From John Lane:

Now, even if, ex hypothesi, nearly every bishop [in the Novus Ordo sect] is not truly a bishop, we maintain that somewhere, some, must remain bishops of the Catholic Church (whether imprisoned, "retired", or otherwise not immediately obvious).

The quote is from a man about 20 times more knowledgeable than I that appears to be grasping at straws here, yet he insists that he is correct and probably more reliable regarding theology than many clerics if not most of them.  No offense to any clergy out there, I just respect him as one of the more sane, sound and knowledgeable out there (that could in fact be wrong about this one issue).

"Somewhere".  "Imprisoned".  ""Retired"".  "Not immediately obvious".  

I suggest that the the hierarchy is indeed hidden or eclipsed, it is blocked by the moon that calls itself the Novus Ordo.  It is hidden right before our eyes if you will.  In the "underground" Church headed by the true Bishops who are within the Church as members.  

I thought jurisdiction could not exist outside the Church.  Are the traditional Bishops outside the Church?  I also keep seeing proofs that throughout her history the Church has maintained apostolic succession without the expressed consent of a living Pope, so the doctrine regarding the necessity of the mandate, which has been an infallible doctrine since the Church existed, is not compromised when the mandate is not expressly given by a valid Pope.  

I'm not sure how anyone can insist that no bishop has a mission unless he be expressly sent by a living Pope * when the contrary has proven true.  

*  When I say "living Pope" I don't mean that one has to be alive now but was alive when he expressly gave the mission to a current bishop.

I believe the mandate can be and has been passed on by bishops who themselves had the mandate.  At the very least I am not sure how the contrary can be definitively asserted.  

I don't know what to think about this issue. I understand the point of Mr. Lane and also some of the Cathinfo posters like (if I remember correctly) Ambrose, but it seems strange to think that there are secret hidden orthodox bishops among the Novus Ordo clergy who were appointed by Pope Pius XII. I believe there are only about ten alive and I have never seen any evidence that they are really orthodox and reject Vatican II and the New Mass and the other novelties.

Agreed!  And that is why I wonder how or why the more knowledgeable among us who are clearly of good will and able to make distinctions so vociferously deny even the possibility that we could be correct.