R.I.P. Bishop Robert F. McKenna, O.P.

The Last Dominican Bishop has died

+Bishop Robert F. McKenna, O.P.
July 8, 1927 – Dec. 16, 2015
Requiescat In Pace

Some very sad news has reached us: His Excellency, Bp. Robert Fidelis McKenna, O.P., passed away today at the age of 88 in the United States. He was the world’s last Dominican Catholic bishop.

In 1958, McKenna was ordained a priest for the Dominican order by Cardinal Amleto Cicognani (1883-1973); he was consecrated a bishop on August 22, 1986, by Bp. Michel-Louis Guerard des Lauriers, O.P. (1898-1988), the theologian who wrote the so-called Ottaviani Intervention against Paul VI’s Novus Ordo Missae in 1969.

Bp. McKenna was co-founder of the Orthodox Roman Catholic Movement (ORCM) together with Fr. Francis Fenton (no relation to Mgr. Joseph Fenton) in the earliest days of public Sedevacantism.

Like his consecrator Bp. Guerard des Lauriers, McKenna was a proponent of the Cassiciacum Thesis (a.k.a. the Material-Formal Thesis or “Sedeprivationism”) regarding the papal claimants since Vatican II. In a nutshell, this complex theory holds that although the “popes” since Vatican II are not true popes, they nevertheless possess a valid election to the Roman pontificate, and, for this reason, would automatically become pope if they should renounce their heresies and convert to Catholicism. They are, in a sense, “pope-elect” — validly chosen and designated to be pope, but unable to actually be pope because of an obstacle they have placed in the way (heresy). This thesis, which rests on considerable theological ground, originated with Bp. Guerard des Lauriers and is adhered to by a number of sedevacantists around the globe. In the United States, its most well-known defender is Bp. Donald Sanborn, who was consecrated by Bp. McKenna on June 19, 2002.

Please pour forth your prayers for the repose of the soul of this great man, who dedicated his entire life to serving our Lord and His Church in these most difficult times, no matter the cost.

Tom Droleskey has posted a brief article giving some more background on the life and activities of the good bishop:

• +Bishop Robert Fidelis McKenna, O.P., R.I.P.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.

Related:

• The Material Papacy: On the Cassiciacum Thesis
• The Problem of Authority in the Post-Conciliar Church: The Cassiciacum Thesis
• Explanation of the Thesis of Bp. Guerard des Lauriers
• The Pope & the Antichrist: The Great Apostasy Foretold
• Stuck in a Rut: Anti-Sedevacantism in the Age of Bergoglio