My Last Article on Sedevacantism
Pauly Fongemie
Last Sunday of Pentecost, 2007
The letters from sedevacantists continue to arrive in our mailbox, evangelizing for their cause, that the Chair of Peter is vacant.
This short response will be my last and it will be soon evident just why.
It is de fide, that Christ prayed that Peter's faith would not fail, since he was the first Vicar of Christ. He could not lose his faith, that is formally teach error and bind the faithful to it. By extension that prayer is for all the Pontiffs, some of whom were weak like Peter, impetuous like him, Martyrs like him, and above all repentant, like him, in humility and true sorrow, later if not sooner.
It is de fide, that where there is Peter, there is the Church. No Peter or his successor, no Church. Every body must have a head and the Mystical Body of Christ above all.
It is de fide, that the Papacy, once established by Christ, is in perpetuity until the end of time.
It is de fide, that the Vicar of Christ or head of the Catholic Church must be visible.
The Catholic Church is the ark of salvation outside of which there is no salvation other than those who through no fault of their own may not have entered visibly or officially. Therefore, it is de fide, that the Church must be visible as a distinct body. Again, where there is Peter, there is the Church.
It is de fide, that no one other than another Pope or Christ can judge the Roman Pontiff. We may judge his actions but we may not, cannot judge him as Pontiff per se.
It is de fide, that heresy, to disqualify from office, must be pertinacious, and formal, known and persistent after patient pleading. While bishops and priests, religious and laymen can be judged so after due warning, who is it that can so advise the Roman Pontiff? Paul withstood Peter to his face in the book of Acts when Peter was in error on discipline, but Peter had never taught it as de fide. Pope John XXII was in error privately about Purgatory, his adisors went to him and he recanted. Again, he never formally disseminated his idea as dogma. Which of the modern Roman Pontiffs have been so warned under established Church protocol? None.
Therefore, any such disqualification from office regarding a Pontiff is theoretical only as St. Robert Bellermine himself admitted.
Some of the statements of the modern Popes can be said to be questionable at best, even heretical at worst. A private judgment, although publicly revealed is not a de fide declaration. Who can judge the intention or the heart of said Pontiffs?
As for Pope Benedict XVI, I know that a number of you are concerned about some of his ideas and his writings about them. I don't blame you. But Christ's promise, infallible promise to His Church stands. I not only believe in Jesus Christ, I believe Him, every word of the Word of God.
The Holy Ghost will not permit the Roman Pontiff or a doctrinal council in union with him to formally teach and bind under pain of sin beliefs that contradict the Apostolic faith. No Roman Pontiff has done so to this day, even though some of the Popes, as far back as the Arian crisis and before, then afterwards [Supra.] held questionable ideas, never officially promulgated as such.
You repeatedly sound the alarm that Benedict plans to revise the papacy that would violate Tradition and doctrine.
All I know is that Papa Benedetto is a holy man with a good heart, and humble. Somewhere, down deep I know he knows the truth of Christ, all of His teachings as safeguarded by the Apostles and their successors. Like us, he, too, is a sinner, with blind spots. We are blind to our own, but our neighbors are not. Perhaps we think we see his and maybe we do. All the more reason to pray without ceasing for him. On every Rosary and at every Mass. Let us hope he is praying for us wretched sinners as well.
His blind spots are not willful or because of malice, but human frailty, in judgment.
If he were to entertain such a notion of a split papacy or thereabouts, God the Holy Ghost would intervene, by whatever means He chooses. How is not our purview. I do not need to know as I trust Jesus Christ, period! And this is all I need to know.
The question for you is, who do you believe Christ or Father So and So from that infamous, uncharitable site? I know how I answer!
We cannot save the Church, we have but to save our own souls. Outside of the Church---apart from Peter---we cannot hope to as we are not invincibly ignorant or impossibly prevented. Where there is Peter, Benedict XVI, there is the Church.
As for me I remain steadfast and serene, leaving you with all felicity and with every good thought and my daily prayers.
HABEMUS PAPAM!
Let us pray for him and for each other . . .
Contact Us