Catholic Info

Traditional Catholic Faith => Crisis in the Church => Topic started by: ByzCat3000 on May 26, 2019, 12:32:18 PM

Title: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 26, 2019, 12:32:18 PM
Quote
Ah, yes, these are the people we're using as the litmus test of orthodoxy; their Universal Acceptance of Francis means that he must be the pope.
Alright, so Ladislaus said this on the "59% of Catholics support Roe v Wade" thread, and Matthew understandably didn't want a derail there, but I still think this is worth talking about *somewhere* so I'm making a new thread.

I think I've brought this up before, and don't think I've gotten a good answer to it.  If we define a true Catholic as "one who holds all the dogmas of the Church, rather than picking and choosing between them" then it seems most likely that while most Novus Ordos are not Catholic, most Catholics are Novus Ordo.  Now, I realize this post technically mentions Francis, and Francis is sometimes doubted even in the NO, but we know from context that the quoted section means not just Francis, but everyone all the way back to 1958.

I guess what I don't get is why does only doubt among "Traditional" (whatever that means exactly) Catholics matter?  I mean,, sure, if you think the Novus Ordo mass is inherently evil, *of course* you're very likely going to doubt that the man who promulgated it was a real pope.  Certainly, Archbishop Lefebvre had such doubts.  But does your average *conservative* Catholic, who accepts all the dogmas, but also accepts Vatican II, ever really doubt?  At the least, did he before Francis?

It seems like *even if* you only include 1% of the Novus Ordo as truly Catholic, that's still like 90% of the Catholic world, compared to 10% "traditional" Catholics.  If you include even 5% of the NO as truly Catholic, that's 98%.

What am I missing here?
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Nishant Xavier on May 27, 2019, 02:40:27 AM
Quote from: ByzCat3000
Alright, so Ladislaus said this on the "59% of Catholics support Roe v Wade" thread, and Matthew understandably didn't want a derail there, but I still think this is worth talking about *somewhere* so I'm making a new thread ... what am I missing here?
I don't think you're missing much and I mostly agree with what you've said here, ByzCat; only, UA is primarily about the Hierarchy's Authority, not first and foremost about numbers among the laity - see for e.g. that dogmatic Bull where Pope Pius XII explains the principle, in saying that the Assumption of Our Lady is clearly proved to be an Infallible Truth, by the very fact that all the world's Bishops were morally unanimous about it being definable as dogma: "Thus, from the universal agreement of the Church's ordinary teaching authority we have a certain and firm proof, demonstrating that the Blessed Virgin Mary's bodily Assumption into heaven- which surely no faculty of the human mind could know by its own natural powers, as far as the heavenly glorification of the virginal body of the loving Mother of God is concerned-is a truth that has been revealed by God and consequently something that must be firmly and faithfully believed by all children of the Church." (Pope Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus, p. 12) Please See http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/apost_constitutions/docuмents/hf_p-xii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus.html

The key words there are: "from the universal agreement of the Church's ordinary teaching authority we have a certain and firm proof".

Theologians explain a similar principle in saying: universal acceptance in the same way is also a sign and effect of a valid Papal election.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Stubborn on May 27, 2019, 05:08:50 AM
"Universal acceptance" is a modernist term coined by certain recent theologians that is often misused, in this case it is misused in regards to the status of popes.

First off, within the Church, whenever the word "Universal" is used, it does not mean a "current unanimity" at all, it only means the "current unanimity" within the Novus Ordo religion whose church was born about 1965.

Within the true Church, whenever the word "Universal" is used, it is inclusive of the element of time, as in, "since the time of the Apostles and for always", as well as possessing an "almost unanimous" consent of the Fathers, theologians and Catholic teachings since the time of the Apostles. So there is your first clue that "The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue" is NO.

So when one speaks of some "universal acceptance" as an infallible sign that the pope is the pope, we understand that whole idea to be an idea inspired and promoted by Novus Ordo thinking. OTOH, if it were in fact a doctrine or a teaching of the Church, which it isn't, but if it were, then it we are certain that like all future elections, the election will always have been deemed valid by the Universal Church, i.e. the Church of the previous 2000 years.  

The false NO teaching (which many accept as if it were a true doctrine) referred to as "true popes" being "infallible safe" or the pope having some "infallibly safety", is also accepted by nearly everyone. Which "doctrine" basically means the pope is divinely protected from ever saying or doing anything that could do great damage to the Church. Little damages here and there he can do, but not major damage - that is basically their thinking as relates to the NO doctrine of "infallibly safety".

Meanwhile, since before the time of Pope St. Pius X, popes have written into the law of papal elections that the man, once he accepts his election, is not only "instantly the true pope", but also that "he acquires and can exercise full and absolute jurisdiction over the whole world". If this does not meet the criteria of popes' infallible safety, then nothing does.

So using the NO "doctrine" of "infallibly safety", what need is there of the NO "doctrine" of "universal acceptance"? Does not the idea of "universal acceptance" undermine, negate or otherwise demonstrate a decided and pronounced lack of faith in the idea of "infallible safety", rendering it altogether meaningless?

Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Caraffa on May 27, 2019, 06:12:58 PM
It's not universal acceptance, it's universal adherence. The Conciliar Popes don't have universal adherence as the on-the-ground rejection of Humanae Vitae (1968) as well as other teachings of the Church proved.   
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Stubborn on May 28, 2019, 05:36:12 AM
It's not universal acceptance, it's universal adherence. The Conciliar Popes don't have universal adherence as the on-the-ground rejection of Humanae Vitae (1968) as well as other teachings of the Church proved.  
^^^This makes a lot more sense than "universal acceptance".
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 28, 2019, 10:52:16 AM
It's not universal acceptance, it's universal adherence. The Conciliar Popes don't have universal adherence as the on-the-ground rejection of Humanae Vitae (1968) as well as other teachings of the Church proved.  
Can you explain what you mean by universal adherence?

And yeah, Stubborn, I get that you don't agree with the universal acceptance argument, but I'm trying to get an answer from those who do from a consistency standpoint.

If a Catholic is someone who holds (on principle) to everything the Church teaches, and those who pick and choose aren't Catholic, than most Novus Ordo members are not Catholic, yet most Catholics are Novus Ordo.

So while I can make sense of (whether such a concept is correct or not), looking at whether those who hold to all that the Church teaches to see whether they doubt the post Vatican II popes, I can't make sense of drawing some arbitrary line around "traditional Catholic" and only looking at those people.

Yet it seems to me like this is implicitly what Ladislaus is doing, and that's what I'm trying to understand.  Why don't the (assuming the numbers he's cited before are correct) 5% of Novus Ordo Catholics who hold to every single dogma count?  There are, even by that metric, fifty times as many of them as there are "traditionalists"
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 28, 2019, 11:01:43 AM
ByzCat, I've seen polls where very nearly 100% of nominal NO Catholics are heretical on one point of doctrine or another.  Even Michael Voris posted a video where he came to the conclusion that 0% of nominal Catholics under a certain age can still be called Catholic (based on various polling data).  There's an old guard of Novus Ordo conservatives beginning to die off, but that's about it.

If you read the theologians who speak of Universal Acceptance being the criterion for legitimacy, look at the rationale they give.  They say it's because the Church cannot adhere to a false "rule of faith".  Among all those who accept the V2 Popes, how many actually consider them to be rules of faith?  99.9% feel entitled to accept what they like and reject what they don't like.  They're nearly all relativists to one degree or another.  In my experience, probably about 1% of Novus Ordo Catholics are still recognizable as Catholics based on what they profess.

What's left?  Mostly Traditional Catholics.  And of those, a significant number entertain doubts about the legitimacy of the V2 Popes, including +Lefebvre, +Williamson, and +Tissier.  Does that sound like "Universal Acceptance" to you?  Not to me.  Universal Acceptance looks more like this:  I'm a Catholic living in the early 1950s.  Everyone simply KNOWS that Pius XII is the pope.  No dispute whatsoever.  No consternation or troubled consciences.  That's why it's also often called "Peaceful" Acceptance.  Catholics are absolutely untroubled about the legitimacy of Pius XII.  Is that really what we have today?  No, what we have today doesn't even begin to resemble the Universal Acceptance that was in place during the reign of Pius XII.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 28, 2019, 11:05:03 AM
I don't think you're missing much and I mostly agree with what you've said here, ByzCat; only, UA is primarily about the Hierarchy's Authority, not first and foremost about numbers among the laity - see for e.g. that dogmatic Bull where Pope Pius XII explains the principle, in saying that the Assumption of Our Lady is clearly proved to be an Infallible Truth, by the very fact that all the world's Bishops were morally unanimous about it being definable as dogma: ...

This has absolutely nothing to do with this issue.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 28, 2019, 11:07:41 AM
"Universal acceptance" is a modernist term coined by certain recent theologians that is often misused, in this case it is misused in regards to the status of popes.

You do realized, right, that Universal Acceptance is a termed used by R&R to DEFEND the legitimacy of the V2 papal claimants.  While the term may be of recent coinage, the concept has been around for a long time.

You just whip out this "recent theologians" and "20th century theologians" thing every time you don't like something ... and half the time you're wrong about the history of it.  You just assume, because you don't like something, that it must have been a recent innovation.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 28, 2019, 11:09:43 AM
^^^This makes a lot more sense than "universal acceptance".

This "universal adherence" concept undermines the V2 papal legitimacy even more than mere "acceptance".
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 28, 2019, 11:12:59 AM
It's not universal acceptance, it's universal adherence. The Conciliar Popes don't have universal adherence as the on-the-ground rejection of Humanae Vitae ( 1968 ) as well as other teachings of the Church proved.  

Yes, that's to my point also.  Theologians describe the concept of Universal Acceptance as deriving from the fact that the Church recognizes the Pope as a rule of faith and cannot adhere to a false rule of faith.  As I mentioned, the number of Novus Ordites who actually accept the V2 hierarchy's Magisterium are next to zero.  So how can those of us who still, thank God, have the faith look to the Novus Ordo throngs to determine our own rule of faith?  It's nonsense.  That would be as if the Arians had managed to install one of their own onto the Holy See and claiming that, since 90% of the Church had gone Arian, this man was suddenly a legitimate pope.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 28, 2019, 11:19:47 AM
And lost with this entire Universal Acceptance concept is the contradiction.  If we hold the sentiments of the Novus Ordites as our rule, then we must accept the teachings of Vatican II and the New Mass, since these are JUST AS UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED as the V2 papal claimants themselves.  Both the acceptance of their legitimacy and the acceptance of their doctrine are derived from the same principle, the infallibility of the Ecclesia Credens.  So, if we accept the legitimacy of the V2 claimants on this principle, then by the same principle we are bound to accept their doctrine:  Vatican II, the New Mass, all of it (with some room for dispute left regarding minor points and points of interpretation, etc.)
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 28, 2019, 11:33:04 AM
And lost with this entire Universal Acceptance concept is the contradiction.  If we hold the sentiments of the Novus Ordites as our rule, then we must accept the teachings of Vatican II and the New Mass, since these are JUST AS UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED as the V2 papal claimants themselves.  Both the acceptance of their legitimacy and the acceptance of their doctrine are derived from the same principle, the infallibility of the Ecclesia Credens.  So, if we accept the legitimacy of the V2 claimants on this principle, then by the same principle we are bound to accept their doctrine:  Vatican II, the New Mass, all of it (with some room for dispute left regarding minor points and points of interpretation, etc.)
To be clear, I here speak only of those in the novus Ordo who accept all the dogmas of the Church, at least on principle.  I'm trying to engage with your theory on its own terms, as much as I can.  So the fact that Joe Biden doesn't doubt that Francis is the Pope shouldn't matter, but the fact that someone like Michael Voris doesn't would, because he adheres to all the teaching of the Church, on principle.  I don't think you can rule someone out just because they attend the new mass or accept Vatican II (because that's question begging), and I don't think you can rule someone out because they on principle accept every dogma, but have a sincere misunderstanding of how some dogma works (say they accept transubstantiation because the Church says so, but still has some misunderstanding of it.) 

My issue is that 1% of the Novus Ordo is still 5-10 times as large as the "Traditional Catholic" world.  So I don't understand why only "traditional Catholics" by whatever measure are being counted.  Maybe the logical conclusion of my line of questioning is that Vatican II has to be reconciled somehow, but that could indeed be the case (cue lynching by this entire forum  ;D), or it could be the case that the framework being presented here is not the correct basis for rejecting/questioning Vatican II (TBH, though, I don't know really anyone who thinks Vatican II was meant to be infallible.  Most Novus Ordo conservatives that I know think the docuмent is due respect, but not exactly infallible, or at least not *definitely* infallible.  Whereas I know plenty of people who are converts from Protestantism, who attend the NO, who accept every dogma of the Church, and have never questioned the most recent popes.)  

On the other hand, if your argument is that *any* Catholic dissent undermines the ecclesia credens (such as Lefebvre, Williamson, and Tissier, as you mentioned) then I don't see why the same argument wouldn't justify Old Catholicism, or Eastern Orthodoxy.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Stubborn on May 28, 2019, 11:36:26 AM
You do realize, right?, that Universal Acceptance is a termed used by R&R to DEFEND the legitimacy of the V2 papal claimants.  While the term may be of recent coinage, the concept has been around for a long time.

You just whip out this "recent theologians" and "20th century theologians" thing every time you don't like something ... and half the time you're wrong about the history of it.  You just assume, because you don't like something, that it must have been a recent innovation.
Yes, exactly. The term *is* of recent coinage, and certainly, the concept, being inherent to the election, has been around for a long time.

I whip out 19th / 20th century theologians ("recent theologians") because their own speculations and teachings are taken to be teachings of the Church, even to the point of being dogmatic teachings to many, which is one major reason we are in this crisis.  

All you keep doing is repeating the same mindless errors, never anything whatsoever to back up anything you say - except occasionally you will quote from recent theologians as if their teachings are in fact teachings of the Church. One would think that since you cannot back up what you say from anyone except recent theologians that you'd get the clue already. Just like this "Universal Acceptance" idea. So start posting quotes that truly are teachings of the Church and you will find you will be unable to back up your liberal ideas.

It's not rocket science - if, as you believe, whatever the popes say and do as regards the whole Church are infallibly safe, then the popes decreeing that once the man accepts his election as pope, "he is instantly the true pope with all the authority of the pope", is all anyone ever needs to have certainty that the pope is the pope.

But to insist there is a built in check on that infallible safety via "Universal Acceptance", either makes "infallible safety" a lie, or Universal acceptance a lie. Never mind that both are lies, but at some point you will have to come to terms with the truth of the matter that the reason both are false, is because they are doctrines of man, not the Church.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 28, 2019, 11:38:23 AM

If you read the theologians who speak of Universal Acceptance being the criterion for legitimacy, look at the rationale they give.  They say it's because the Church cannot adhere to a false "rule of faith".  Among all those who accept the V2 Popes, how many actually consider them to be rules of faith?  99.9% feel entitled to accept what they like and reject what they don't like.  They're nearly all relativists to one degree or another.  In my experience, probably about 1% of Novus Ordo Catholics are still recognizable as Catholics based on what they profess.

When you say "accept what they like and reject what they don't like" are you referring to non infallible papal teachings, or church teachings? 

Sedevacantists and Sedeplenists do seem to disagree on to what extent a true pope can be seriously, seriously off in his non-infallible teaching, and still be truly pope, but that seems to be a disagreement between people who are disagreeing on *what* the Catholic Church teaches, not people who disagree that we have to adhere faithfully to what the Church teaches, so  I don't think you can rule someone out that way.  

"I don't agree with Francis on the death penalty, but I still think he's Pope" is different than "I don't agree with transubstantiation, even though I know its a dogma, but I'm still Catholic" in my opinion.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Stubborn on May 28, 2019, 11:38:28 AM
This "universal adherence" concept undermines the V2 papal legitimacy even more than mere "acceptance".
It certainly does undermine the conciliar popes legitimacy even more, but it still makes more sense than Universal Acceptance and/or infallibly safe.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 28, 2019, 11:44:54 AM

I whip out 19th / 20th century theologians ("recent theologians") because their own speculations and teachings are taken to be teachings of the Church, even to the point of being dogmatic teachings to many, which is one major reason we are in this crisis.  

Leaving aside the rest of this post (which is more vitriolic than I feel comfortable being at the moment, I'll just say that much), this particular point is a a big.  reason I haven't been convinced of Sedevacantism. In my experience, they tend to quote ultramontanist theologians from between Vatican I, and Vatican II, to defend their extremely high view of the papacy, but they can't prove to me that that was a consensus, or even if there was, that a consensus for a super short period of history is itself definitive.  I might be wrong on how the ordinary magisterium works, but I haven't yet been shown that *the Church* teaches that 5-6 popes in a row teaching something in non-infallible encyclicals means that it has to be right.

To be honest, it makes sense to me.  Post Vatican I, and Pre Vatican II, the Papacy really was a bastion of conservatism against the influx of modernism, so it makes total sense to me that guys like Pius IX, Pius X, and Pius XII would've been really optimistic about their own offices.  I don't see why the fact that they were ultramontanists means they had to be right.  At any rate, they presumably *also* would've said that whoever the College of Cardinals elects as a pope can't be questioned, so either way, they were wrong about something (even if you take the hermeneutic of continuity approach, which I realize most people here don't, you still are going to have to put a lot more scrutiny on Francis' encyclicals than St Pius X would've wanted applied to his.)  

If someone could show me a moral unanimity, from the very beginning of the Church till now, or even perhaps from the Great Schism till now, of that very high view of the papacy, that would make me seriously consider sedevacantism, but until that is done, I don't feel obligated to it because some even highly esteemed theologians and popes between Vatican I and Vatican II had a view of the papacy that would seem to demand it now.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: King Wenceslas on May 28, 2019, 02:00:47 PM
Universal acceptance of Francis by Who?


Quote
The Catholic Church teaches that artificial contraception, such as condoms and birth control pills, is morally unacceptable.

This teaching is rejected even among Catholics who attend Mass at least weekly, who tend to hold views on other social issues that fall more in line with official teaching when compared to the wider Catholic population. About one in 10 (13 percent) in this group said contraception is morally wrong, with 87 percent saying it is either acceptable or not a moral issue.

87 percent are excommunicated by reason of mortal sin. They are NOT to receive communion. Therefore "Universal acceptance" is a crack pot idea in this day and age. Are you so dense that you haven't heard about Vatican II and the beginning of the great apostasy?
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 28, 2019, 02:51:43 PM
Universal acceptance of Francis by Who?


87 percent are excommunicated by reason of mortal sin. They are NOT to receive communion. Therefore "Universal acceptance" is a crack pot idea in this day and age. Are you so dense that you haven't heard about Vatican II and the beginning of the great apostasy?
You should probably calm down :)  I didn't personally attack you, I asked a question based on what somebody said.

I've now heard numbers ranging from 87-99 percent of Novus Ordos aren't really Catholic because they deny one or more of the dogmas of the faith.

its possible that some percentage, even if a low one, of the 87% don't realize they're going against the teaching of the Church when they say that artificial contraception is OK.

But that's neither here nor there.  Even if we assume that 95% of the Novus Ordo is "not really Catholic" and thus doesn't count, that still leaves you with 50 million Novus Ordos who are fully Catholic (even if you might disagree with them on some things), vs what, 1-2 million trads at most?  Make it 99% of Novus Ordos being "not really Catholic" and that still leaves you over 10 million, which is still more than there are trads, by a substantial margin.

Of course, if you assume that in order to be truly Catholic, you not only have to accept every dogma of the Church, but *also* reject Vatican II and that the Novus Ordo is licit, than sure, at that point I agree that most people who fall into that category do indeed have doubts about the post conciliar claimants, even though most of those people do still ultimately conclude that they are "probably" legitimate.  Ladislaus isn't wrong there.  Archbishop Lefebvre had doubts.  Bishop Williamson has doubts.  I'm sure there are others.  But my point is, and has been from the beginning, this seems like a question begging standard.  We need some reason *why* those in the Novus Ordo who we wouldn't call "traditional" yet are certainly "Catholic" are being excluded.  And so far I'm not really getting any reasons for that.  So either the dissent of a minority of the faithful makes it licit to doubt a pope (in which case I'm not sure of what basis the EOs or Old Catholics can be condemned, they do, after all, accept the Catholic hierarchy of the 1st millennium), or else I don't know what else I'm missing.


Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 28, 2019, 02:54:29 PM
Yes, that's to my point also.  Theologians describe the concept of Universal Acceptance as deriving from the fact that the Church recognizes the Pope as a rule of faith and cannot adhere to a false rule of faith.  As I mentioned, the number of Novus Ordites who actually accept the V2 hierarchy's Magisterium are next to zero.  So how can those of us who still, thank God, have the faith look to the Novus Ordo throngs to determine our own rule of faith?  It's nonsense.  That would be as if the Arians had managed to install one of their own onto the Holy See and claiming that, since 90% of the Church had gone Arian, this man was suddenly a legitimate pope.
My argument is less like that, and more based on 90-99% of the 10% of Trinitarians remaining, if that makes sense.  My argument against you (and to be clear my issue here is mostly with the logic of the argument moreso than any particular conclusion) is based on those Novus Ordos who do actually accept the Magisterium, not those who don't.  (Why do you say the number of NOs who actually accept the V2 hierarchy's magisterium is next to zero?  And even if its 1%, that's still a lot more than the trad movement.) 
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 28, 2019, 03:02:13 PM
BTW, I'm not 100% certain that Francis is Pope either.  Maybe I should be, but I'm not.  I do treat him as such, and pray for him as such, until or unless the Church tells me otherwise.  And *especially* being Eastern Rite, I really don't freak out about it.

So I'm bothered by the logic here, but I'm not *actually* accusing Sedevacantists of heresy.  That's above my pay grade.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 28, 2019, 03:23:11 PM
BTW, I'm not 100% certain that Francis is Pope either.

And, you see, that is PRECISELY the problem.  Under a normal "Universal Peaceful Acceptance" scenario you could no more be less than 100% certain that the papal claimant is the Pope than you are 100% certain that God is Three Divine Persons.  It's a dogmatic fact, so if you don't believe it with the certainty of faith, that means you don't believe as it must be believed, and you are not a strict sedeplenist.  It does not suffice for a Catholic to say, "He's probably the pope." or even "It's extremely likely that he's the pope."  If it were merely "extremely likely" that Pius XII was a legitimate pope, then it's also just "extremely likely" that Our Lady was assumed into heaven.

Now, the mere fact that so many of us feel as you do, uncertain about whether he's the Pope, is prima facie evidence that there is in fact no Universal Peaceful Acceptance.  Otherwise, none of us would so much as entertain even a shadow of a doubt.  We would be in the same state as the Catholics of the early 1950s vis-a-vis Pius XII.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 28, 2019, 03:28:16 PM
And even if its 1%, that's still a lot more than the trad movement.)

But Universal Acceptance is not about mere numbers, a democratic exercise where the majority has it.  Even if there's a 9-to-1 outnumbering of Novus Ordo Catholics who still have the faith of the Traditional Catholics who doubt the V2 popes, that's still 10% of the Church which has serious reasonable positive doubts about these men.  What do you think the percentage was under Pius XII?  .0000001% maybe.  It's so bad that you have Novus Ordo theologians now accusing Francis of heresy.  And I'll bet that on top of everything else, those 9 Novus Ordo conservatives against 1 who believe that these men are popes do so unthinkingly, uncritically, without examining the issue.  They see a guy wearing white walking around acting like a pope, and that's good enough for them.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Clemens Maria on May 28, 2019, 03:44:45 PM
I don’t think these concepts ever included the laity.  So it doesn’t matter if  a pope is accepted or rejected by whatever percentage of the laity.  The important thing for indefectibility is that the hierarchy and specifically the Roman clergy and more specifically the cardinals must be in agreement that this claimant is the legitimate one.  We don’t get to second-guess the decision of the hierarchy.  We as laity must accept whatever they decide.  But in the present case there was an apparent fraud committed and the clergy did not universally accept the Conciliar claimants as Ladislaus has already pointed out.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Quo vadis Domine on May 28, 2019, 03:53:44 PM
So I'm bothered by the logic here, but I'm not *actually* accusing Sedevacantists of heresy.  That's above my pay grade.
You wouldn’t be accusing us of heresy, what we would be guilty of would be schism, if he were in fact a true pope.

However, these canonists say the following about a doubtful pope and schism:

F.X. Wernz, P. Vidal: “Finally they cannot be numbered among the schismatics, who refuse to obey the Roman Pontiff because they consider his person to be suspect or doubtfully elected on account of rumours in circulation.” (Ius Canonicuм, 7:398, 1943)

Rev Ignatius Szal: “Nor is there any schism if one merely transgress a papal law for the reason that one considers it too difficult, or if one refuses obedience inasmuch as one suspects the person of the pope or the validity of his election, or if one resists him as the civil head of a state.” (Communication of Catholics with Schismatics, 1948

De Lugo: “Neither is someone a schismatic for denying his subjection to the Pontiff on the grounds that he has solidly founded [‘probabiliter'] doubts concerning the legitimacy of his election or his power [refers to Sanchez and Palao].” (Disp., De Virt. Fid. Div., disp xxv, sect iii, nn. 35-)


Also, in the book “The Defense of the Catholic Church" by Fr. Francis X. Doyle, S.J..

On page 259 Fr. Doyle states the following:

"The Church is a visible society with a visible Ruler. If there can be any doubt about who that visible Ruler is, he is not visible, and hence, where there is any doubt about whether a person has been legitimately elected Pope, that doubt must be removed before he can become the visible head of Christ’s Church. Blessed Bellarmine, S.J., says: 'A doubtful Pope must be considered as not Pope.’”

Then on page 260 of the same book, here is what he writes:

The Supreme Pontiff can lose the Primacy in these ways:

1. By voluntary resignation, as in the case of Celestine V.
2. By open heresy, by which he ceases to be a member of Christ's Church. This, however, while not contradictory to reason, is hardly conceivable.
3. By insanity.
4. By death.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 28, 2019, 03:57:25 PM
I don’t think these concepts ever included the laity.  So it doesn’t matter if  a pope is accepted or rejected by whatever percentage of the laity.

True, but I suspect that the breakdown of numbers/percentages would be roughly along the same lines ... with many of the same considerations applying.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 28, 2019, 04:00:36 PM
Rev Ignatius Szal: “Nor is there any schism if one merely transgress a papal law for the reason that one considers it too difficult, or if one refuses obedience inasmuch as one suspects the person of the pope or the validity of his election, or if one resists him as the civil head of a state.” (Communication of Catholics with Schismatics, 1948

This is important, distinguishing simple disobedience from schism (as well as the part about the doubtfulness).  I refuse to take out the garbage (after my father commanded me) because I don't feel like it:  simple disobedience.  I refuse to take out the garbage because I feel that my father has no right to tell me what to do:  schism.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 28, 2019, 04:02:15 PM
You wouldn’t be accusing us of heresy, what we would be guilty of would be schism, if he were in fact a true pope.

However, these canonists say the following about a doubtful pope and schism:

F.X. Wernz, P. Vidal: “Finally they cannot be numbered among the schismatics, who refuse to obey the Roman Pontiff because they consider his person to be suspect or doubtfully elected on account of rumours in circulation.” (Ius Canonicuм, 7:398, 1943)

Rev Ignatius Szal: “Nor is there any schism if one merely transgress a papal law for the reason that one considers it too difficult, or if one refuses obedience inasmuch as one suspects the person of the pope or the validity of his election, or if one resists him as the civil head of a state.” (Communication of Catholics with Schismatics, 1948

De Lugo: “Neither is someone a schismatic for denying his subjection to the Pontiff on the grounds that he has solidly founded [‘probabiliter'] doubts concerning the legitimacy of his election or his power [refers to Sanchez and Palao].” (Disp., De Virt. Fid. Div., disp xxv, sect iii, nn. 35-)


Also, in the book “The Defense of the Catholic Church" by Fr. Francis X. Doyle, S.J..

On page 259 Fr. Doyle states the following:

"The Church is a visible society with a visible Ruler. If there can be any doubt about who that visible Ruler is, he is not visible, and hence, where there is any doubt about whether a person has been legitimately elected Pope, that doubt must be removed before he can become the visible head of Christ’s Church. Blessed Bellarmine, S.J., says: 'A doubtful Pope must be considered as not Pope.’”

Then on page 260 of the same book, here is what he writes:

The Supreme Pontiff can lose the Primacy in these ways:

1. By voluntary resignation, as in the case of Celestine V.
2. By open heresy, by which he ceases to be a member of Christ's Church. This, however, while not contradictory to reason, is hardly conceivable.
3. By insanity.
4. By death.

These are very important quotes.  Father William Jenkins cites a prominent theologian who spends a great deal of time on the "Papa Dubius" scenario and why such a one lacked any formal authority.  I wish could track those quotes down.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Quo vadis Domine on May 28, 2019, 07:01:43 PM
BTW: The Wernz & Vidal and Cardinal De Lugo quotes were translated by John S. Daly.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 28, 2019, 08:22:53 PM
And, you see, that is PRECISELY the problem.  Under a normal "Universal Peaceful Acceptance" scenario you could no more be less than 100% certain that the papal claimant is the Pope than you are 100% certain that God is Three Divine Persons.  It's a dogmatic fact, so if you don't believe it with the certainty of faith, that means you don't believe as it must be believed, and you are not a strict sedeplenist.  It does not suffice for a Catholic to say, "He's probably the pope." or even "It's extremely likely that he's the pope."  If it were merely "extremely likely" that Pius XII was a legitimate pope, then it's also just "extremely likely" that Our Lady was assumed into heaven.

Now, the mere fact that so many of us feel as you do, uncertain about whether he's the Pope, is prima facie evidence that there is in fact no Universal Peaceful Acceptance.  Otherwise, none of us would so much as entertain even a shadow of a doubt.  We would be in the same state as the Catholics of the early 1950s vis-a-vis Pius XII.
I have no reason whatsoever to doubt the legitimacy of Pius XII, but if I did, I'd say the same thing I'm saying about Francis.  "I assume he's the Pope until the Church tells me he isn't."  

Though honestly, this raises other questions.  Are you as sure that the Catholic Church is the one True Church ,as opposed to the Eastern Orthodox one, is the one true Church, as you are that God is Three Divine Persons?  TBH, I'm not.  Although I certainly *believe* both, I'm much more sure on the Trinity than I am that I'm on the right side of the Great Schism.  So, by that logic itself maybe I'm "not a real Catholic."  Maybe that actually is a way to make sense of the conclusion you originally described.  I think most conservative Sedeplenists would admit they're more sure on the Trinity than on Catholicism, en toto, but Sedevacantists would be much more likely to deny any uncertainty about either proposition, on grounds that they're heretics for having *doubt* or something.

IDK if that thought made sense.  

Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 28, 2019, 08:24:50 PM
These are very important quotes.  Father William Jenkins cites a prominent theologian who spends a great deal of time on the "Papa Dubius" scenario and why such a one lacked any formal authority.  I wish could track those quotes down.
I guess the tricky thing in this case is there's no alternate claimant (unless you take Pope Michael seriously... I don't) whereas in previous doubtful pope scenarios there were in fact false claimants.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Quo vadis Domine on May 28, 2019, 09:06:42 PM
I have no reason whatsoever to doubt the legitimacy of Pius XII, but if I did, I'd say the same thing I'm saying about Francis.  "I assume he's the Pope until the Church tells me he isn't."  

Though honestly, this raises other questions.  Are you as sure that the Catholic Church is the one True Church ,as opposed to the Eastern Orthodox one, is the one true Church, as you are that God is Three Divine Persons?  TBH, I'm not.  Although I certainly *believe* both, I'm much more sure on the Trinity than I am that I'm on the right side of the Great Schism.  So, by that logic itself maybe I'm "not a real Catholic."  Maybe that actually is a way to make sense of the conclusion you originally described.  I think most conservative Sedeplenists would admit they're more sure on the Trinity than on Catholicism, en toto, but Sedevacantists would be much more likely to deny any uncertainty about either proposition, on grounds that they're heretics for having *doubt* or something.

IDK if that thought made sense.  
That’s right, you aren’t a Catholic. A Catholic must profess the entire Catholic Faith. You do not profess the true faith because you publicly doubt the dogma that the Catholic Church is the one true Church of God. Dogmas are dogmas ALL must be completely believed with divine and Catholic Faith. Frankly, you had better get down, right now, on your knees and ask God for the grace to make an act of faith.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 28, 2019, 10:19:30 PM
That’s right, you aren’t a Catholic. A Catholic must profess the entire Catholic Faith. You do not profess the true faith because you publicly doubt the dogma that the Catholic Church is the one true Church of God. Dogmas are dogmas ALL must be completely believed with divine and Catholic Faith. Frankly, you had better get down, right now, on your knees and ask God for the grace to make an act of faith.
By that same logic though, its perfectly possible that anyone who expresses doubt that Francis, or whoever, is the true pope is also not a real Catholic (or heck, vice versa, I guess.)  The lack of certainty by certain individuals doesn't seem to matter much one way or another here.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Quo vadis Domine on May 29, 2019, 06:07:13 AM
By that same logic though, its perfectly possible that anyone who expresses doubt that Francis, or whoever, is the true pope is also not a real Catholic (or heck, vice versa, I guess.)  The lack of certainty by certain individuals doesn't seem to matter much one way or another here.
Believing that Bergoglio is or is not a pope is not a matter of dogma. If he were a true pope and you don’t unite yourself with him, as St. Peter’s successor, you would be committing an act of schism unless you have good reason to believe he is not the Vicar of Christ (see the quotes above). That the Catholic Church is the one true Church of God is dogmatic. If you pertinaciously doubt or deny this or any dogma you are a heretic and thus you put yourself outside the Church.

Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Stubborn on May 29, 2019, 06:45:20 AM
By that same logic though, its perfectly possible that anyone who expresses doubt that Francis, or whoever, is the true pope is also not a real Catholic (or heck, vice versa, I guess.)  The lack of certainty by certain individuals doesn't seem to matter much one way or another here.
Well said.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 29, 2019, 09:05:24 AM
Believing that Bergoglio is or is not a pope is not a matter of dogma. If he were a true pope and you don’t unite yourself with him, as St. Peter’s successor, you would be committing an act of schism unless you have good reason to believe he is not the Vicar of Christ (see the quotes above). That the Catholic Church is the one true Church of God is dogmatic. If you pertinaciously doubt or deny this or any dogma you are a heretic and thus you put yourself outside the Church.
Can you explain pertinaciously?  
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Nishant Xavier on May 29, 2019, 09:12:43 AM
Quote from: Stubborn
Meanwhile, since before the time of Pope St. Pius X, popes have written into the law of papal elections that the man, once he accepts his election, is not only
Quote
"instantly the true pope", but also that "he acquires and can exercise full and absolute jurisdiction over the whole world".
Yes, that's true, Stubborn. The man elected receives the Pontificate from God and is free to exercise Universal Jurisdiction. But the sedes will say that this does not apply to a heretic, whose election is invalid. Now, I'm not a sede, as you know, Stubborn. The importance of Universal Acceptance here is that it proves that the Pope, even in the internal forum, is not a heretic. If you disagree, how do you answer the text of Pope Ven. Pius XII, in an infallible docuмent, appealing to the principle of universal agreement as doctrinal proof? I know you don't believe in "20th century theologians", so I won't cite them to you. :)

Here are two texts from Theologians for the consideration of those who wish to read them, one from 1965, and the other from 1953.

Quote from: Fr. Connell, in AER, to question on certitude of the Pope
But in the case of the Pope we have a higher grade of certainty ... The whole Church, teaching and believing, declares and believes this fact, and from this it follows that this fact is infallibly true."

Quote from: And Van Noort on Pope Pius XII
: “So, for example, one must give an absolute assent to the proposition: “Pius XII is the legitimate successor of St. Peter ...For — skipping the question of how it begins to be proven infallibly for the first time that this individual was legitimately elected to take St. Peter’s place — when someone has been constantly acting as Pope and has theoretically and practically been recognized as such by the bishops and by the universal Church, it is clear that the ordinary and universal magisterium is giving an utterly clear-cut witness to the legitimacy of his succession”
Quote from: Ladislaus
This has absolutely nothing to do with this issue.
Sure it does. Otherwise, Ladislaus, Pope Pius XII was guilty of a false argument in an infallible docuмent, when H.H. said, "from the universal agreement of the Church's ordinary teaching authority we have a certain and firm proof". What does that imply? The Universal Agreement of the Church's Teaching Authority cannot err on such matters, just as a Pontiff cannot err when he speaks ex cathedra. Do you disagree? The Ecclesia Credens is not infallible by itself in a way independent of due dependence on the Ecclesia Docens imho.

Is there doubt among the Teaching Church as to the validity of Pope Francis' election in 2013? I don't think so. Now, could a Pope become a heretic later on after being elected? That's a different issue that's not as such a dogmatic fact, Ladislaus,I think you'll agree? Because nobody could preclude it happening in future; unless you were to believe, as some do, that a validly elected Pope in actual fact would never become a heretic, but that was only a hypothesis that would never actually happen. But even those who said since the Lord had prayed the faith of Peter would not fail, we may believe and pray it doesn't; only gave that as a pious opinion.

So I don't think it is a dogmatic fact that a validly elected Pope cannot later on become a heretic. The election's validity as such is.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Stubborn on May 29, 2019, 10:12:20 AM
Yes, that's true, Stubborn. The man elected receives the Pontificate from God and is free to exercise Universal Jurisdiction. But the sedes will say that this does not apply to a heretic, whose election is invalid. Now, I'm not a sede, as you know, Stubborn. The importance of Universal Acceptance here is that it proves that the Pope, even in the internal forum, is not a heretic. If you disagree, how do you answer the text of Pope Ven. Pius XII, in an infallible docuмent, appealing to the principle of universal agreement as doctrinal proof? I know you don't believe in "20th century theologians", so I won't cite them to you. :)
I am guessing that you are referencing his infallible constitution on the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother into heaven. But it does not really matter because if he in fact appeals to the principle of universal agreement, then he is necessarily referring to the fact that said teaching is one that the Church has held as true, either since the time of the Apostles and / or is found in Scripture.

Within the true Church, whenever the word "Universal" is used, it is inclusive of the element of time, as in, "since the time of the Apostles and for always", as well as possessing an "almost unanimous" consent of the Fathers, theologians and Catholic teachings since the time of the Apostles. This is what Universal means. As such, the principle of universal agreement simply means "that which which has been believed by all of the faithful within the Church, all the time" or "always and everywhere" - to paraphrase St. Vincent of Lerins.

I am quite sure that if you post the whole quote that you are referencing, you will find this is what the pope is referring to when he mentions "universal principle".

What it does not mean, is the recent or current population, nor does it mean the recent or current population of the hierarchy.

Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Quo vadis Domine on May 29, 2019, 10:14:47 AM
Can you explain pertinaciously?  
Come on, I’m not going to hold your hand. I’ve explained enough, look it up.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 29, 2019, 10:19:02 AM
Sure it does. Otherwise, Ladislaus, Pope Pius XII was guilty of a false argument in an infallible docuмent, when H.H. said, "from the universal agreement of the Church's ordinary teaching authority we have a certain and firm proof".

:facepalm:

No, you are guilty of the false argument.  You are extrapolating from the ordinary universal Magisterium to the universal acceptance thesis, which are two different things.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Nishant Xavier on May 30, 2019, 08:13:57 AM
Quote
But it does not really matter because if he in fact appeals to the principle of universal agreement, then he is necessarily referring to the fact that said teaching is one that the Church has held as true, either since the time of the Apostles and / or is found in Scripture.
Stubborn, it is para 12 in Munificentissimus Deus, where Universal Agreement among the Episcopate, is said to be an indication of a Truth known through the OUM of the Church. I thought I'd given the link earlier in the first post, but here it is again. http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/apost_constitutions/docuмents/hf_p-xii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus.html (http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/apost_constitutions/docuмents/hf_p-xii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus.html)

Yes, it is about the dogma of the Assumption. But that dogma was being denied by some at that time, and so the Pope consulted the Bishops before going ahead to define it. What do you make of this part especially, "it shows us the concordant teaching of the Church's ordinary doctrinal authority and the concordant faith of the Christian people which the same doctrinal authority sustains and directs, thus by itself and in an entirely certain and infallible way ... Thus, from the universal agreement of the Church's ordinary teaching authority we have a certain and firm proof." If Universal Teaching Authority requires the explicit approval of all Bishops from the time of the Apostles, then how could the Pope have said this after asking only the Bishops in his time?

The Dogma of the Assumption is certainly found in Scripture and Tradition. But it was made certain beyond all doubt by the Dogmatic Definition. In preparing for the Dogmatic Definition, the Pope said, the Universal Agreement of the Episcopate, is itself an infallible proof that the doctrine is true. So Infallible Papal Magisterium has endorsed the principle that the Ordinary and Universal Magisterium can declare and teach infallible truths.

Quote from: Ladislaus
No, you are guilty of the false argument.  You are extrapolating from the ordinary universal Magisterium to the universal acceptance thesis, which are two different things.
Ordinary Universal Magisterium and Universal Acceptance Thesis are two different things, granted. But Universal Acceptance is based on the principle that the Teaching Church, the Hierarchy, is Indefectible. That's why all the Bishops collectively cannot adhere to a false Pope, otherwise Church Indefectibility would have been lost. If you disagree, please explain the text of Van Noort where he concludes, "it is clear that the ordinary and universal magisterium is giving an utterly clear-cut witness to the legitimacy of his succession”. And Fr. Connell says the Church is infallible both in declaring and in believing that the Pope is the Pope.

Other theologians have said the same. The Bishops cannot all collectively fall into error, as Hierarchical Indefectibility prevents this. But they would have all fallen into error and worse if they had universally accepted an objectively false Pope. How can that be possible? Dom Gueranger explains how even a doubtful Pope would become certain upon Universal Acceptance. "when it is proved that the Church, still holding, or once more put in possession of, her liberty, acknowledges in the person of a certain Pope, until then doubtful, the true Sovereign Pontiff, this her very recognition is a proof that, from that moment at least, the occupant of the Apostolic See is as such invested by God himself.” (Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B., The Liturgical Year , Vol XII, pg. 188 https://catholicism.org/modern-popes.html

How do you square that last text with your idea, Ladislaus, that a Pope deemed "doubtful" by lay individuals and vagrant clergy cannot exercise authority and is impeded from doing so? Not even those theologians who said genuine doubts can be exculpatory went so far as to say that your doubts can prevent the Pope from exercising his authority. It's only some sede-doubists, privationists etc who say that.

If Universal Acceptance is not there and there are two or more competing candidates accepted by some portion of the Hierarchy with the adherence of some Clergy, then some doubts can be entertained even by the laity; perhaps the election has not been completed. But once Universal Acceptance of a single candidate among the Hierarchy has been verified, then it is no longer doubtful who is the Pope, and the Church has declared and judged that that single Pope is validly elected. The Church will never declare at some future time that Popes Paul VI, John Paul I and II and any other Pope who died universally accepted was never a Pope in the first place.

She has already declared them to be Her Popes. Salza and Siscoe have cited teaching from John of St. Thomas to the effect that acceptance from the Hierarchy is almost like a Church Definition. Does a Church definition become "doubtful" because we doubt it?
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Stubborn on May 30, 2019, 10:24:42 AM
Stubborn, it is para 12 in Munificentissimus Deus, where Universal Agreement among the Episcopate, is said to be an indication of a Truth known through the OUM of the Church. I thought I'd given the link earlier in the first post, but here it is again. http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/apost_constitutions/docuмents/hf_p-xii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus.html (http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/apost_constitutions/docuмents/hf_p-xii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus.html)

Yes, it is about the dogma of the Assumption. But that dogma was being denied by some at that time, and so the Pope consulted the Bishops before going ahead to define it. What do you make of this part especially, "it shows us the concordant teaching of the Church's ordinary doctrinal authority and the concordant faith of the Christian people which the same doctrinal authority sustains and directs, thus by itself and in an entirely certain and infallible way ... Thus, from the *universal agreement* of the Church's ordinary teaching authority we have a certain and firm proof." If Universal Teaching Authority requires the explicit approval of all Bishops from the time of the Apostles, then how could the Pope have said this after asking only the Bishops in his time?
All I make of it is that the pope asked the bishops if they thought it prudent for him to infallibly define, that which already enjoyed universal agreement, but for whatever reason was never infallibly defined.

We would say that he was simply asking his bishops if they thought that their flocks would benefit by him defining the Assumption, he was not asking their permission, or if they thought it was a dogma. He already had "certain and firm proof" of it's dogmatic status, i.e. that the Assumption already enjoyed universal agreement, which is to say it was already taught by the Church since the time of the Apostles.  



Quote
The Dogma of the Assumption is certainly found in Scripture and Tradition. But it was made certain beyond all doubt by the Dogmatic Definition. In preparing for the Dogmatic Definition, the Pope said, the Universal Agreement of the Episcopate, is itself an infallible proof that the doctrine is true. So Infallible Papal Magisterium has endorsed the principle that the Ordinary and Universal Magisterium can declare and teach infallible truths.
This ^^^ (bold) is not so and that is not what he said, what he said was: "...Thus, from the universal agreement of the Church's ordinary teaching authority we have a certain and firm proof ..."

First, "the Church's Ordinary Teaching Authority" of which he speaks is most assuredly *not* the then (or now) current Episcopate, if it were, then all trads everywhere are at least in grave error, if not outright schism for rejecting, condemning and vehemently denying the whole Novus Ordo religion - the reason for this is simply because the heretical doctrines of the  Novus Ordo enjoy the the same universal agreement of the same (current)  Episcopate of which you are speaking. This is glaring proof that your idea here is altogether wrong.

It is from the Universal Agreement of the Church's Ordinary Teaching Authority, which is to say, The Assumption is a doctrine that the Church already taught always and everywhere since the time of the Apostles. *This* is the infallible proof he is talking about as proof that the doctrine is true.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Stubborn on May 30, 2019, 11:25:40 AM
Xavier, more proof from defined dogma that the idea you have saying that "the Universal Agreement of the Episcopate, is itself an infallible proof that the doctrine is true", is false, and that it is the infallible teaching of the Church that those doctrines infallibly defined were universally (always and everywhere since the time of the Apostles) already taught, before being defined ex cathedra. This means that for purposes applicable to defining doctrines infallibly, the current episcopate does not even enter into the formula.

It is good to remember that any and all defined dogmas are only those which already exist within the deposit of faith, which is to say that any and all doctrines not within the deposit of faith can never be defined ex cathedra. Which is to say that any idea that has not been held as a part of Catholic doctrine through all the generations of the Church by the vast majority of the people, is not Catholic. Which is to say that at any given time, error can be widely held even by the vast majority of the people, as is liberalism, humanism, NOism, modernism, etc., among Catholics, including the Episcopate, today.

V1 tells this to us here:

"For the holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter, not so that they might, by his revelation, make known some new doctrine, but that, by his assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the apostles. Indeed, their apostolic teaching was embraced by all the venerable fathers and reverenced and followed by all the holy orthodox doctors...."

Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 30, 2019, 11:33:53 AM
Ordinary Universal Magisterium and Universal Acceptance Thesis are two different things, granted. But Universal Acceptance is based on the principle that the Teaching Church, the Hierarchy, is Indefectible. 

No, there's is no universality of the "Teaching Church" without the Pope, so this is entirely different.  So, for instance, if a man were to be elected, and the entire Church were to recede from him, yet he continues to maintain that he is the Pope, you're dealing with a phenomenon of the hierarchy minus the Pope, and therefore, there can be no "universal" anything without the Pope at its center.  So this is an entirely different thing than the Universal Magisterium (which cannot exist without union with the pope).
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 30, 2019, 11:37:37 AM
I guess the tricky thing in this case is there's no alternate claimant (unless you take Pope Michael seriously... I don't) whereas in previous doubtful pope scenarios there were in fact false claimants.

It's not essential that there be an alternate claimant.  But, aha, in fact many hold that Cardinal Siri was rightly elected instead of Roncalli, and was invalidly forced to resign under duress.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 30, 2019, 11:39:08 AM
Come on, I’m not going to hold your hand. I’ve explained enough, look it up.
I did a bit of research on this, pertiniciously holding to doubt seems to entail a refusal to believe what the Church defines, not merely a lack of absolute certainty.  I'm struggling with how such an idea would fit with sacred scripture either, in Mark 9:24 "I believe, help my unbelief" seems to be accepted as a genuine act of faith.  There is no "because you have doubt, its not real faith" or anything like that.

Pertinicious seems more like "I know the Church teaches X, but I believe Y instead."  I agree that someone who says this isn't Catholic, at the least, I've been presuming such in my critique of Ladislaus in the OP.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 30, 2019, 11:44:02 AM
It's not essential that there be an alternate claimant.  But, aha, in fact many hold that Cardinal Siri was rightly elected instead of Roncalli, and was invalidly forced to resign under duress.
*perhaps* that's the case, and I'm not claiming to be an expert here, but it doesn't seem obvious to me that that's the case.  I do see why Novus Ordo Conservatives don't think this is comparable.  St Vincent of Lerins was wrong on who the Pope was, *because there were multiple claimants*, accepted by large numbers of the Catholic world.  Whereas the Sedevacantist or the Sede-doubtist or whatever term you want to use, is rejecting the only claimant (I'm sorry, Michael really doesn't count).  Pre-Francis, I'm guessing those doubts were only held by about 5% of the Catholic population *at most* (and I'm excluding the people who deny one or more dogmas from Catholic here).  Francis is admittedly an interesting case, in that he's doubted by even people in the Novus Ordo, and there are people who wouldn't normally identify as Sedevacantist friendly who have doubts there.


Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 30, 2019, 11:51:01 AM
Pertinicious seems more like "I know the Church teaches X, but I believe Y instead."

This does lead to something of a quagmire.  Let's say the entire Church thinks that something is heretical, and you have a Pope who persists in claiming that it is not.  After all, the Pope's teaching on a matter of faith trumps any other judgement in that regard.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 30, 2019, 11:52:33 AM
Francis is admittedly an interesting case, in that he's doubted by even people in the Novus Ordo, and there are people who wouldn't normally identify as Sedevacantist friendly who have doubts there.

And in fact there's a movement afoot based on the substantiated claims that the election of Francis was invalid due to collusion on the part of many electors.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 30, 2019, 11:56:56 AM
Cardinal Billot, in treating of the Universal Acceptance issue says this:

Quote
For the adhesion of the Church to a false Pontiff would be the same as its adhesion to a false rule of faith, seeing that the Pope is the living rule of faith which the Church must follow and which in fact she always follows. As will become even more clear by what we shall say later, God can permit that at times a vacancy in the Apostolic See be prolonged for a long time. He can also permit that doubt arise about the legitimacy of this or that election. He cannot however permit that the whole Church accept as Pontiff him who is not so truly and legitimately.

So here's the problem for R&R.  If it is impossible for the Church to adhere to a false rule of faith, then the Church could no more accept the errors of Vatican II (incorrectly) than it could incorrectly accept a Vatican II Pope.  So there's an inherent contradiction in R&R's use of "Universal Acceptance".

Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 30, 2019, 12:03:38 PM
This does lead to something of a quagmire.  Let's say the entire Church thinks that something is heretical, and you have a Pope who persists in claiming that it is not.  After all, the Pope's teaching on a matter of faith trumps any other judgement in that regard.
Yeah, I suspect what would happen in that case is you'd very likely have some kind of declaration from the College of Cardinals declaring that this man lost his office, or something like that.  And yeah, I could imagine that happening to Francis at some point, he's been so heterodox that even cardinals have called him out on it.

I'm still confused on the stated *justification* for doubt though.  There were non crackpots who doubted the legitimacy of Popes before Pius XII, they just didn't do so in the same way sedes do.  Old Catholics don't accept Vatican I.  Eastern Orthodox still accept Papal primacy, but think the Holy See apostasized after the Great Schism.  I guess my main critique of radical Sedes (ie. people who challenge Pius XII and previous claimants) is that it would make way more logical sense for those people to be asking whether Eastern Orthodoxy, or *something else* is actually the Church Christ founded, rather than basically just creating an island unto themselves.  I don't think that critique applies quite the same way to "normal" Sedes as its a much less fringe position, but to a lesser extent it does raise similar questions.


Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: ByzCat3000 on May 30, 2019, 12:08:24 PM
Cardinal Billot, in treating of the Universal Acceptance issue says this:

So here's the problem for R&R.  If it is impossible for the Church to adhere to a false rule of faith, then the Church could no more accept the errors of Vatican II (incorrectly) than it could incorrectly accept a Vatican II Pope.  So there's an inherent contradiction in R&R's use of "Universal Acceptance".
One: I don't see how Cardinal Billot is inherently right here.  Is there some reason why his statement here has to be accepted?  There could be, but I'm not seeing it.

Two: I don't see how Cardinal Billot could possibly be right here.  By this logic did St Vincent of Lerins adhere to a false rule of faith?

Three: I'm probably not "Recognize and Resist" in the fullest sense of the term.  I'm not fully convinced Vatican II *can't* be read in a way that's consistent with tradition, and I'm pretty confident that someone who tries to do that won't lose their soul wholly on that count (that addresses the whole "safety" thing, at any rate.)  My problem with Vatican II is the same problem I have with a lot of things liberals say, they're worded in a manner that definitely tends a certain direction, definitely seems to imply certain things, and yet doesn't come right out and say them.  I'm pretty open about the fact that by this forums standards I'm not actually trad, even though all of my (conservative) Catholic friends think I am, and I pretty much think Lefebvre saved the Western rite of the Church.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Stubborn on May 31, 2019, 05:38:26 AM
One: I don't see how Cardinal Billot is inherently right here.  Is there some reason why his statement here has to be accepted?  There could be, but I'm not seeing it.

Two: I don't see how Cardinal Billot could possibly be right here.  By this logic did St Vincent of Lerins adhere to a false rule of faith?
Cardinal Billot, born 1846 / died 1931 = 19th/20th century theologian. Don't buy into the error he taught that that the pope is the living rule of faith.

Per wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Billot#cite_note-walsh-1): He became a cardinal in 1911 and resigned from that status in 1927, the only person to do so in the twentieth century....Billot became a leading figure in metaphysical and speculative theology.

Billot's support for the deeply conservative movement Action Française eventually created tension between him and the Holy See. Pope Pius XI believed that the movement used Catholicism for its own political ends and placed the movement's newspaper on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum which meant that it was banned from all Catholic homes. Billot expressed strong disagreement with the decision, saying that the political activities of monarchist Catholics ought not to be censured by Rome.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Nishant Xavier on May 31, 2019, 07:38:01 AM
Quote from: ByzCat
Although I certainly *believe* both, I'm much more sure on the Trinity than I am that I'm on the right side of the Great Schism.

Before going to other things or even discussing these matters, ByzCat, you must first, as others said, firmly hold the Catholic Faith, pray for enlightenment, and make many acts of Faith till the habitual virtue of Faith becomes strong in you. Please make these acts of Faith, and pray for the Grace of a stronger Faith.

Act of FaithO my God, I firmly believe that You are one God in three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe that Your divine son became Man, died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because You have revealed them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. https://olrl.org/pray/devotionbk/acts.shtml (https://olrl.org/pray/devotionbk/acts.shtml)

Notice that we assent in one and the same act of Faith not only to the Truth of the Holy Trinity but also to all that the Church teaches.

Cardinal St. Robert Bellarmine has a great article here that may be helpful in clearing some doubts about the Greek Orthodox Schism: http://www.catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/procession.htm (http://www.catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/procession.htm) docuмenting the errors of the schismatic Greek Orthodox on Filioque, how it contradicts the dogmatic Athanasian Creed, 15 testimonies from Greek Fathers, 15 testimonies from Latin Fathers, the testimony of 5 Ecuмenical Councils that approved this doctrine in a letter of Patriarch St. Cyril to the heretic Nestorius; and a conclusion from a divine testimony, namely,

"The Disputation is Concluded with a Divine Testimony At the end of the whole disputation it has been pleasing now to note a divine judgment or testimony. For God has shown in many ways after the rise of the schism who is in error, the Greeks or the Latins. For up to the time of the schism Greece flourished with learned and holy men, so that all the general Councils were celebrated among the Greeks; but after the schism for almost 800 years they have had no Council, no holy man famous for miracles, very few learned men. But the Latins at this time have had twelve general Councils and innumerable particular ones. Again in each age there have been men very famous for miracles, new orders of religious, many learned men."

Universal Acceptance can only be discussed among those who hold the Catholic Faith and are resolved to do so, by the Grace of God, until death. God bless.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 31, 2019, 07:46:23 AM
Cardinal Billot, born 1846 / died 1931 = 19th/20th century theologian. Don't buy into the error he taught that that the pope is the living rule of faith.

Not this crap gain.  Yes, by all means, we'll take Stubborn's word for it instead, someone who can barely read English vs. not only Billot but all the theologians who taught the same thing.  Cardinal Billot was highly respected by St. Pius X, to the point that he made him a Cardinal in 1911 even though he wasn't a bishop.  But all you readers should bow to Stubborn's wisdom instead, who dismisses this "error" with the waive of his hand, an error which somehow escaped the detection of the Vatican's entire Congregation of Faith.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Ladislaus on May 31, 2019, 07:51:08 AM
Before going to other things or even discussing these matters, ByzCat, you must first, as others said, firmly hold the Catholic Faith, pray for enlightenment, and make many acts of Faith till the habitual virtue of Faith becomes strong in you. Please make these acts of Faith, and pray for the Grace of a stronger Faith.

Do you have a similar act of non-schism that you can recite to help draw you out of your formally-schismatic position?

So someone who doesn't buy 100% into the garbage you're dishing out requires a strenghthening of faith.  So, now instead if the Pope being the rule of faith, we have XavierSem admirably taking up the mantle.  Give us a break from your self-righteous sanctimonious nonsense.
Title: Re: The Whole Universal Acceptance Issue
Post by: Stubborn on May 31, 2019, 07:55:24 AM
Not this crap gain.  Yes, by all means, we'll take Stubborn's word for it instead, someone who can barely read English vs. not only Billot but all the theologians who taught the same thing.  Cardinal Billot was highly respected by St. Pius X, to the point that he made him a Cardinal in 1911 even though he wasn't a bishop.
Yes, by all means accept the wrong opinion of the political activist Cardinal Billot as if it is dogma, but if you do and remain a trad, you are left without a rule of faith -or- embrace the NO and get your rule of faith back. So goes the sede mindset.



Quote
But all you readers should bow to Stubborn's wisdom instead, who dismisses this "error" with the waive of his hand, an error which somehow escaped the detection of the Vatican's entire Congregation of Faith.

The liberal idea of which +Billot opined, made it into the seminaries, catechisms and all the manifestations of the Church. Your rule of faith is one of those errors, an essential ingredient for the crisis btw. How else could these errors get into the books, seminaries and etc.? Answer that.

As +ABL said:
"After all of these liberal ideas have been infiltrated into the seminaries, the catechisms and all the manifestations of the church, I am now being asked to align myself with these liberal ideas. Because I have not aligned myself with these liberal ideas that would destroy the church, there are attempts to suppress my seminaries. And it is for this reason that I am asked to stop ordaining priests...."