- Vatican I expert Fr. Chad Ripperger, PhD, in his book "Magister
Authority" shows that almost all Francis apologists be they liberal,
conservative or traditionalist are "proximate to heresy":
"[T]reating ALL papal statements as if they are infallible... is
proximate to heresy because it rejects the precise formulation of the
conditions of infallibility as laid out in Vatican I... by essentially
saying the pope is infallible regardless of conditions..."
"... Worse still, those who were to follow a pope who was in error
in a non-infallible teaching which is taught contrary to something that
is infallible is not, therefore, excused." (Magisterial Authority, Pages 5-14)
- Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) in "Si Papa":
"'Let no
mortal being have the audacity to reprimand a Pope on account of faults,
for he whose duty it is to judge all men cannot be judged by anybody,
unless he should be called to the task of having deviated from the
faith. (Si Papa)'"
"Pope Innocent III: 'For me the faith is so
necessary that, whereas for other sins my only judge is God, for the
slightest sin in the matter of the faith I could be judged by the
Church.' (propter solum peccatum quod in fide commititur possem ab
Ecclesia judican)"
(The Remnant, "Answering a Sedevacantist Critic," March 18, 2015)
- "The pope is not right because he says he's right, and he's not
infallible simply because he has the power of infallibility (although he
is and he does). Vatican I is very clear. The pope is infallible
BECAUSE Christ gave the keys to Peter and his Successors, and HE
guaranteed by HIS divine power that the pope would never err in his
solemn teaching capacity. This is perhaps a subtle distinction, but it
makes a profound difference. It means that our faith is not centered on
the person of the pope, but centered on Christ just has it has always
been." - Jack
At times, I have found that the comments in the Catholic Monitor comment
section are better than my post. This was true of a post in
which Jack wrote
a deeply insightful comment that mirrored Fr. Rippinger's above
explanation of Vatican I and Pope Innocent III's "in the matter of the
faith I [and all popes and antipopes] could be judged by the Church."
However, prior to getting to it, I want to thank all the loyal Catholic
Monitor readers and commenters for their prayers especially Praypraypray
and Therese who are prayer warriors and the vast majority of CM
commenters for their wisdom.
Also, I want to say, unlike Jack, I am not inclined to think that One
Peter Five publisher Steve Skojec is a "double agent," but it appears to
me that he does keep Catholics "confused... a whining bunch of
scandalmong[ers] rather than united in any useful purpose."
Here is the great comment by Jack:
"People who imagine that Vatican I's definition of papal infallibility
is circular, tautological, or otherwise redundant imagine that the dogma
goes like this: "Solemn papal definitions are infallible, because the
pope has the power of infallibility." Which is like saying, 'it's right
because the pope says it's right.'"
"This would be to set up the pope as a kind of god, since only God is
truly self-justifying like this, right simply because He is right,
because He is Truth itself by His very essence."
"I think in the wake of liberalism and its undermining of all authority,
Catholics rallied to the pope and after Vatican I made this kind of
mistake, at least implicitly, that the pope is right because he is
right. But this is just another human error, setting up a man in God's
place, undermining authority in an even more subtle way."
"The pope is not right because he says he's right, and he's not
infallible simply because he has the power of infallibility (although he
is and he does). Vatican I is very clear. The pope is infallible
BECAUSE Christ gave the keys to Peter and his Successors, and HE
guaranteed by HIS divine power that the pope would never err in his
solemn teaching capacity. This is perhaps a subtle distinction, but it
makes a profound difference. It means that our faith is not centered on
the person of the pope, but centered on Christ just has it has always
been."
"So when we come across a pope who appears to be erring in doctrine, the
first thing we should ask is whether he is really erring or not. And if
he is erring, the next thing to ask is whether his papacy is legitimate
or whether he's an antipope. But for people with a worldly mindset who
are too willing to accept the world's opinions and maintain their public
image, and who's faith is more centred on the person of the pope than
on the person of Christ, they would rather deny Vatican I and become
heretics than accuse a possible antipope (despite there having been
many, many antipopes in history) and fall temporarily out of favour."
"To be honest at this point I would not be surprised if Skojec is a kind
of double agent and 1p5 a false-opposition operation designed to keep
potential critics of the regime confused and pigeonholed. Keep
traditionalists as a whining bunch of scandalmongerers rather than
united in any useful purpose."
[http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2019/09/is-skojecs-infallible-opinion-that.html?m=1]
Lastly, here is my simple post that hopefully helped inspire Jack in his exceptional comment:
It appears that One Peter Five publisher Steve Skojec's infallible
opinion that the Francis papacy cannot be invalid under any
circumstances is leading him towards heresy.
"I believe Vatican I's papal infallibly teaching "appears... [to border] on superstition," so I accept as true that that infallible dogma "appears... [to border]" on being a unfounded belief."
- Doctor
of the Church St. Francis de Sales totally confirmed beyond any doubt
the possibility of a heretical pope and what must be done by the Church
in such a situation:
"[T]he Pope... WHEN he is EXPLICITLY a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church, and the Church MUST either deprive him, or, as some say, declare him deprived, of his Apostolic See."
(The Catholic Controversy, by St. Francis de Sales, Pages 305-306)
Saint Robert Bellarmine, also, said "the Pope heretic is not deposed ipso facto, but must be declared deposed by the Church."
[https://archive.org/stream/SilveiraImplicationsOfNewMissaeAndHereticPopes/Silveira%20Implications%20of%20New%20Missae%20and%20Heretic%20Popes_djvu.txt]
- "If Francis is a Heretic, What should Canonically happen to him?": http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2020/12/if-francis-is-heretic-what-should.html
- "Could Francis be a Antipope even though the Majority of Cardinals claim he is Pope?": http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2019/03/could-francis-be-antipope-even-though.html
- LifeSiteNews, "Confusion explodes as Pope Francis throws magisterial
weight behind communion for adulterers," December 4, 2017:
The AAS guidelines explicitly allows "sexually active adulterous couples
facing 'complex circumstances' to 'access the sacraments of
Reconciliation and the Eucharist.'"
- On February 2018, in Rorate Caeli, Catholic theologian Dr. John Lamont:
"The AAS statement... establishes that Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia
has affirmed propositions that are heretical in the strict sense."
- On December 2, 2017, Bishop Rene Gracida:
"Francis' heterodoxy is now official. He has published his letter to the
Argentina bishops in Acta Apostlica Series making those letters
magisterial documents."
Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church by the bishops by the grace of God.
Election Notes:
- Intel Cryptanalyst-Mathematician on Biden Steal: "212Million Registered Voters & 66.2% Voting,140.344 M Voted...Trump got 74 M, that leaves only 66.344 M for Biden" [http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/intel-cryptanalyst-mathematician-on.html?m=1]
- Will US be Venezuela?: Ex-CIA Official told Epoch Times "Chávez started to Focus on [Smartmatic] Voting Machines to Ensure Victory as early as 2003": http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/will-us-be-venezuela-ex-cia-official.html
http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/01/a-hour-which-will-live-in-infamy-1001pm.html?m=1
http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/epoch-times-show-crossroads-on-capital.html?m=1]