Restoration of the Episcopate & Papacy (Fr. Noël Barbara)
Sept 9, 2019 15:30:37 GMT -5
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Post by Pacelli on Sept 9, 2019 15:30:37 GMT -5
(The following by Fr. Noël Barbara was published in FORTES IN FIDE, Volume 2, Number 1
. All capitalization in the original. All boldfacing added to emphasize certain points.)
. All capitalization in the original. All boldfacing added to emphasize certain points.)
THE RESTORATION OF THE EPISCOPATE AND THE PAPACY
THE RESTORATION OF THE CATHOLIC HIERARCHY WILL TAKE PLACE
IN FIDELITY TO DOCTRINE AND TO THE LAW OF THE CHURCH. THIS
WILL BE THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS COMPLETE RESTORATION BY THE
ELECTION OF A POPE.
If many Catholics remain as though intellectually numbed,
not daring to identify even the clearest of realities and even
more hesitant in drawing conclusions from them, it is largely because of a fixed idea. They have the impression that if
matters have really reached the point which we say they have,
then the situation of the Church as a hierarchical society has
reached a dead end. At bottom, what sometimes prevents them
from thinking the problem through to the end is that they see
quite quickly that there is an unavoidable necessity to
restore the hierarchy, and in conditions of particular
difficulty. THE BEHAVIOUR OF CERTAIN TRADITIONALISTS HAS
SCANDALIZED THEM, AND NO WONDER:
THE ATTITUDE OF BISHOPS M.
LEFEBVRE AND A. DE CASTRO MAYER HAS LEFT THEM WITH THE
DISTRESSING IMPRESSION THAT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO ACT FOR THE
CHURCH WITHOUT AT THE SAME TIME BETRAYING HER LAWS. Since theyhave usually seen the resistance to the new church as a wargame, they cannot conceive of the possibility of a positive
restoration of order in the Church. However, if they would
study the matter seriously, they would realize that things are
not at all what they imagine them to be.
AN ACTION FOUNDED ON DOCTRINE AND THE LAW
It is faith and hope, not the painful impression left by
scandals, which must guide us here. In the first place by
giving us the courage to tackle these problems, by assuring us
in advance that there are solutions within the order willed by
Our Lord for His Church. Though He allows His Church to be
tested, He does not allow us to doubt His promises nor the help
which He always gives her, and which He is ready to give to
these timorous Catholics who today do not dare to take action.
It is faith also which allows us to discover Catholic
solutions to this unprecedented crisis, and to avoid falling
into aberration. In fact what is at stake is not the
restoration of some work or society whose constitution and
fundamental laws depend on the will of men, who could lawfully
modify them according to circumstances. What is at stake is
the Church, founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ and of which He
remains the Head. It is then impossible for Catholics worthy
of the name to have recourse to improvisation and
approximation. Impossible also to escape from the duty of
working without rest to restore the hierarchical structures,
since it is the will of the Divine Founder that such structures
should always exist, and without them, in the end, the Church
would no longer exist on earth.
HOWEVER, THIS INDISPENSABLE ACTION TO RESTORE A CATHOLIC
HIERARCHY MUST RESPECT THE DIVINELY ESTABLISHED CONSTITUTION OF
THE CHURCH, IN AS MUCH AS IT HAS BEEN IMMUTABLY FIXED BY JESUS
CHRIST. It must equally respect everything in the positive
laws laid down by the Vicars of Christ that still retains the
force of law. It is fashionable in some circles to despise
what they call legalism. However, it should not be forgotten
that the power of jurisdiction in the Church, as much as the
power of order, is derived from the authority of the Word
Incarnate: "Whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be
bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth,
it shall be loosed also in heaven". (Matt. XVI, 19) To abandon
religious respect for law in the Church would not only be
disobedience, it would be to depart from Catholic unity.
THE DUTY OF BISHOPS TOWARDS THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH
Once these fundamental needs are admitted, which leave no
place for inertia or activism, those fruits of despair, how are
we to sum up the situation? It is true to say that none of the
crises which shook the Church in earlier times are comparable
with it in gravity. It came about that vast regions of the
world passed into heresy or schism; but the Sovereign Pontiff
remained and with him a number of faithful bishops. During the
Great Schism of the West, three men claimed to be pope at the
same time, each supported by several nations of Christendom;
but not one of them then strayed in dogma. The unparalleled
phenomenon which we are experiencing today is very different:
it is the occupation of the See of Peter by men who profess
false doctrines; it is the building of a new church in the
forms and under the appearances of the true Church.
The Spouse of Jesus Christ, however, has not disappeared
from this earth. She lives still through those who in the
turmoil, by the grace of God, have kept the faith and the
sincere desire for Catholic unity. Among those very few who
proclaim this faith and desire in spite of everything; but also
among those, ensnared in the new church, who do not truly
belong to it because they have not in fact rejected the true
faith. Among the latter, there are doubtless many of the
simple faithful, cheated and misled; priests and religious,
often torn between their deep faith and a false conception of
obedience; some bishops too, devoured by the same scruple and
inexplicably slow to action.[5]
Now this Church, the true Church, one, holy, Catholic and
apostolic, in spite of her deplorable condition, in spite of
all the weaknesses of her members, has not changed her
constitution. She is and she will always remain, in accordance
with the will of her Founder, a hierarchical Church, in which
sacred doctrine and the life of grace reach the faithful
through the medium of other men, chosen to guide them towards
salvation. It is therefore not a simple eventuality but an
absolute necessity: THE CHURCH WILL NOT BEGIN TO EMERGE FROM
THE CRISIS INTO WHICH SHE WAS PLUNGED BY CORRUPT PASTORS UNTIL
WHAT REMAINS SOUND IN THE HIERARCHY ARISES TO BRING HER
SUCCOUR; IN OTHER WORDS, UNTIL THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS AT LAST
DECIDE TO DO THEIR DUTY. In fact the duty is theirs, today as
yesterday, to guard the Deposit of Faith, to transmit it, to
defend it, to be the channels of all the sacramental graces,
and finally to direct the faithful on the way of salvation.
These terrible responsibilities fall on them by divine law,
with the single reservation of their submission to their head,
the pastor of the whole flock, Vicar of Christ on earth, who is
free to define the exact scope of their powers.
There is one important point: the necessary submission of
the bishops to the (legitimate) Sovereign Pontiff must not
conceal the fact that it is not merely a part of the flock, but
the care of the universal Church which has been entrusted to
them. Although it is in fact true that the bishop is usually
the doctor, the sanctifier, the pastor of a particular Church,
he must always remember that this charge was given to him in
the heart of the universal Church, with which it is bound up in
every way and outside which it is meaningless. It is for the
benefit of the universal Church that he has been charged with
watching over a particular diocese or with occupying some more
restricted office. This is expressed in the ancient phrase
"hierarchical communion", which denotes membership of the
legitimate hierarchy and the vocation to the service of the
universal Church, prior to the attribution to a particular
function. This is also expressed in the term "Roman communion"
and of course the adjective "Catholic". Therefore, although it
is true that this participation of the bishops in the
government of the universal Church is ordinarily exercised
within the precise limits set by the pope for each of them, it
is also true that it can operate outside these boundaries in
exceptional circumstances. This is what happened at the
beginning of the propagation of the Gospel and the
establishment of the Church by the Apostles and by the bishops
of the earliest times. Much later, whenever Churches found
themselves in extreme peril, the neighbouring bishops did not
hesitate to come to the aid of the faithful. There is even
more reason for it to be so when it is the entire Church that
is threatened. In ordinary circumstances, the bishop who
contravened the limitations placed on his powers by the pope
would commit a grave fault. However, we must bear in mind that
these restrictions are set with a view to the good of the
Church, which usually requires that tasks should be shared out
between a number. Obviously the spirit of the law, its
intention, take priority over the letter whenever circumstances
arise which cause the letter to break down. Consequently in
troubled times the power of the bishops for the universal
propagation of the Gospel, a power fundamentally immutable
because it is essential to the episcopate, can be brought into
use again. It would be pharisaical in these circumstances
to invoke the law to justify abstention.[6]
Whenever the express authorization of the Sovereign
Pontiff cannot be obtained (and how can it be obtained today?)
it is sufficient to be able reasonably to presume it. Some
holy bishops have illustrated this by actions of this sort
(Saint Eusebius of Samosate, for example, against the Arian
heresy). Yet the situation of the Church in their day was less
serious than it is now: Catholics are waiting in extreme
anguish for their successors, "pressed by the charity of
Christ" (II Cor. V, 14) to do their duty.
THE CHURCH AWAITS A POPE
Thus help is not to be looked for in some breach of good
order. When they call upon the bishops, Catholics are not
asking them to be disobedient, to do evil that good may come of
it. THEY THEREFORE EXPECT NOTHING FROM PRELATES WHO, REMAINING
IN OBEDIENCE TO THE NEW CHURCH, AGREE AS SOME HAVE DONE TO
PROVIDE MORE OR LESS FOR THE SACRAMENTAL NEEDS OF
TRADITIONALISTS WITH FEW SCRUPLES: ordinations and
confirmations conferred in this spirit appear as shameful
schismatic practices which nothing can justify in the sight of
those who cling firmly to the Catholic viewpoint in the defence
of the faith. It is only in the constitution given by Our Lord
to His Church that the hope of Catholics can be supernaturally
founded. What they await from these bishops is the help of God
Himself who willed for all time that His grace should reach men
principally through the channel of the Apostles and their
successors: BISHOPS IN RUPTURE WITH THE SUPREME MAGISTERIUM OF
THE SUCCESSORS OF PETER CANNOT BE CONSIDERED TO BE THE
SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES, NOTWITHSTANDING THE TRANSMISSION OF
THE POWER OF ORDER WHICH MAY SURVIVE EVEN IN INFAMOUS SECTS.
To these absolutely necessary dispositions on the part of
the Catholic bishops, there must be added corresponding acts
which manifest them. BEFORE ALL ELSE, IT IS NECESSARY FOR
THESE BISHOPS TO REJECT PUBLICLY THE FALSE DOCTRINES OF VATICAN
II, in the name of fidelity to the sacred Deposit which they
are charged with guarding. Let them break in startling fashion
with the "de facto" occupants of the Apostolic See, and
denounce the usurpation of the ecclesiastical structures by the
heresiarchs. Let them make amends as much as they can for
their long silence on this subject, and for their compromises.
By doing this, they will pay to the Church and to the entire
world the debt which they owe to them from their episcopal
duty: the witness that the Church still lives, and that the
ways of the new church are not God's ways. They should not
deceive themselves on the success among great numbers of people
of such a move; silence, mockery and persecution will not be
able to conceal from a great many Christians a fact which was
too easy for them to ignore until then and no one knows how
many conversions are waiting for this day. IT IS ALSO
NECESSARY THAT THESE BISHOPS REJECT THE LITURGICAL AND
SACRAMENTAL REFORMS WHICH UNTIL NOW THEY HAVE ACCEPTED AND
PRACTISED. Let them cause to flow again the graces of which
they are the stewards and of which so many of the faithful are
deprived today.
Moreover, though the faithful cannot wait for direct help
to be brought to them, these bishops also have the duty of
making possible an even more fundamental work, the coronation
of their witness to the faith and the guarantee of the
endurance of their work: the complete reconstitution of the
ecclesiastical hierarchy. The immediate needs of the faithful
and the present emergency must not conceal the profound scandal
which would be constituted by the installation of a number of
Catholic bishops in a situation of juridical vacancy. Our Lord
has permitted the See of Peter to be sometimes vacant for
longer or shorter periods, but it is more conformable to His
will that a Vicar visibly exercise authority in His Name and
feed His lambs and sheep. It is therefore the duty of the
Church to give herself again this visible head whenever she is
deprived of him. This need, common to every case of vacancy of
the Holy See, assumes the most extreme urgency and the highest
gravity when the supreme office is usurped as it is today.
The restoration of the Catholic episcopate can therefore
be considered as only the first step towards the complete
restoration of the hierarchy. The reestablishment of
jurisdiction requires the election of a pope. The bishops are
confronted there with a problem whose difficulties it would be
vain to minimize, but for all that it does not appear to be
insoluble.
The difficulties arise from the fact that the positive
laws in force in the Church seem not to permit of the election
of a Catholic pope in the present state of affairs. Although
in fact the discipline of the election has varied considerably
in the course of the Church's history, the last legitimate
popes fixed the precise method, the last authoritative
document being the Constitution "Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis" of
Pius XII. This document laid down a basic arrangement,
enforced since the 17th century: "The right to elect the Roman
Pontiff belongs solely and personally to the Cardinals of the
Holy Roman Church, while "absolutely excluding and rejecting
every intervention from no matter what ecclesiastical authority
or from every secular power, of whatever degree or
condition it may be".
But it appears not at all impossible today that quite soon
legitimate cardinals will have ceased to exist (those named by
the heads of an institution which is not the Church have no
claim to this office) or that the legitimate cardinals might
unanimously refuse to elect a pope. In this case, would the
situation be totally blocked? It is not a question to be
answered lightly: the election of a pope is an extremely grave
matter in itself, and the election of a juridically doubtful
pope, whatever the personality of the man elected, would be
very harmful to the Church, exposing it to new divisions and
risking the aggravation and prolongation of the crisis. That
is why decisions taken in this matter must be solidly based in
law and as incontestable as possible.
Supposing the absolute impossibility of obtaining the vote
of the cardinals, it is necessary to emphasize that in spite of
the absence of explicit positive arrangements, the general
principles of canon law permit the Church to emerge from the
apparent stalemate. The law cannot foresee every situation.
Even the law imposed by Pius XII in "Vacantis Apostolicae
Sedis" did not foresee the present state of the Church, which
was obviously almost impossible to imagine forty years ago. It
aims in fact to serve the common good of the Church by assuming
certain conditions, among them particularly the existence of
cardinals qualified to vote. When these conditions are
lacking, the law cannot survive against the good which it was
thought it must effect; it then ceases to be binding, in
accordance with the general principle that "the law ceases to
be binding when there is a disadvantage greater than its
importance". We cannot oppose a law impossible of fulfillment
against the need for the Church to have a pope. It therefore
appears that the absolute defection of all the cardinals cannot
be considered to be an insurmountable obstacle. The
theologians who have considered this subject unanimously accept
the intervention of the Church. It goes without saying however
that the other provisions of the Constitution "Vacantis
Apostolicae Sedis" which remain applicable must be scrupulously
observed for example, the prohibition of the intervention of
every civil power in the election. It would then be for the
Catholic clergy, with the bishops in the front rank, to fix the
exact method of a pontifical election which would certainly be
extraordinary, but necessary.
* * *
It is useless to attempt here to foresee in greater detail
the precise conditions for such an event: it is enough to know
that the law requires it and that it is therefore possible. No
doubt one can have the impression that it is an improbable
dream. For all that, it must be admitted that the election of
a Catholic pope is not only possible: it is strictly necessary,
strictly required for the survival of the Catholic Church,
which cannot disappear. No doubt it would be naive to think
that a Catholic pope would at once put an end to the crisis:
the new church will not disappear as if by magic. Once its
schism and heresy have been denounced by the Magisterium,
however, men of good will will again be able to see where the
Spouse of Jesus Christ truly is and will find once more the
source of eternal life. Certainly the end seems today to be
difficult to achieve, but "no word shall be impossible with
God" (Luke I, 37), to this God whose blessed Mother, who is our
Mother also, proclaimed for ever:
"He hath received Israel his servant,
Being mindful of his mercy.
As he spoke to our fathers
To Abraham and to his seed for ever"
(Luke I, 54-55)
THE RESTORATION OF THE CATHOLIC HIERARCHY WILL TAKE PLACE
IN FIDELITY TO DOCTRINE AND TO THE LAW OF THE CHURCH. THIS
WILL BE THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS COMPLETE RESTORATION BY THE
ELECTION OF A POPE.
If many Catholics remain as though intellectually numbed,
not daring to identify even the clearest of realities and even
more hesitant in drawing conclusions from them, it is largely because of a fixed idea. They have the impression that if
matters have really reached the point which we say they have,
then the situation of the Church as a hierarchical society has
reached a dead end. At bottom, what sometimes prevents them
from thinking the problem through to the end is that they see
quite quickly that there is an unavoidable necessity to
restore the hierarchy, and in conditions of particular
difficulty. THE BEHAVIOUR OF CERTAIN TRADITIONALISTS HAS
SCANDALIZED THEM, AND NO WONDER:
THE ATTITUDE OF BISHOPS M.
LEFEBVRE AND A. DE CASTRO MAYER HAS LEFT THEM WITH THE
DISTRESSING IMPRESSION THAT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO ACT FOR THE
CHURCH WITHOUT AT THE SAME TIME BETRAYING HER LAWS. Since theyhave usually seen the resistance to the new church as a wargame, they cannot conceive of the possibility of a positive
restoration of order in the Church. However, if they would
study the matter seriously, they would realize that things are
not at all what they imagine them to be.
AN ACTION FOUNDED ON DOCTRINE AND THE LAW
It is faith and hope, not the painful impression left by
scandals, which must guide us here. In the first place by
giving us the courage to tackle these problems, by assuring us
in advance that there are solutions within the order willed by
Our Lord for His Church. Though He allows His Church to be
tested, He does not allow us to doubt His promises nor the help
which He always gives her, and which He is ready to give to
these timorous Catholics who today do not dare to take action.
It is faith also which allows us to discover Catholic
solutions to this unprecedented crisis, and to avoid falling
into aberration. In fact what is at stake is not the
restoration of some work or society whose constitution and
fundamental laws depend on the will of men, who could lawfully
modify them according to circumstances. What is at stake is
the Church, founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ and of which He
remains the Head. It is then impossible for Catholics worthy
of the name to have recourse to improvisation and
approximation. Impossible also to escape from the duty of
working without rest to restore the hierarchical structures,
since it is the will of the Divine Founder that such structures
should always exist, and without them, in the end, the Church
would no longer exist on earth.
HOWEVER, THIS INDISPENSABLE ACTION TO RESTORE A CATHOLIC
HIERARCHY MUST RESPECT THE DIVINELY ESTABLISHED CONSTITUTION OF
THE CHURCH, IN AS MUCH AS IT HAS BEEN IMMUTABLY FIXED BY JESUS
CHRIST. It must equally respect everything in the positive
laws laid down by the Vicars of Christ that still retains the
force of law. It is fashionable in some circles to despise
what they call legalism. However, it should not be forgotten
that the power of jurisdiction in the Church, as much as the
power of order, is derived from the authority of the Word
Incarnate: "Whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be
bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth,
it shall be loosed also in heaven". (Matt. XVI, 19) To abandon
religious respect for law in the Church would not only be
disobedience, it would be to depart from Catholic unity.
THE DUTY OF BISHOPS TOWARDS THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH
Once these fundamental needs are admitted, which leave no
place for inertia or activism, those fruits of despair, how are
we to sum up the situation? It is true to say that none of the
crises which shook the Church in earlier times are comparable
with it in gravity. It came about that vast regions of the
world passed into heresy or schism; but the Sovereign Pontiff
remained and with him a number of faithful bishops. During the
Great Schism of the West, three men claimed to be pope at the
same time, each supported by several nations of Christendom;
but not one of them then strayed in dogma. The unparalleled
phenomenon which we are experiencing today is very different:
it is the occupation of the See of Peter by men who profess
false doctrines; it is the building of a new church in the
forms and under the appearances of the true Church.
The Spouse of Jesus Christ, however, has not disappeared
from this earth. She lives still through those who in the
turmoil, by the grace of God, have kept the faith and the
sincere desire for Catholic unity. Among those very few who
proclaim this faith and desire in spite of everything; but also
among those, ensnared in the new church, who do not truly
belong to it because they have not in fact rejected the true
faith. Among the latter, there are doubtless many of the
simple faithful, cheated and misled; priests and religious,
often torn between their deep faith and a false conception of
obedience; some bishops too, devoured by the same scruple and
inexplicably slow to action.[5]
Now this Church, the true Church, one, holy, Catholic and
apostolic, in spite of her deplorable condition, in spite of
all the weaknesses of her members, has not changed her
constitution. She is and she will always remain, in accordance
with the will of her Founder, a hierarchical Church, in which
sacred doctrine and the life of grace reach the faithful
through the medium of other men, chosen to guide them towards
salvation. It is therefore not a simple eventuality but an
absolute necessity: THE CHURCH WILL NOT BEGIN TO EMERGE FROM
THE CRISIS INTO WHICH SHE WAS PLUNGED BY CORRUPT PASTORS UNTIL
WHAT REMAINS SOUND IN THE HIERARCHY ARISES TO BRING HER
SUCCOUR; IN OTHER WORDS, UNTIL THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS AT LAST
DECIDE TO DO THEIR DUTY. In fact the duty is theirs, today as
yesterday, to guard the Deposit of Faith, to transmit it, to
defend it, to be the channels of all the sacramental graces,
and finally to direct the faithful on the way of salvation.
These terrible responsibilities fall on them by divine law,
with the single reservation of their submission to their head,
the pastor of the whole flock, Vicar of Christ on earth, who is
free to define the exact scope of their powers.
There is one important point: the necessary submission of
the bishops to the (legitimate) Sovereign Pontiff must not
conceal the fact that it is not merely a part of the flock, but
the care of the universal Church which has been entrusted to
them. Although it is in fact true that the bishop is usually
the doctor, the sanctifier, the pastor of a particular Church,
he must always remember that this charge was given to him in
the heart of the universal Church, with which it is bound up in
every way and outside which it is meaningless. It is for the
benefit of the universal Church that he has been charged with
watching over a particular diocese or with occupying some more
restricted office. This is expressed in the ancient phrase
"hierarchical communion", which denotes membership of the
legitimate hierarchy and the vocation to the service of the
universal Church, prior to the attribution to a particular
function. This is also expressed in the term "Roman communion"
and of course the adjective "Catholic". Therefore, although it
is true that this participation of the bishops in the
government of the universal Church is ordinarily exercised
within the precise limits set by the pope for each of them, it
is also true that it can operate outside these boundaries in
exceptional circumstances. This is what happened at the
beginning of the propagation of the Gospel and the
establishment of the Church by the Apostles and by the bishops
of the earliest times. Much later, whenever Churches found
themselves in extreme peril, the neighbouring bishops did not
hesitate to come to the aid of the faithful. There is even
more reason for it to be so when it is the entire Church that
is threatened. In ordinary circumstances, the bishop who
contravened the limitations placed on his powers by the pope
would commit a grave fault. However, we must bear in mind that
these restrictions are set with a view to the good of the
Church, which usually requires that tasks should be shared out
between a number. Obviously the spirit of the law, its
intention, take priority over the letter whenever circumstances
arise which cause the letter to break down. Consequently in
troubled times the power of the bishops for the universal
propagation of the Gospel, a power fundamentally immutable
because it is essential to the episcopate, can be brought into
use again. It would be pharisaical in these circumstances
to invoke the law to justify abstention.[6]
Whenever the express authorization of the Sovereign
Pontiff cannot be obtained (and how can it be obtained today?)
it is sufficient to be able reasonably to presume it. Some
holy bishops have illustrated this by actions of this sort
(Saint Eusebius of Samosate, for example, against the Arian
heresy). Yet the situation of the Church in their day was less
serious than it is now: Catholics are waiting in extreme
anguish for their successors, "pressed by the charity of
Christ" (II Cor. V, 14) to do their duty.
THE CHURCH AWAITS A POPE
Thus help is not to be looked for in some breach of good
order. When they call upon the bishops, Catholics are not
asking them to be disobedient, to do evil that good may come of
it. THEY THEREFORE EXPECT NOTHING FROM PRELATES WHO, REMAINING
IN OBEDIENCE TO THE NEW CHURCH, AGREE AS SOME HAVE DONE TO
PROVIDE MORE OR LESS FOR THE SACRAMENTAL NEEDS OF
TRADITIONALISTS WITH FEW SCRUPLES: ordinations and
confirmations conferred in this spirit appear as shameful
schismatic practices which nothing can justify in the sight of
those who cling firmly to the Catholic viewpoint in the defence
of the faith. It is only in the constitution given by Our Lord
to His Church that the hope of Catholics can be supernaturally
founded. What they await from these bishops is the help of God
Himself who willed for all time that His grace should reach men
principally through the channel of the Apostles and their
successors: BISHOPS IN RUPTURE WITH THE SUPREME MAGISTERIUM OF
THE SUCCESSORS OF PETER CANNOT BE CONSIDERED TO BE THE
SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES, NOTWITHSTANDING THE TRANSMISSION OF
THE POWER OF ORDER WHICH MAY SURVIVE EVEN IN INFAMOUS SECTS.
To these absolutely necessary dispositions on the part of
the Catholic bishops, there must be added corresponding acts
which manifest them. BEFORE ALL ELSE, IT IS NECESSARY FOR
THESE BISHOPS TO REJECT PUBLICLY THE FALSE DOCTRINES OF VATICAN
II, in the name of fidelity to the sacred Deposit which they
are charged with guarding. Let them break in startling fashion
with the "de facto" occupants of the Apostolic See, and
denounce the usurpation of the ecclesiastical structures by the
heresiarchs. Let them make amends as much as they can for
their long silence on this subject, and for their compromises.
By doing this, they will pay to the Church and to the entire
world the debt which they owe to them from their episcopal
duty: the witness that the Church still lives, and that the
ways of the new church are not God's ways. They should not
deceive themselves on the success among great numbers of people
of such a move; silence, mockery and persecution will not be
able to conceal from a great many Christians a fact which was
too easy for them to ignore until then and no one knows how
many conversions are waiting for this day. IT IS ALSO
NECESSARY THAT THESE BISHOPS REJECT THE LITURGICAL AND
SACRAMENTAL REFORMS WHICH UNTIL NOW THEY HAVE ACCEPTED AND
PRACTISED. Let them cause to flow again the graces of which
they are the stewards and of which so many of the faithful are
deprived today.
Moreover, though the faithful cannot wait for direct help
to be brought to them, these bishops also have the duty of
making possible an even more fundamental work, the coronation
of their witness to the faith and the guarantee of the
endurance of their work: the complete reconstitution of the
ecclesiastical hierarchy. The immediate needs of the faithful
and the present emergency must not conceal the profound scandal
which would be constituted by the installation of a number of
Catholic bishops in a situation of juridical vacancy. Our Lord
has permitted the See of Peter to be sometimes vacant for
longer or shorter periods, but it is more conformable to His
will that a Vicar visibly exercise authority in His Name and
feed His lambs and sheep. It is therefore the duty of the
Church to give herself again this visible head whenever she is
deprived of him. This need, common to every case of vacancy of
the Holy See, assumes the most extreme urgency and the highest
gravity when the supreme office is usurped as it is today.
The restoration of the Catholic episcopate can therefore
be considered as only the first step towards the complete
restoration of the hierarchy. The reestablishment of
jurisdiction requires the election of a pope. The bishops are
confronted there with a problem whose difficulties it would be
vain to minimize, but for all that it does not appear to be
insoluble.
The difficulties arise from the fact that the positive
laws in force in the Church seem not to permit of the election
of a Catholic pope in the present state of affairs. Although
in fact the discipline of the election has varied considerably
in the course of the Church's history, the last legitimate
popes fixed the precise method, the last authoritative
document being the Constitution "Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis" of
Pius XII. This document laid down a basic arrangement,
enforced since the 17th century: "The right to elect the Roman
Pontiff belongs solely and personally to the Cardinals of the
Holy Roman Church, while "absolutely excluding and rejecting
every intervention from no matter what ecclesiastical authority
or from every secular power, of whatever degree or
condition it may be".
But it appears not at all impossible today that quite soon
legitimate cardinals will have ceased to exist (those named by
the heads of an institution which is not the Church have no
claim to this office) or that the legitimate cardinals might
unanimously refuse to elect a pope. In this case, would the
situation be totally blocked? It is not a question to be
answered lightly: the election of a pope is an extremely grave
matter in itself, and the election of a juridically doubtful
pope, whatever the personality of the man elected, would be
very harmful to the Church, exposing it to new divisions and
risking the aggravation and prolongation of the crisis. That
is why decisions taken in this matter must be solidly based in
law and as incontestable as possible.
Supposing the absolute impossibility of obtaining the vote
of the cardinals, it is necessary to emphasize that in spite of
the absence of explicit positive arrangements, the general
principles of canon law permit the Church to emerge from the
apparent stalemate. The law cannot foresee every situation.
Even the law imposed by Pius XII in "Vacantis Apostolicae
Sedis" did not foresee the present state of the Church, which
was obviously almost impossible to imagine forty years ago. It
aims in fact to serve the common good of the Church by assuming
certain conditions, among them particularly the existence of
cardinals qualified to vote. When these conditions are
lacking, the law cannot survive against the good which it was
thought it must effect; it then ceases to be binding, in
accordance with the general principle that "the law ceases to
be binding when there is a disadvantage greater than its
importance". We cannot oppose a law impossible of fulfillment
against the need for the Church to have a pope. It therefore
appears that the absolute defection of all the cardinals cannot
be considered to be an insurmountable obstacle. The
theologians who have considered this subject unanimously accept
the intervention of the Church. It goes without saying however
that the other provisions of the Constitution "Vacantis
Apostolicae Sedis" which remain applicable must be scrupulously
observed for example, the prohibition of the intervention of
every civil power in the election. It would then be for the
Catholic clergy, with the bishops in the front rank, to fix the
exact method of a pontifical election which would certainly be
extraordinary, but necessary.
* * *
It is useless to attempt here to foresee in greater detail
the precise conditions for such an event: it is enough to know
that the law requires it and that it is therefore possible. No
doubt one can have the impression that it is an improbable
dream. For all that, it must be admitted that the election of
a Catholic pope is not only possible: it is strictly necessary,
strictly required for the survival of the Catholic Church,
which cannot disappear. No doubt it would be naive to think
that a Catholic pope would at once put an end to the crisis:
the new church will not disappear as if by magic. Once its
schism and heresy have been denounced by the Magisterium,
however, men of good will will again be able to see where the
Spouse of Jesus Christ truly is and will find once more the
source of eternal life. Certainly the end seems today to be
difficult to achieve, but "no word shall be impossible with
God" (Luke I, 37), to this God whose blessed Mother, who is our
Mother also, proclaimed for ever:
"He hath received Israel his servant,
Being mindful of his mercy.
As he spoke to our fathers
To Abraham and to his seed for ever"
(Luke I, 54-55)