Apostolic Succession after Pope Pius XII: Where is the Catholic Hierarchy?

Why some Catholics hold to the ‘Material-Formal Thesis’…

Apostolic Succession after Pope Pius XII:
Where is the Catholic Hierarchy?

In recent weeks there has been a considerable amount of online controversy among sedevacantists about the so-called “Material/Formal Theory” regarding the status of the Novus Ordo hierarchy, especially its so-called “popes”. Some cling adamantly to this thesis because they believe it to be significantly helpful or even essential to a proper understanding of the situation in the Catholic Church today, whereas others repudiate it because they judge it to be misleading or even a danger to the Faith. There are also those “in the middle” who do or don’t subscribe to the thesis but simply consider it a possible theological option, one that it would not be prudent to spend much time fighting over.… READ MORE

The Conclave Elects Leo XIV: Initial Thoughts by Bp. Donald Sanborn

Habemus Prevost…

The Conclave Elects Leo XIV:
Initial Thoughts by Bp. Donald Sanborn

In a livestream broadcast shortly after the election of Robert Prevost as ‘Pope Leo XIV’ on May 8, 2025, His Excellency Bishop Donald J. Sanborn of Most Holy Trinity Seminary in Reading, Pennsylvania, sat down with Stephen Heiner of Roman Catholic Media to discuss the 2025 conclave, the new papal claimant, and the post-Francis era that has now begun:

.

In case the embedded video above won’t display, it can be accessed directly on YouTube here.

Full disclosure: Bp. Sanborn is a sedevacantist who holds to the so-called ‘material-formal thesis’, also known as ‘sedeprivationism’.… READ MORE

Pope Pius XII on the Unchanging Orthodoxy of the Papal Teaching Office

Papal address of January 17, 1940…

Pope Pius XII on the Unchanging Orthodoxy of the Papal Teaching Office

One of the main services Novus Ordo Watch tries to render to the public is the making available of, or raising awareness concerning, Catholic magisterial texts that are not widely known or have not before been published online in English. There is a wealth of pre-Vatican II papal teaching ‘on the books’ that, unfortunately, is largely unknown even to traditional Catholics; thus we are trying to do our part to help remedy this situation. Thankfully, with recent advances in technology, discovering and spreading it has become easier and easier.… READ MORE

Bergoglio, The Remnant, and the Gates of Hell

Abandon the false pope, not Catholicism!

Bergoglio, The Remnant, and the Gates of Hell

On May 7, 2024, The Remnant published a brief article by Robert Lazu Kmita in which the author candidly struggles with answering a challenge by an Eastern Orthodox acquaintance of his regarding the indefectibility of the Catholic Church under the supposition that Jorge Bergoglio (‘Pope Francis’) is in fact the Roman Pontiff:

Kmita puts the following challenge on the lips of his Eastern Orthodox interlocutor:

“Well? What about the statement of the Savior Jesus ‘That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’?

… READ MORE

A Church without Popes forever? Response to an Inquiring Writer at OnePeterFive

Better a vacant Chair than a defected Chair!

A Church without Popes forever?
Response to an Inquiring Writer at One Peter Five

On July 23, 2020, an article appeared on the One Peter Five web site that is addressed to sedevacantists:

The piece was written by Mr. Nishant Xavier, and it represents a reasonable and evidence-based challenge to the sedevacantist position. This is unusual for One Peter Five, which in the past (and also since then) has revealed itself to be a theological comedy site more than anything.… READ MORE

Over a Dozen ‘Prominent Catholics’ Warn Francis: Resign or Be Deposed!

Bad theology against a false pope – not going to work!

Over a Dozen ‘Prominent Catholics’ Warn Francis:
Resign or Be Deposed!

On May 2, 2024, the feast of Saint Athanasius, the semi-traditionalist blog Rorate Caeli published a ‘major statement’ against Jorge Bergoglio (aka ‘Pope Francis’). It is entitled “Call for the Resignation of Pope Francis” and bears the signatures of 16 people Life Site describes as “prominent Catholics”.

Just how prominent the signatories are, is another question, but it doesn’t really matter. Their names, along with their respective credentials, are listed by Rorate Caeli as follows:

Rev. Linus F.

… READ MORE

Sedevacantism and the Mystery of the Church’s Passion: Reply to Robert Morrison

The Faith allows for mystery but not for contradiction…

Sedevacantism and the Mystery of the Church’s Passion:
Reply to Robert Morrison

On June 30, 2023, the semi-traditionalist flagship publication The Remnant published a brief article entitled “Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s Vision of the Great Mystery of the Church’s Passion”. Its author is Robert Morrison, a writer we have had occasion to critique a number of times before on this blog and in our podcast program.

In this post we will touch on a few things from that article that appear to call for some sedevacantist reaction. Morrison writes:

Whereas Archbishop Lefebvre accepted the existence of a great mystery as it relates to the Church’s crisis, others have attempted to eliminate the mystery, typically in one of two ways described by Archbishop Lefebvre:

“There are people who are seeing the passion of the Church and the tragedy of papacy and so they conclude that such a degradation of papacy is not possible and so the pope can not be the pope.

… READ MORE

New Sedevacantist Bishop: Bp. Daniel Dolan to consecrate Brazilian Fr. Rodrigo da Silva for Latin America

Consecration planned for Sep. 29, 2021

A New Sedevacantist Bishop:

Bp. Daniel Dolan to consecrate Brazilian Fr. Rodrigo da Silva for South America and Mexico

Breaking news out of West Chester, Ohio: Bp. Daniel Dolan has announced his intention to consecrate a bishop on Wednesday, Sep. 29, the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, at his parish church of St. Gertrude the Great. The bishop-elect is the Brazilian Fr. Rodrigo Henrique Ribeiro da Silva.

The following announcement appears in the most recent parish bulletin of St. Gertrude’s:

It is to Brazil that I am turning for another bishop to take care of our faithful in Mexico and South America, as well as to help assure the apostolic succession in these so uncertain times.

… READ MORE

Interview with Former Novus Ordo Priest Michael DeSaye

On his way to the real Catholic priesthood…

Interview with Former Novus Ordo Priest Michael DeSaye

The Rev. Mr. Michael DeSaye is a sedevacantist seminarian who is well on his way to the Catholic priesthood. Just this past Saturday, he was ordained a deacon, the last step before becoming a priest.

Deacon DeSaye is not your typical sedevacantist, however. He is, in fact, a former Novus Ordo priest. His original (invalid) ordination in the Vatican II Church took place on June 2, 2018, for the diocese of Trenton, New Jersey.

In an extremely rare occurrence, which is no doubt a badge of honor for him, Rev.… READ MORE

What Game is Francis playing with the Fraternity of St. Peter?

Chaos Frank permits FSSP to keep Old Mass…

What Game is Francis playing with the Fraternity of Saint Peter?


He knows how to move pieces: The Argentinian apostate Jorge Bergoglio, S.J.

Predicting what Jorge Bergoglio will do is a dangerous and forlorn task. The man otherwise known as “Pope Francis” is a master manipulator, a cunning schemer, and a malicious deceiver. To “expect the unexpected” is probably the best advice one can give when it comes to the apostate Jesuit from Buenos Aires.

Francis reassures FSSP

This past Monday, Feb. 21, the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) issued the following press release:

On Friday, February 4, 2022, two members of the Priestly Fraternity of St.

… READ MORE

Novus Ordo Priest becomes Sedevacantist, Diocese Excommunicates

Rev. Michael DeSaye of Trenton, NJ

Novus Ordo Priest becomes Sedevacantist, Diocese Excommunicates

On June 2, 2018, Rev. Michael G. DeSaye was ordained a Catholic priest.

At least that is what he thought at the time.

Less than three years after what he has since come to understand was an invalid ordination ceremony, presided over by a Modernist layman rather than a Roman Catholic bishop, “Father” DeSaye asked his local ordinary, “Bishop” David M. O’Connell, to accept his resignation from the diocese of Trenton, New Jersey. The request was granted.

On May 10 of this year, “Bp.” O’Connell released the following extremely diplomatic announcement:

Rev.

… READ MORE

Playing it Safe? Kennedy Hall and the Sedevacantist Wager

Who’s really on the safe side theologically?

Playing it Safe? Kennedy Hall and the Sedevacantist Wager

Kennedy Hall is a Canadian journalist, author, and internet pundit who falls squarely into the recognize-and-resist camp theologically.

On Oct. 21, 2022, writing for Crisis Magazine, Hall published a blog post entitled, “The Sedevacantist Wager”, in which he explains why he believes that, leaving aside all theological arguments, it is ultimately a much safer bet to accept Francis and his five predecessors as true Popes, as long as one sufficiently sifts their magisterium for whatever is heretical, erroneous, or otherwise dangerous to one’s soul.… READ MORE

No Jekyll-and-Hyde Magisterium: Against the Theological Sophistry of Peter Kwasniewski

Powerful refutation of semi-trad star apologist

No Jekyll-and-Hyde Magisterium: Against the Theological Sophistry of Peter Kwasniewski

On May 26, 2022, One Peter Five published another article by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, the retired philosophy professor who is currently “rethinking the Papacy” in an effort to fit the square peg of Jorge Bergoglio (“Pope Francis”) into the round hole of the Petrine primacy:

The article’s chief contention is that the nature and role of the Church’s magisterium, specifically that of the Pope, has been unduly exaggerated by some to the detriment of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.… READ MORE

On those ‘Spiritual Dangers’ of Sedevacantism: A Reply to Eric Sammons

Assessing where the true spiritual danger lies…

On those ‘Spiritual Dangers’ of Sedevacantism:
A Reply to Eric Sammons


“Sedeva-whaat?!”

It is evident that, as of late, Sedevacantism has been on the minds of many “semi-traditionalists” (our moniker for those who take a “recognize-the-Pope-as-valid-but-resist-his-bad-teachings-and-laws” approach to the current situation), and it is easy to see why. Sedevacantism is the elephant in the room that is staring everyone in the face, while the “Francis papacy” forces the old recognize-and-resist narrative to collapse like a house of cards under the weight of its own ever more obvious absurdity.

Thus it is not surprising that we have recently seen a truckload of anti-sedevacantist material being pumped out on various semi-trad web sites, among which is an article by Eric Sammons that warns readers to beware of the “spiritual dangers” that are supposedly found in Sedevacantism:

Frequent readers of this blog may remember that we have vehemently criticized Sammons in the past, taking him to task for his truly appalling theology:

… READ MORE

Reaction Roundup: Semi-Trads Lose It after Francis Pulls the Plug on Strickland

Defiance, denial, disconcertion…

Reaction Roundup: Semi-Trads Lose It after Francis Pulls the Plug on Strickland

Unless you were under a rock the past three days, chances are you’ve heard about 65-year-old ‘Bishop’ Joseph Edward Strickland of Tyler, Texas, being removed from his post by Jorge Bergoglio, the Argentinian apostate currently occupying the Vatican guest house under the stage name ‘Pope Francis’. We blogged about it when it on Saturday:

It was a given that this development, not unexpected, would generate a tidal wave of reactions, and so it has.… READ MORE