The Persecution and ‘Death’ of the Church: The Testimony of Scripture and Tradition

The Pope will be Victim, Not Persecutor…

The Persecution and ‘Death’ of the Church:
The Testimony of Scripture and Tradition

pius12-vs-antichrist.jpg

Researched and Explained by
Cardinal Henry Edward Manning (1808-1892)

This is a slightly revised version of an article posted on this web site in 2015.

As we all suffer through these most distressing times in which confusion and chaos reign among all who seek to be genuine Catholics, members of the only true religion established by God, it is helpful and important to reflect on the fact that the situation we find ourselves in today — no (known) valid Pope since 1958, and no apparent Catholic bishop left with ordinary jurisdiction, while a counterfeit institution masquerades as the Catholic Church, spreading heresy, immorality, and impiety — was foretold in Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition.… 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

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

Pre-Vatican II Theologian: Catholicity of Church “Very Restricted” during Great Apostasy

Fr. Timothy Zapelena, S.J.

Pre-Vatican II Theologian: Catholicity of Church “Very Restricted” during Great Apostasy


The dome of St. Peter’s Basilica as seen through the keyhole of the entrance portal of the Magistral Villa on the Aventine Hill in Rome (image: shutterstock.com / Simone Migliaro)

Earlier this month we published a post on St. Augustine of Hippo writing to one Bp. Hesychius regarding the Church’s visibility during the Great Apostasy before Christ returns:

The question of the visibility of the Church is a crucial one, for the Church founded by Christ is visible by her very nature and she must ever remain in her essential constitution exactly the way Christ founded her: “But since the Church is such [having both visible and invisible elements] by divine will and constitution, such it must uniformly remain to the end of time.… READ MORE

Saint Augustine: “The Church Will Not Appear” during Great Tribulation before Christ’s Return

Doctor of the Church speaks on the End Times…

Saint Augustine: “The Church Will Not Appear” during Great Tribulation before Christ’s Return

When people debate the issue of Sedevacantism, sooner or later someone who does not agree with the position will object that Sedevacantism is not reconcilable with the Catholic doctrine of the Church’s visibility.

While it is certainly true that our current situation presents some difficulties in that regard, the objection is by no means as powerful as it is often thought to be. The following articles provide some good information on the visibility issue:

If Sedevacantism were understood to mean that the Church does not, per se and by unalterable divine institution, have a visible hierarchy, then such a position would indeed be unacceptable because it would be heretical.… READ MORE

Ecumenical Journey to Nowhere: Francis and the Lutherans

Heretical blather, continued…

Ecumenical Journey to Nowhere:
Francis and the Lutherans

A false bishop gives the false pope a chalice made in Taizé, France

On Friday, June 25, 2021, Jorge Bergoglio (“Pope Francis”) received a delegation representing the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), including its current president, “Archbishop” Panti Filibus Musa, pictured above, and its secretary, Rev. Martin Junge.

The LWF is a “global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations” that has its main offices in Geneva, Switzerland. It was originally founded in Lund, Sweden, a city which Francis excitedly visited on Oct. 31, 2016, in order to celebrate (!)… READ MORE

The Catholic Church after Pius XII: A Postscript to Fr. Ringrose’s Repudiation of Recognize-and-Resist

Some additional considerations…

The Catholic Church after Pope Pius XII: A Postscript to Fr. Ringrose’s Repudiation of Recognize-and-Resist

As expected, our post of May 3 regarding Fr. Ronald Ringrose’s repudiation of the recognize-and-resist position has engendered lots of debate about resistance theology, Sedevacantism, and the Guerardian material-formal thesis (aka the Cassiciacum Thesis or Sedeprivationism).

We offer the following lines as some additional material for reflection and to help those who have been wedded, as it were, to the recognize-and-resist (R&R) position for a long time to realize how seriously it is contrary to the Roman Catholic Faith, which all who call themselves Catholics have an obligation to defend and uphold.… READ MORE

Theological Earthquake at Virginia Trad Chapel: Fr. Ronald Ringrose abandons Recognize-and-Resist Position

Change of position in favor of Sedeprivationism…

Theological Earthquake at Virginia Trad Chapel: Fr. Ronald Ringrose abandons Recognize-and-Resist Position

St. Athanasius Church in Vienna, Virginia, established in 1968

Let’s cut right to the chase: Fr. Ronald Ringrose, the pastor of St. Athanasius Church in Vienna, Virginia, has publicly repudiated his long-time theological position of recognizing the papal claimants since Vatican II as valid but resisting them in their magisterium and their government of the church (commonly known as the “recognize-and-resist” position).

Realizing that the position is plainly contrary to the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church, Fr. Ringrose began to disavow it publicly in three of his parish bulletins in January 2018.… READ MORE

Francis’ Subtle Heresy: Who is a True Christian?

CAUTION! Francis Speaks!

Francis’ Subtle Heresy: Who is a True Christian?

We all know that Francis likes to talk a lot, and he especially likes to point out what, in his view, is required to be a “true” Christian: You must be this way or that way, and you cannot do this or that. For example, you must always “include”, you must welcome everyone without distinction, you cannot be a [insert Bergoglian insult of your choice], you cannot have a funeral face, you cannot have a flight-attendant smile, you cannot be “closed in on yourself”, etc., ad nauseam.… READ MORE

Heresy in THE VORTEX: Will Michael Voris Retract?

The ‘Voris Virus’ has mutated…

Heresy in The Vortex:
Will Michael Voris Retract?

Watch for heresy at the 1:43 mark

It looks like the “Voris Virus”, as we have called Michael Voris’ disingenuous refusal to cover the truth about “Pope” Francis whenever it contradicts his own agenda, has mutated.

The self-appointed defender of the smells-and-bells version of the Novus Ordo religion, who operates against the supposedly legitimate authority of his own “archdiocese” in Detroit, contrary to the prescriptions of Pope Leo XIII, has just published another Vortex episode, this time one in which he tries to explain the Catholic dogma of No Salvation Outside the Church.… READ MORE