Sedevacantism Explained

Sedevacantism is a traditionalist Catholic movement which holds that since the death of Pius XII the occupiers of the Holy See are not valid popes due to their espousal of one or more heresies and that, for lack of a valid pope, the See of Rome is vacant. Sedevacantism owes its origins to the rejection of the theological and disciplinary changes implemented following the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965).

The term sedevacantism is derived from the Latin phrase Latin: [[sede vacante]], which means "the chair [of the [[Bishop of Rome]]] being vacant". The phrase is commonly used to refer specifically to a vacancy of the Holy See which takes place from the Pope's death or renunciation to the election of his successor.

The number of sedevacantists is unknown and difficult to measure; estimates range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.[1] Various fractions of conclavists among sedevacantists have proceeded to end the perceived vacancy in the Holy See by electing their own pope.[2]

Positions

Origin

Sedevacantism owes its origins to the rejection of the theological and disciplinary changes implemented following the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). Sedevacantists reject this Council, on the basis of their interpretation of its documents on ecumenism and religious liberty, among others, which they see as contradicting the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church and as denying the unique mission of Catholicism as the one true religion, outside of which there is no salvation.[3] They also say that new disciplinary norms, such as the Mass of Paul VI, promulgated on 3 April 1969, undermine or conflict with the historical Catholic faith and are deemed blasphemous, while post-Vatican II teachings, particularly those related to ecumenism, are labelled heresies. They conclude, on the basis of their rejection of the revised Mass rite and of postconciliar church teaching as false, that the popes involved are also false. Among even traditionalist Catholics, this is a quite divisive question.

Traditionalist Catholics other than sedevacantists recognize as legitimate the line of popes leading to and including Pope Francis. Sedevacantists, however, claim that the infallible Magisterium of the Catholic Church could not have decreed the changes made in the name of the Second Vatican Council, and conclude that those who issued these changes could not have been acting with the authority of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, they hold that Pope John XXIII and his successors left the true Catholic Church and thus lost legitimate authority in the church. A notorious heretic, they say, cannot be the Catholic pope.

Justification

While sedevacantists' arguments often hinge on their interpretation of modernism as being a heresy, this is also debated.[4]

Positions within sedevacantism

Clergy, Mass, and sacraments

Some sedevacantists accept the consecrations and ordinations of sedevacantist bishops and priests, and the offering of Masses and the administration of sacraments by the said bishops and priests, to be licit because of epikea,[5] [6] [7] i.e. "the interpretation of the mind and will of him who made the law".[8] In this case, the ecclesiastical laws (e.g. prohibition of consecrations of bishops without papal mandate; prohibition of administration of sacraments without ecclesiastical authorization) are interpreted to cease when to follow them would be impossible, harmful, or unreasonable,[9] or would mean transgressing divine laws (e.g. the church must have bishops and priests; Catholics must attend Mass and receive the sacraments), and because of a historical precedent for consecrating Catholic bishops during a long vacancy of the Holy See.[5] [6]

Liturgy

Anthony Cekada considers that a question among sedevacantists is whether it is permissible to go to Latin: "una cum" masses (Traditional Latin Masses where the name of the person considered by Catholics as Pope is spoken in the Roman Canon, specifically in the Latin: "Te igitur" prayer, where the priest says Latin: "una cum famulo tuo Papa nostro N" ('together with Thy Servant N., our Pope')). Anthony Cekada argues that it is not, under any circumstances, permissible.[10]

Relationship to sedeprivationism

In contrast to sedevacantists, sedeprivationists affirm the Thesis of Cassiciacum of the Dominican theologian Bishop Michel-Louis Guérard des Lauriers as being a valid position, which states that John XXIII and his successors are popes Latin: materialiter sed non formaliter, that is, 'materially but not formally', and that the post-Vatican II popes will become pope if they recant their heresies.

Such position is endorsed by the Latin: [[Istituto Mater Boni Consilii]] and the Orthodox Roman Catholic Movement.[11] [12] [13]

Demography

There are estimated to be between several tens of thousands and more than two hundred thousand sedevacantists worldwide, mostly concentrated in the United States, Mexico, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Australia, but the actual size of the sedevacantist movement has never been accurately assessed. It remains extremely difficult to establish the size of the movement for a wide range of reasons, such as the fact that not all sedevacantists identify themselves as such, nor do they necessarily adhere to sedevacantist groups or societies.[14]

Early proponents

Early proponents of sedevacantism include:

Bishops and holy orders

Catholic theology holds that any bishop can validly ordain any baptized male to the priesthood, and any priest to the episcopacy, provided that, with the intention to do what the church does, he uses a rite of ordination or consecration considered valid by the Catholic Church.[15] [16]

Sedevacantist bishops

Consecrated before Vatican II

The only known Catholic bishop consecrated before the Second Vatican Council who publicly became sedevacantist was Vietnamese Archbishop Ngô Đình Thục (consecrated in 1938), former Vicar Apostolic of Vĩnh Long, Vietnam and former Archbishop of Huế, Vietnam.

Bishop Alfredo Méndez-Gonzalez (consecrated in 1960), former Bishop of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, though not a sedevacantist, at least not a public one, associated himself with sedevacantist priests and consecrated a bishop for them.

Thục line bishops

The "Thục line" bishops designates bishops who derive their episcopacy from Archbishop Thục or from bishops of Thục's lineage. Many bishops in the "Thục line" are part of the non-sedevacantist Palmarian Catholic Church; this is due to Thục having consecrated Bishop Clemente Domínguez y Gómez, future head of the Palmarian Church, and the very numerous episcopal consecrations within this organization.

On 7 May 1981, Thục consecrated the sedeprivationist French priest Michel-Louis Guérard des Lauriers as a bishop.[17] [18] Des Lauriers was a French Dominican theologian and a papal advisor.[19]

On 17 October 1981, Thục consecrated the sedevacantist Mexican priests Moisés Carmona and Adolfo Zamora as bishops.[18] Carmona and Zamora had been sedevacantist leaders and propagators in Mexico[20] for many years, and were among the priests who formed the Tridentine Catholic Union.

The Vatican declared Thục latae sententiae excommunicated for these consecrations and for his declaration of Sedevacantism.[21]

Méndez-line bishops

On 19 October 1993, in Carlsbad, California, United States, Bishop Méndez-Gonzalez consecrated the sedevacantist Clarence Kelly of the Society of Saint Pius V (SSPV) to the episcopacy. By Méndez's wish, the consecration was kept secret until his death in 1995.[22]

There are two sedevacantist bishops who descend from Bishop Méndez through Bishop Kelly.[23] [24] Both are bishops of the Congregation of Saint Pius V.

Whose lineages derive from earlier movements

A considerable number of sedevacantist bishops are thought to derive their holy orders from Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa, who in 1945 set up his own independent Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church.[25] Carlos Duarte Costa was not a sedevacantist, and instead questioned the papacy as an institution: he denied papal Infallibility and rejected the pope's universal jurisdiction.[26] In further contrast to most Catholic traditionalism, Duarte Costa was left-wing.[27]

Groups

Sedevacantist groups include:

See also

Further reading

Criticism

Notes and References

  1. Book: Collinge, William J. . Historical dictionary of Catholicism . from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands . Scarecrow Press . Lanham, MD . 2nd . 2012 . 399 . 978-0810857551.
  2. Book: Chryssides, George D. . Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements . Scarecrow Press . 2nd . 2012 . 99 . 978-0810879676.
  3. [Edward Jarvis (author)|Jarvis, E.]
  4. Jarvis, E. Sede Vacante: the Life and Legacy of Archbishop Thuc, Apocryphile Press, Berkeley CA, 2018, pp. 152–53.
  5. Web site: 2016-09-22 . Episcopal Consecration During Interregnums . 2023-12-02 . CMRI: Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen . en-US.
  6. Web site: 2016-09-22 . The Consecration of Bishops During Interregna . 2023-12-02 . CMRI: Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen . en-US.
  7. Rev. Anthony Cekada. "Canon Law and Common Sense".
  8. Rev. Henry Davis. "Moral and Pastoral Theology", vol. 1, p. 188.
  9. Rev. Henry Davis. Moral and Pastoral Theology, vol. 1, p. 168. "Law need not be fulfilled even by a subject, if it has become impossible, or harmful, or unreasonable, or useless in general"
  10. Rev. Anthony Cekada. "The Grain of Incense: Sedevacantists and Una Cum Masses". November 2007.
  11. [Istituto Mater Boni Consilii]
  12. Most Rev. Donald Sanborn. "The material Papacy". Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  13. Most Rev. Donald Sanborn. "De Papatu Materiali". "Pars Prima" and "Pars Secunda". Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  14. Jarvis, E. Sede Vacante: the Life and Legacy of Archbishop Thuc, Apocryphile Press, Berkeley CA, 2018, p. 9.
  15. Pope Leo XIII. "Apostolicae curae".
  16. Ahaus, H. (1911). Holy Orders. In The Catholic Encyclopedia.
  17. Book: Likoudis. James. The Pope, the Council, and the Mass: Answers to Questions the "Traditionalists" Have Asked. Whitehead. Kenneth D.. 2006. Emmaus Road Publishing. 9781931018340. 148.
  18. Heller, Eberhard. AFFIDAVIT DECLARING THE EPISCOPAL CONSECRATIONS OF THEIR EXCELLENCIES BISHOP M. L. GUERARD DES LAURIERS, BISHOP MOISÉS CARMONA AND BISHOP ADOLFO ZAMORA. 14 February 1992. In Einsicht, February 1992. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  19. M.L. Guérard des Lauriers, Dimensions de la Foi, Paris: Cerf, 1952.
  20. Web site: Tradicionalismo católico postconciliar y ultraderecha en Guadalajara. 14 September 2021. Universidad de Guadalajara.
  21. Web site: Notification by the Vatican (L'Osservatore Romano, English Edition, 18 April 1983, Page 12).
  22. https://congregationofstpiusv.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Consecration-of-Bishop-Kellyinteractive.pdf Photographs and documentation of the episcopal consecration of Bishop Kelly
  23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1qMnlKhQk0 Video of the episcopal consecration of Bp. Joseph Santay
  24. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujMu5zcIAkA Video of the episcopal Consecration of Bp. James Carroll, CSPV
  25. Jarvis, E. God, Land & Freedom: the True Story of ICAB, Apocryphile Press, Berkeley CA, 2018
  26. Jarvis, E. God, Land & Freedom: the True Story of ICAB, Apocryphile Press, Berkeley CA, 2018, pp. 64–69, 236–44.
  27. Jarvis, E. God, Land & Freedom: the True Story of ICAB, Apocryphile Press, Berkeley CA, 2018, p. 64.
  28. A more comprehensive list of objections can be found at
  29. Web site: Obituary of The Most Reverend Clarence J. Kelly Dufresne & Cavanaugh Funeral Home . 2023-12-11 . dufresneandcavanaugh.com . en-US.

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