In 2012 even Leftist America said a Pope's Resignation "had to be cleared by Canon Law; it was determined that if the resignation was Voluntary, Enacted Properly and Absolutely Necessary"
It's very interesting that in 2012 even the leftist America was saying about a pope's resignation:
"This had to be cleared by canon law; it was determined that if the resignation was voluntary, enacted properly and absolutely necessary." - The Catholic Monitor
There are three basic schools of thought on this phenomenon, the first of which has been nicknamed “Benevacantism.” The first two theories were openly discussed by Burke and Coffin (and summarized by Alt in his post), the third was only hinted at. The three theories are:
- Pope Benedict’s resignation was invalid; he is still pope. (Advocates: Bp. Rene Gracida, Antonio Socci, Msgr. Nicola Bux.)
- The conclave that elected Pope Francis was invalid or corrupt, thus voiding the election of Pope Francis. (Advocates: While I am not aware of any prominent figures who have announced explicitly that they believe Francis is not pope based on an invalid conclave, those advancing the possibility include Church Militant and Roberto de Mattei.)
- The resignation of Pope Benedict was valid, as was the election of Pope Francis. But sometime after his election, Pope Francis officially promulgated heresy from the See of Peter, and thereby abdicated his office automatically. (Proponents: the signatories of the Open Letter to the College of Bishops, including Fr. Aidan Nichols, Peter Kwasniewski, Fr. John Hunwicke, and John Rist.)
In a December 2016 interview with Catholic World Report, Burke was asked what might lead to the abdication of a pope:
CWR: Some people are saying that the pope could separate himself from communion with the Church. Can the pope legitimately be declared in schism or heresy?
Burke: If a Pope would formally profess heresy he would cease, by that act, to be the Pope. It’s automatic. And so, that could happen.
CWR: That could happen.
Burke: Yes.
The clear implication here, as well as the explanation for Cardinal
Burke’s rejection of virtually everything that Pope Francis has formally
taught, is that he thinks Francis hasn’t taught anything magisterial because he doesn’t believe Francis is pope. - Where Peter Is [https://wherepeteris.com/does-cardinal-burke-think-francis-is-an-antipope/]
Recently, the Modernist leftist America is discussing the possibility of Francis resigning:
This announcement might have gone unnoticed had it not been that Celestine V was the first pope to resign voluntarily, and that Benedict XVI had made a pilgrimage to the same pope’s tomb four years before announcing his resignation from the chair of Peter. It was this, Gerry says, “that provided ammunition for the guns of speculation.”
And while neither Gerry nor Colleen believes a papal resignation is imminent, on this episode of “Inside the Vatican” they consider the reasons to heed, or not, the rumors that Pope Francis will soon follow in the footsteps of Benedict XVI and Celestine V. [https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/06/09/pope-francis-retire-resign-podcast-2022-243132]
Moreover, why might Francis have been talking in 2021 about Dante since he is apparently only mostly interested in the socialist this-world utopias and rarely, if ever, talks about the Heaven and Hell of the poet's epic?
Might it have something to do with Dante's calling one of Pope Benedict XVI's favorite popes, Pope Celestine V, who resigned a coward in Hell?
In 2013, Mark Giszczak wrote:
St. Celestine V. Scott Hahn made an interesting post in which he mentions Pope Benedict’s two trips to pray by the tomb and relics (respectively) of Celestine V–notably the Pope left his pallium on Celestine’s tomb on April 29, 2009. (Interestingly, as Rocco Palmo notes, this pallium was the one with which Benedict was originally vested. The pope “retired” it from use and went to a smaller size of pallium. More here: Fr. Z, NLM)...
... Now, on to Dante! In his Inferno, Canto III, lines 58-63 (in Dorothy Sayers’ translation) we read:
And when I’d noted here and there a shade
Whose face I knew, I saw and recognized
The coward spirit of the man who madeThe great refusal; and that proof sufficed;
Here was that rabble, here without a doubt,
Whom God and whom His enemies despised.
Now, Celestine is found in Hell’s “vestibule” here with the futile, who run around after meaningless banners, goaded by hornets. They are at the very “top” so to speak, of Dante’s Hell. Dante’s condemnation of Celestine V was rooted in the problematic reign of his successor, Boniface VIII, who imprisoned his predecessor. Apparently, Dante felt that Celestine should have embraced the office and out of cowardice or a faint heart, he abdicated, which led to very bad things in the reign of the next pope. Celestine died in a fetid jail cell.[https://catholicbiblestudent.com/2013/02/pope-benedict-xvi-resigns-dante.html]
Did Boniface kill Celestine by jailing him?
Francis apologist Fr. Dwight Longenecker shows that Francis knows all about Celestine:
Dante placed Boniface in hell for his crimes and it was Boniface VIII who pushed papal claims to worldly power to their most extreme point. A corrupt and ambitious man, Boniface demanded that all people be subject to the Roman Pontiff and insisted that kings and princes bow to his power. After power struggles with King Philip IV of France, Boniface was imprisoned and it was rumored that he took his own life — by gnawing off his own arms and bashing his head against a wall. Boniface was accused of many horrible crimes by his enemies, and even if innocent of the worst offenses, he was still a completely worldly man world who stands as the stunning contrast to Celestine’s simplicity and godliness.
By proclaiming a jubilee year in honor of Celestine Pope Francis is making a clear call for all Catholics to turn away from the worldly values of power, pride and corruption and walk in the way of Christ. [https://www.patheos.com/blogs/standingonmyhead/2014/07/the-real-celestine-prophecy.html]
In 2012, the Francis apologist leftist America magazine wrote an article about "Celestine's Prophecy":
Celestine V, the pope who quit, is remembered mostly as a footnote.
Histories of the popes treat him as a medieval curiosity. Dante
condemned him to the inferno for his cowardice. More recently, his
resignation has been viewed as the odd precedent that would permit an
ailing pope to step down...
... He [Celestine] announced that he would resign, the first and only pope to do so.
This had to be cleared by canon law; it was determined that if the resignation was voluntary, enacted properly and absolutely necessary—if the pope was useless or suffered a serious impediment such as insanity—resignation would be acceptable.
The holy man, officially deemed useless, fled. But his authoritarian successor, Pope Boniface VIII, was evidently uneasy with having another pope about and ordered him imprisoned. It is “not far-fetched” to suggest that Boniface had Peter [Celestine] murdered. [https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/culture/celestines-prophecy ]
It's very interesting that in 2012 even the leftist America was saying about a pope's resignation:
"This had to be cleared by canon law; it was determined that if the resignation was voluntary, enacted properly and absolutely necessary."
Pray an Our Father now for reparation for the sins committed because of Francis's Amoris Laetitia.