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Sedevacantism is a traditionalist Catholic movement which holds that since the death of Pius XII the alleged 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 thus vacant. [1] [2] 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 sede vacante , which means 'with the chair [of the Bishop of Rome] being vacant'. [2] [3] 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. [4] Various fractions of conclavists among sedevacantists have proceeded to end the perceived vacancy in the Holy See by electing their own pope. [5]
This section is missing information about who, when and in what circumstances started the movement.(December 2023) |
Sedevacantism owes its origins to the rejection of the theological and disciplinary changes implemented following the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). [6] 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. [7] 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. [8] 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. [1] Among even traditionalist Catholics, [2] [9] this is a quite divisive question. [1] [2]
Traditionalist Catholics other than sedevacantists recognize as legitimate the line of popes leading to and including Pope Francis. [10] 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. [11] 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. [12]
While sedevacantists' arguments often hinge on their interpretation of modernism as being a heresy, this is also debated.[ clarification needed ] [13]
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, [14] [15] [16] i.e. "the interpretation of the mind and will of him who made the law". [17] 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, [18] 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. [14] [15]
Anthony Cekada considers that a question among sedevacantists is whether it is permissible to go to "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 "Te igitur" prayer, where the priest says "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. [19]
Some sedevacantists 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 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 Istituto Mater Boni Consilii and the Orthodox Roman Catholic Movement. [20] [21] [22]
There are estimated to be between several tens of thousands and more than two hundred thousand sedevacantists worldwide,[ citation needed ] 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. [23]
Early proponents of sedevacantism include:
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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. [24] [25]
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.
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. [26] [27] [28] Des Lauriers was a French Dominican theologian and a papal advisor. [29]
On 17 October 1981, Thục consecrated the sedevacantist Mexican priests Moisés Carmona and Adolfo Zamora as bishops. [27] [28] Carmona and Zamora had been sedevacantist leaders and propagators in Mexico [30] for many years, and were among the priests who formed the Tridentine Catholic Union.
The Vatican declared Thục ipso facto excommunicated for these consecrations and for his declaration of Sedevacantism. [27]
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. [31]
There are two sedevacantist bishops who descend from Bishop Méndez through Bishop Kelly. [32] [33] Both are bishops of the Congregation of Saint Pius V.
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. [34] [ page needed ] 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. [35] In further contrast to most Catholic traditionalism, Duarte Costa was left-wing. [36]
Sedevacantist groups include:
Lucian Pulvermacher was a traditionalist schismatic Roman Catholic priest and a modern-day antipope. He was the head of the True Catholic Church, a small conclavist group that elected him Pope Pius XIII in Montana in October 1998. At the time of his death, he lived in Springdale, Washington, United States.
Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Huế, South Vietnam, and later a sedevacantist bishop who was excommunicated by the Holy See but is believed to have reconciled with the Holy See before his death in 1984. He was a member of the Ngô family who ruled South Vietnam in the years leading up to the Vietnam War. He was the founder of Dalat University. Today, various Independent Catholic and sedevacantist groups claim to have derived their apostolic succession from Thục.
Mark Anthony Pivarunas is an American sedevacantist Traditionalist Catholic bishop and the Superior General of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (CMRI).
Traditionalist Catholicism is a movement that emphasizes beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions and presentations of teaching associated with the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). Traditionalist Catholics particularly emphasize the Tridentine Mass, the Roman Rite liturgy largely replaced in general use by the post-Second Vatican Council Mass of Paul VI.
Daniel Lytle Dolan was an American sedevacantist bishop.
The Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen is a sedevacantist Traditionalist Catholic religious congregation. The CMRI is dedicated to promoting the message of Our Lady of Fátima and the devotion of the practice of Total Consecration to the Virgin Mary as taught by Saint Louis Marie de Montfort.
Sede vacante is a term for the state of a/an (arch)diocese while without a/an (arch)bishop. In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the term is used to refer to the vacancy of the (arch)bishop's or Pope's authority upon his death or resignation.
The Society of Saint Pius V is a traditionalist Catholic society of priests, formed in 1983, and based in Oyster Bay Cove, New York, United States. The society broke away from the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) over liturgical issues.
Independent Catholicism is an independent sacramental movement of clergy and laity who self-identify as Catholic and form "micro-churches claiming apostolic succession and valid sacraments", in spite of not being affiliated to the historic Catholic churches such as the Roman Catholic and Utrechter Old Catholic churches. The term "Independent Catholic" derives from the fact that "these denominations affirm both their belonging to the Catholic tradition as well as their independence from Rome".
Clarence James Kelly was an American sedevacantist traditionalist Catholic bishop. He was a co-founder of the Society of Saint Pius V and the founder of the Congregation of Saint Pius V.
Anthony J. Cekada was an American sedevacantist Catholic priest and author.
Michel-Louis Guérard des Lauriers was a French Dominican theologian and, later in life, a Traditionalist Catholic bishop who supported sedevacantism and sedeprivationism and was excommunicated by the Holy See.
Robert Fidelis McKenna was an American sedeprivationist bishop who used to be a Catholic priest of the Dominican order. He was known for his traditionalist Catholic positions and was an advocate of sedeprivationism. McKenna was one of the leaders of the Orthodox Roman Catholic Movement (ORCM). He was also known from the Fox TV-movie The Haunted, which is about the Smurl haunting where McKenna conducted two exorcisms.
Jean Laborie was a French bishop of an independent Catholic church.
Sedeprivationism is a doctrinal position within Traditionalist Catholicism which holds that the current occupant of the Holy See is a duly-elected pope, but lacks the authority and ability to teach or to govern unless he recants the changes brought by the Second Vatican Council. The doctrine asserts that since this council, occupants of the See of Peter are popes materialiter sed non formaliter, that is "materially but not formally". As such, sedeprivationists teach that Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis have not attained fullness of the papacy.
Joaquín Sáenz y Arriaga was a Mexican Catholic priest and theologian. Jesuit from 1916 to 1952 he was later a harsh critic of the Second Vatican Council decisions and of the post-conciliar Pope Paul VI. In 1972, he was declared excommunicated by the Roman Catholic bishops' conference of Mexico. He is considered to be one of the first promoters of sedevacantism.
The Institute of the Mother of Good Counsel is a sedeprivationist traditionalist Catholic religious congregation based in Italy.
Alfredo José Isaac Cecilio Francesco Méndez-Gonzalez was an American Catholic bishop who served in Puerto Rico and who later became involved with sedevacantists.
Donald J. Sanborn is an American sedevacantist bishop who is known for his advocacy of sedevacantism and sedeprivationism. He currently serves as the superior general of the sedevacantist Roman Catholic Institute (RCI) and rector of the sedevacantist Most Holy Trinity Seminary, which was relocated to Reading, Pennsylvania, United States, in 2022.
Moisés Carmona Rivera was a sedevacantist traditionalist Catholic bishop from Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, who propagated sedevacantism in Mexico. He was one of the bishops consecrated by the Vietnamese sedevacantist bishop Ngô Đình Thục.
from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands