Benedict XVI: “My Resignation was Valid”

Resignationism, R.I.P.

Benedict XVI Speaks: “My Resignation Was Valid”

Bad news for Resignationists — those who believe that Benedict XVI’s resignation was invalid because brought about by force. While it would allow them a convenient, non-sedevacantist way out of the problems with Francis by saying the true Pope is still Benedict, it is Joseph Ratzinger himself now who has explicitly denied the rumors and confirmed that he gave up his claim to the papacy by his own free will.

Responding to a letter written him by the well-known Italian Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli of La Stampa, the “Pope Emeritus” clearly states:

There is absolutely no doubt regarding the validity of my resignation from the Petrine ministry.

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Is Sedevacantism Pope-Sifting? Bp. Sanborn responds to an Objection

True and false shepherds

Is Sedevacantism “Pope-Sifting”?

Pope or Nope?

Bp. Donald Sanborn replies to a Common Objection

[from Bp. Sanborn’s In Veritate Blog]

Pope-Sifting

An objection has been made to my recent response to Bishop Williamson. It is an objection frequently made against sedevacantists. It objects that sedevacantists cannot criticize the SSPX for sifting the magisterium, since they themselves are sifting popes. By finding a discrepancy between pre-Vatican II magisterium and post-Vatican II magisterium, sedevacantists merely depose popes whom they find wanting in orthodoxy. But they have no authority to do so. So while sedevacantists object to “magisterium-sifting,” they themselves are involved in “pope-sifting,” which is the same thing.

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