@andyhandy997

1 month ago

Sedevacantism is the belief that the Chair of Peter has been vacant since at least Vatican II (1962–1965), based on the premise that post-conciliar popes—by promoting errors in ecumenism, religious liberty, and liturgical reform—have lost office through heresy (cf. 1917 Code of Canon Law, Canon 188.4). Sedevacantists often cite Pope Paul IV’s Cum Ex Apostolatus Officio (1559) and assert that a true pope cannot publicly promote doctrinal error. Their critique arises from genuine alarm at the unprecedented collapse within the Church since Vatican II: for example, priestly vocations in the West have dropped over 70% since 1965 (Vatican Yearbooks), weekly Mass attendance fell from 75% in 1958 to under 20% in many Western countries by 2000, and belief in the Real Presence among U.S. Catholics dropped to just 30% by 2019 (Pew Research). However, sedevacantism errs gravely in contradicting the doctrine of indefectibility—that the Church, founded by Christ, can never wholly fail in its mission or teaching authority (Matthew 16:18; Vatican I, Pastor Aeternus, 1870; Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, 1896). It also denies the visibility of the Church, rejects the ordinary magisterium, and fragments apostolic succession, leading to conclavist “popes” and isolated chapels with no theological consistency. In contrast, the eclipse theory—first prophesied in the approved 1846 apparition of Our Lady of La Salette, who warned “Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of the Antichrist… the Church will be in eclipse”—holds that the Church remains but is temporarily obscured by corruption, not destroyed. This aligns with Fatima’s Third Secret, where Sr. Lucia warned of “diabolical disorientation,” and with Our Lady of Akita’s 1973 message: “The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church… cardinal will oppose cardinal,” approved by Bishop Ito and affirmed by Cardinal Ratzinger. None of these apparitions call for abandonment of the Church or denial of the papacy. Likewise, St. Francis of Assisi foretold a time when “a man, not canonically elected, will be raised to the pontificate,” yet nowhere did he call for sedevacantism. Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich described a “dark Church being built,” but always implied the true Church remained. Even Fulton Sheen taught that the Church would endure as a persecuted remnant, saying, “the Church will be reduced to a small number of believers,” echoing 2 Thessalonians 2:11’s “strong delusion” in the last days. Historically, during the Arian crisis, most bishops—including Pope Liberius—compromised, yet the Church endured through a faithful remnant like St. Athanasius, proving the Church can be eclipsed without defecting. The eclipse theory thus preserves all dogmas—papal succession, indefectibility, sacramental validity—while explaining the present crisis as a chastisement, not an annulment, in line with every approved mystical source. Sedevacantism, despite its sincerity, ends in practical Protestantism: a self-declared remnant church with no binding authority, no visibility, no papacy, and no clear future. The saints and Marian apparitions never taught this. Instead, they urge: stay, suffer, pray, and persevere. The sun has not vanished—only been obscured. And Christ, not we, will restore His Church.

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