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
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.
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:
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
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
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”.
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.
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
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
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
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
The Impossibility of Judging or Deposing a True Pope
He judges all and is judged by no one: the Pope
Accepting the Vatican II Sect as the Catholic Church has consequences. So does believing that Jorge Bergoglio is the Vicar of Christ despite being a public apostate: If he is a valid Pope, then there is no power on earth that can undo his papacy. If he is truly the successor of St. Peter, then he can resign voluntarily, but no one can take the pontificate from him.
This clear truth does not sit well with many in the “Recognize-and-Resist” (aka “Semi-Traditionalist”) camp, now that Francis is so obviously a non-Catholic and so clearly doing grave damage to Catholicism.
When did Nestorius Lose his Office? A Refutation of John Salza & Robert Siscoe
Cardinal Louis Billot, S.J. (1846-1931)
The huffing and puffing anti-sedevacantist apologists over at TrueOrFalsePope.com are currently busy publishing countless excerpts from their 700-page book as separate, individual articles. One such article posted on Feb. 2 criticizes Sedevacantists for pointing out that Nestorius automatically and immediately ceased to be the valid bishop of the see of Constantinople at the moment he became a public heretic, and not only after a legal declaration by the Church. This, John Salza and Robert Siscoe maintain, is false: “Nestorius was not deposed by ‘Divine law’ the moment he began preaching heresy, but was instead deposed after the Church itself rendered a judgment”, they argue (italics given).… READ MORE
St. Robert Bellarmine’s Defense of Popes said to have Erred in Faith
The folks at Mediatrix Press have released another gem of St. Robert Bellarmine, the great 17th-century Jesuit cardinal who is the Church’s foremost single theologian on the papacy. For the first time now available in English, Papal Error? A Defense of Popes said to have Erred in Faith is an excerpt from Cardinal Bellarmine’s larger treatise De Romano Pontifice (“On the Roman Pontiff”), Book IV. The translator is Mr. Ryan Grant, and the English-speaking world owes him a tremendous amount of gratitude.… READ MORE
