Better to be Wrong with the Pope – or Right with Tradition against Him? Response to the SSPX

Lefebvrist leadership misleads souls again…

Better to be Wrong with the Pope – or Right with Tradition against Him?

Response to a recent SSPX Article

On March 10, the official news and communications web site of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), founded by Abp. Marcel Lefebvre in 1970, posted a brief article entitled, “Is It Preferable to Be Wrong with the Pope or to Be Right with Tradition against Him?” Predictably, what they offered as argumentation in support of their position is nothing short of a theological disaster.

Let’s go ahead and dissect their little propaganda piece:

This is an objection that is often made to “Tradition”: a Catholic must be in complete union with the pope.

… READ MORE

Michael Matt of The Remnant: “Our Pope has Lost the Faith”

Talk about losing the Faith…

Michael Matt of The Remnant:
“Our Pope has Lost the Faith”

Great movie set, horrible theology…

It’s a new year, and we’re ready to make a prediction: By the time Dec. 31, 2019 rolls around, “Pope” Francis will still not be a Catholic, and the semi-traditionalist publication The Remnant will, after numerous articles and videos denouncing him, still hold that he’s nevertheless the Pope of the Catholic Church.

We are quite confident in this prediction because, alas, it is not unwarranted but solidly grounded in newly-released evidence.

On Dec. 31, 2018, the editor-in-chief of The Remnant, Mr.… READ MORE

Against the “Loyal Opposition”: How Recognize-and-Resist Traditionalism neutralizes the Catholic Faith

A reality check for Burke, Schneider & Co.

Against the “Loyal Opposition”:

How Recognize-and-Resist Traditionalism
neutralizes the Catholic Faith

by Francis del Sarto

On May 18, 2018, during his Rome Life Forum keynote address at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome, “Cardinal” Raymond Burke declared: “We cannot fail to observe that the situation which Pope Pius XI described in 1925 has only grown worse in our time, and attempts ever more to infiltrate the life of the Church herself and to corrupt the Bride of Christ by an apostasy from the Apostolic Faith” (see video recording, 12:51ff.… READ MORE

The Limits to Invoking “Papal Lapses” as a Justification for the Recognize-and-Resist Position

Rejoinder to recent arguments…

The Limits to Invoking “Papal Lapses” as a Justification for the Recognize-and-Resist Position:

A Response to Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

by Francis del Sarto

“Lessons from Church History: A Brief Review of Papal Lapses” is an article by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski that was published on August 6, 2018, by the OnePeterFive website. An editor’s note informs the reader that it is an update of an article that first appeared in October 2015. The author is identified as “a Thomistic theologian, liturgical scholar, and choral composer…”, who has taught at Novus Ordo colleges in Austria and the United States, written six books, and is a regular contributor on “Catholic blogs”.… READ MORE

St. Robert Bellarmine’s Teaching on Resisting a Pope

A much-misused quotation explained…

St. Robert Bellarmine’s Teaching on Resisting a Pope

For decades the proponents of the recognize-and-resist position have been using a quotation from St. Robert Bellarmine, the celebrated Doctor of the Church canonized by Pope Pius XI, in defense of their position and in apparent contradiction to Sedevacantism. The quote in question is the following (the precise wording varies a bit depending on which translation is used):

Just as it is licit to resist a Pontiff who attacks the body, so also is it licit to resist him who attacks souls or destroys the civil order or above all, tries to destroy the Church.

… READ MORE

The “St. Peter Denied Christ Three Times” Objection: St. Robert Bellarmine Refutes another Recognize-and-Resist Error

Another R&R error goes down in flames… 

The “St. Peter Denied Christ Three Times” Objection:

St. Robert Bellarmine Refutes another Recognize-and-Resist Error

Time and again we hear the objection, typically made by those who try to justify their pathological refusal to countenance Sedevacantism, that St. Peter denied Christ three times (see Mt 26:69-75) and didn’t thereby cease to be Pope. Ergo, so we are asked to believe, it is absurd to say that Francis is not the Pope just because he is not a Catholic and continually disseminates heresy.

To demonstrate that this objection is untenable, three main points must be kept in mind:

  1. The incident concerns St.
… READ MORE

The Ultramontanism Objection

Response to a misguided accusation…

The Ultramontanism Objection

We hear the accusations all the time: “Papolater!” – “Papal positivist!” – “Uber-Papalist!” – “Ultramontanist!” Among those who consider themselves traditional Catholics but accept Francis’ claim to being the Pope, the Catholic doctrine on the Papacy is not very popular, and it is easy to see why: Forcing Jorge Bergoglio through the template of the Papacy yields grotesque results.

Epithets like the ones mentioned are being hurled at us sedevacantists because we proclaim, as every Catholic did until the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, that the teaching of the Roman Pontiff requires our submission — it is not subject to review, criticism, or validation by every Tom, Dick, and Harry who happens to have access to a copy of Denzinger and knows how to hit “publish” on a blogging platform.… READ MORE

TRADCAST 019 is here

69 minutes of Catholicism at full throttle…

TRADCAST 019 Now Available

In this episode we talk about the “Benedict XVI is the Real Pope” Deception and analyze the False Opposition of the Semi-Traditionalists

TRADCAST — The Traditional Catholic Podcast

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
AND TO LISTEN TO ALL EPISODES

In case you missed our initial announcement on September 26: Our popular TRADCAST podcast program is back with a new, full-length episode! As always, it is loaded with real traditional Catholicism, hard-hitting refutations of various errors, razor-sharp analysis, and a touch of humor.

TRADCAST 019 covers a number of different topics, but particular attention is given to an idea that is gaining more and more popularity among Novus Ordos and Semi-Traditionalists as they reach the breaking point over the chaos “Pope” Francis is causing: the idea that Benedict XVI is the real Pope and, in any case, a stalwart defender of orthodoxy and restorer of Tradition.… READ MORE

TRADCAST 019 (September 26, 2017)

019 TRADCAST (26 SEP 2017)

Contents

  • Segment 1: Chaos in the Novus Ordo Church; the “Benedict XVI is the real Pope” deception; disunity in the Novus Ordo Church vs. Sedevacantism; comments on The Remnant‘s “Catholic Identity Conference 2017” and analysis of “Catholics Rising” promo video; comments on the dubia and formal correction; a look at recent news headlines; why you’re not Novus Ordo anymore, reason no. 6042.
  • Segment 2: The 1985 Ratzinger Report and the 2017 Cardinal Muller Report: nothing has changed in 30 years; rational proof for the existence of God; comments on Chris Ferrara’s “Francis Expands the Fake Magisterium”.
… READ MORE

The Stumbling Block of the Papacy: Why Bergoglio doesn’t fit

Semi-Trads trip over the Papacy…

The Stumbling Block of the Papacy:
Why Bergoglio doesn’t fit

At the dictation of the Holy Ghost, the first Pope, St. Peter, wrote concerning his Lord and Master Jesus Christ:

…it is said in the scripture [Is 28:16]: Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious. And he that shall believe in him, shall not be confounded. To you therefore that believe, he is honour: but to them that believe not, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner: And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of scandal, to them who stumble at the word, neither do believe, whereunto also they are set.

… READ MORE

Sedevacantism

Sedevacantism

The Vacancy of the Papal Throne since the Death of Pope Pius XII

The Chair of St. Peter in Vatican City (image: shutterstock.com)

On this page we present a slew of links to articles, blog posts, books, audios, and videos dealing with the subject matter of the Papacy, Sedevacantism, the false theological position known as “recognize-but-resist”, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), the Second Vatican Council, and the Novus Ordo Magisterium. We have tried as much as possible to group the links by topic. Due to the recent publication of the book True or False Pope? Refuting Sedevacantism and Other Modern Errors by John Salza and Robert Siscoe, there is a separate group of links relating just to that.… READ MORE

St. Robert Bellarmine: “Whether a Heretical Pope Can Be Deposed?”

De Romano Pontifice, Book II, Chapter 30

Whether a Heretical Pope Can Be Deposed?

by Saint Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, S.J.

Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church
Canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1930
Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1931
Feast Day: May 13

Translated from the original Latin by Mr. Ryan Grant
used with permission

Chapter XXX: The Last Argument is Answered, Wherein the Argument is Taken up, Whether a Heretical Pope can be Deposed

The tenth argument. A Pope can be judged and deposed by the Church in the case of heresy; as is clear from Dist.… READ MORE

St. Robert Bellarmine: “Whether a Pope can become a Heretic?”

De Romano Pontifice, Book IV, Chapters 6 & 7

Whether a Pope can fall into Heresy as a Private Person?

by Saint Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, S.J.

Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church
Canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1930
Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1931
Feast Day: May 13

Translated from the original Latin by Mr. Ryan Grant
used with permission

Chapter VI: On the Pope as a Particular Person

The fourth proposition. It is probable and may piously be believed that not only as ‘Pope’ can the Supreme Pontiff not err, but he cannot be a heretic even as a particular person by pertinaciously believing something false against the faith.… READ MORE

Can a Pope fall into Heresy as a Private Individual? St. Robert Bellarmine speaks

A Doctor of the Church weighs in…

Can a Pope be a Private Heretic?

St. Robert Bellarmine Speaks

As we announced approximately one year ago, the monumental theological work De Romano Pontifice (“On the Roman Pontiff”) of Cardinal St. Robert Bellarmine, S.J., has now been translated into English, for the first time ever. The translator is Mr. Ryan Grant of Mediatrix Press, and the English-speaking world owes him a tremendous amount of gratitude.

The English On the Roman Pontiff has been published in two volumes, with the first volume containing Books I and II, and the second volume containing Books III, IV, and V.… READ MORE

The Case of the Omitted Text: Response to Salza & Siscoe on St. Robert Bellarmine

Reading Comprehension for Beginners

The Case of the Omitted Text:

Response to Salza & Siscoe’s Accusation
that we Deleted Parts of St. Robert Bellarmine

In what can only be described as a bizarre spectacle, the authors of True or False Pope? Refuting Sedevacantism and Other Modern Errors, John Salza and Robert Siscoe, have now publicly accused Novus Ordo Watch of deleting parts from a text of St. Robert Bellarmine that supposedly refutes the Sedevacantist position. What they carefully avoided telling their readers is that the “evidence” they pointed to was merely a short excerpt from the chapter, clearly indicated as such, in a blog post.… READ MORE