"Now some priests (even some priests in the Society) say that we Catholics need not worry about what is happening in the Vatican; we have the true sacraments, the true Mass, the true doctrine, so why worry about whether the Pope is a heretic or an impostor or whatever; it is of no importance to us. But I think that is not true."
The problem I have, is twofold. I hope not to hijack this thread, but I'm hoping my commentary is appropriate here.
1st- how many laymen are qualified, theologically AND spiritually to ascertain such a difficult conclusion? Now, I'm not asking how many dually unqualified laymen, and even priests, have come to this conclusion, for I'm sure there are many. But to make such a complex canonical, theological, and deeply prayerful statement seems out of reach for most people. Lets be frank, not many sedes use much more than emotion for their position. And ABL was a theologian. He wasn't some untrained layman. Not only that, its well known he was a highly prayerful man. So if he were to come to this conclusion, and I believe he did too Cupertino, I don't think anyone should really be bothered. The man was sufficiently qualified.
Am I? No. Are you?......
Answer that, then this:
Is it the job of the layman to come to this conclusion?
The answer is no. It is not, and never will be the job of the simple Catholic layman to answer this question. His job is to receive valid sacraments, and save his soul. And regardless of what anyone says, this has nothing to do with the current status of the man sitting in the Chair of Peter. It has to do with the Mass, the sacraments, your catechism, and prayer. This is why I take this position on the crisis:
HereThe second problem we have is with with the bolded part. ABL never finished saying what should be done if this was the case. At least, not that I know of. This leaves us in a bit of a pickle. Now- if you are a part of the Society, or at least follow them somewhat, you really have two options on moving forward (actually there are many more options, but these I think are the most common).
1- You can be a OSNS (Outside the Society No Salvation) SSPXer, follow Fellay to... well just follow him blindly, wherever his boat takes you. I think most people who attend Society masses fit this category.
2- You can follow Bishop Williamson, and wait to see what happens next. I think +Williamson, it can be argued, is most in line with ABL's principles and approach. I also think he's proven himself adequately to be a defender of truth, and worthy of leadership.