Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Primacy and Permanence of a lawfully elected Pope

On the permanence of the primacy of blessed Peter in the Roman pontiffs

1. That which our lord Jesus Christ, the prince of shepherds and great shepherd of the sheep, established in the blessed apostle Peter, for the continual salvation and permanent benefit of the Church, must of necessity remain for ever, by Christ's authority, in the Church which, founded as it is upon a rock, will stand firm until the end of time [45].

2. For no one can be in doubt, indeed it was known in every age that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince and head of the apostles, the pillar of faith and the foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our lord Jesus Christ, the savior and redeemer of the human race, and that to this day and for ever he lives and presides and exercises judgment in his successors the bishops of the Holy Roman See, which he founded and consecrated with his blood [46].

3. Therefore whoever succeeds to the chair of Peter obtains by the institution of Christ himself, the primacy of Peter over the whole Church. So what the truth has ordained stands firm, and blessed Peter perseveres in the rock-like strength he was granted, and does not abandon that guidance of the Church which he once received [47].

4. For this reason it has always been necessary for every Church--that is to say the faithful throughout the world--to be in agreement with the Roman Church because of its more effective leadership. In consequence of being joined, as members to head, with that see, from which the rights of sacred communion flow to all, they will grow together into the structure of a single body [48].

5. Therefore, if anyone says that it is not by the institution of Christ the lord himself (that is to say, by divine law) that blessed Peter should have perpetual successors in the primacy over the whole Church; or that the Roman Pontiff is not the successor of blessed Peter in this primacy: let him be anathema.

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Further, St. Augustine, in his authoritative teachings on Predestination and Perseverance of the Saints points out the the Papacy is an example of the Gift of God in granting a Will that will persevere to the end of time and that the Pope will never fail based on Christ's prayer for St. Peter.  The Pope is an example of Predestination.

This is the Catholic Faith.  If you deny it.  You are a heretic. If you question it, you are in the process of losing the faith.

11 comments:

  1. The Magisterium of the Church teaches that a heretic like Bergoglio is outside the Church, and could never be elected pope because he was already a heretic, apostate and schismatic in Argentina. And those who support heretics like Bergoglio are automatically excommunicated.
    https://mercaba.org/MAGISTERIO/cum_ex_apostolatus_officio.htm

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  2. I subscribe to the thesis of Ann Barnhardt. pope Francis is an anti-pope and Pope Benedict XVI remains the true and current Pope.

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  3. "This is the Catholic Faith. If you deny it. You are a heretic."

    Unless the current Pope, whether lawfully elected or not, is a manifest heretic himself, and attempts by word and deed and agenda, and by those he appoints, to further the destruction of the Catholic Faith and Her traditions by fostering the same heresy and agenda he and his associates promote.

    I believe that Pope Benedict XVI did not resign of his own accord, but was pressured out by a gang of liberals lead by Cardinals Danneels, McCarrick, et al, and that the "election" of Bergoglio (aka Pope Francis), was orchestrated and campaigned for before and during the conclave and thus is invalid.

    Benedict XVI is still the Pope, and I acknowledge him and his predecessors and legitimate successors....not Bergoglio. (especially after the Amazon Synod)

    Damian M. Malliapalli

    ( I heard yesterday that the Vatican is nearly bankrupt despite the denials of Cardinal Mariadiaga etc., that Rome has been suffering for several years a decline in tourists thanks to Pope Francis and his agenda, and that fewer and fewer are choosing to visit the Vatican as long as he is Pope..........and that the people of Castel Gangolfo hate him) :)

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  4. Well then this does not apply to Francis, who was fraudulently “elected”.

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  5. We need an official examination and declaration regarding the validity of the conclave, and a one also of the resignation. Once the conclave is declared invalid (which it obviously is, according to Universi Domenici Gregis - which even states that "no declaration is necessary" as to the invalid election if the rules are broken, which they were in various ways) - once the conclave is declared invalid, we can either examine the resignation (which appears invalid for multiple reasons) or simply ask Benedict, if he is still living, if he is still Pope. He knows. But this piece reiterating Church teaching about adhering to the pope is incomplete - it needs the full Catholic teaching. And, just as in the Middle AGes, there are times when most people don't know which is the true pope. This piece assumes we do, and that there is no way that a pope can lose his office.

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  6. The Barnhardt thesis is based on substantial error, which may be the case, but the invalidity of the resignation could well have been intentional, and telegraphed by the misuse of Latin terms, and other faults in the text (such as declaring something that happens via to words themselves to take effect later - an impossibility, as in saying "I do" but stating that the marriage will take effect next Tuesday.

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  7. It's unclear who precisely this post is directed at (it could be interpreted in a number of ways), but to get back to the headline: Much hinges to on the lawfulness of election.

    You also don't address a situation in which a lawfully elected Pope may in fact fall into heresy, and preach heresy, while stopping short of actually proclaiming it in a manner that would be deemed "ex cathedra" (either by himself - though obviously any such Pope would believe himself to be propounding truth, not heresy, for no one is a heretic in his own mind - or by canon lawyers). What to do then?

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  8. I do know that Pope John Paul II made the pronouncement that there was to be no electioneering and power brokering before a conclave. Each individual cardinal was to enter the conclave in a one on one relationship with the Holy Spirit. This dictum was broken. It is known that it was ignored. Is that enough to abrogate the election?---It is also known that Pope Benedict was involved in some type of political arrangement with the incoming pontiff before he abdicated. It is obvious that his health was not the issue as stated. It looks like he abdicated willingly albeit under pressure.---In 1958 according to the writer Malachi Martin, there appeared to be a similar case involving Giuseppe Cardinal Siri who was the hand picked successor to Pius XII. There is now little doubt that he was elected as seen with the white smoke. He even took the name of Gregory XVI. For some reason which Malachi Martin kicked around, he abdicated and refused the election. This was completely legal albeit under pressure from supporters of then Cardinal Roncalli and possibly the Soviet Union through several French Cardinals.----When Siri was questioned about the conclave, all that he could say with sadness was "the secret, the secret of the conclave, it is terrible". Nevertheless, the Church moved right along with him caught in the vast tow flow of Vatican II.

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  9. Several things put into question whether the Pope was lawfully elected. This is not to say I am against the present Pope. I have learned much from him about how not to be a Christian. And that is important. St. Peter performed certain actions worthy of imitation and others that are not. Any way St. Peter's role with respect to the Roman episcopacy is as symbolic as his role is with respect to the Jerusalem episcopacy. It is exalted because at the time Rome was the urban centre of the Roman empire. But long before the Germanic tribes converted, that centre shifted to New Rome: Constantinople. The descendants of the German tribesmen, which means most of Europe find it in their interest to re-symbolize the idea of Roman primacy and the current pontiff. However, Signor Bergoglio is unable to pull it off, whether lawfully elected or not. His greatest wisdom is about the things of this world, especially issues pertaining to human reproduction. The reproductive cycle is over for many women by 50 and certainly by 60. But women are the majority of human beings. Our Lord taught the wisdom of eternal life. I think Bergoglio's papacy will finish off German Romano-Carolingian Christianity. He hopes to plant seed in the Amazon. The question one must ask are the seeds those of Christianity as it has been known for 2000 years? Cradle Catholics feel forced to ignore the Pope and search for a deeper spirituality centered on all the Church Fathers—not just Augustine and their reading of the Bible. Popes, especially Pope Francis can't help us here. His spirituality ends and begins at the Council of Trent, since he follows the post-Tridentine spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a very limited perspective given the richness of Christian tradition.

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  10. Loyal Catholics continue to give this Marxist the benefit of the doubt. It also continues to be unwarranted.

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