge of him. John 21:15 And when they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, dost thou care for me more than these others? Yes, Lord, he told him, thou knowest well that I love thee. And he said to him, Feed my lambs. What I would say to Pope Leo if I had a 1 hour private audience with his Holiness? I would ask: Why is it that the Traditionalists are persecuted for what they believe when everyone else is welcomed? How is it possible for Catholics for thousands of years to have believed and been taught one set of Dogmas and Doctrines. Now that is now considered wrong. Why? What could the Pope do for the Traditional Catholics? I think simply bringing them irrevocably into the folds of the Church would be enough.  Make them, make us legitimate. P^3

 + JMJ There's been a lot of speculation since Pope Leo XIV was elected as Vicar of Christ, the visible head of the Catholic Church. Everyone seems to be impatiently trying to see which way Leo wants to take the Church and making a lot of assumptions about the meaning of various actions, assignments made since he was elected. While I don't know when the process of these decisions started and Pope Leo's involvement, what I do know is that trying to ascribe intentions is like trying to read tea-leaves and just as effective. What I do know is that the SSPX is going to Rome this summer and like the pilgrimage in 2000, we are at a potential inflection point in the life of the Church.  In 2000, Rome saw the SSPX and tradition wasn't stale and dying but full of life.  Twenty-five years later, I think we may be approaching a repeat of 2000.  Here's my best-case scenario: SSPX has a successful pilgrimage, Roman authorities such as Cardinals or maybe even Pope Leo XIV have a ...