CathInfo.com

Complete list of pre-Vatican II bishops
Bishops with certain authority, consecrated during the reign of Pope Pius XII

I wonder what this particular brand of Sedevacantists will do once the last of these bishops dies? How can I say this in a way that doesn't sound bad...

"I can't wait?"

UPDATE: There are now just THREE such bishops alive today.


The last of the Pre-Vatican 2 bishops

According to the www.catholic-hierarchy.org web site there are only 10 living bishops who were consecrated prior to the death of Pope Pius XII on 9 Oct 1958.

Many home-aloners and/or sedevacantists would consider that these are the last true bishops, or the last bishops with jurisdiction and authority.

Many home aloners would only go to these bishops for confession, marriage, Mass, etc. Since they are obviously quite rare, they stay at home on Sunday instead.

The youngest of these 10 bishops is 89 years old and the oldest is 100

The issue is that the traditional bishops, valid and heroic as they may be, are not formal successors of the apostles.  They have no mission in the sense that the theologians speak of it-- they were not "sent", possess no office (and no jurisdiction as a result) and as a result they do not (cannot) rule the faithful.  True successors are given the power to govern and sanctify, not just sanctify.

Of course, there could be true successors besides the ten bishops consecrated and given an office during the life of Pius XII.  It's just that the traditional bishops aren't to be counted among them.

I don't get why these particular Sedes make such a big deal about these last 10 bishops...

We have plenty of valid bishops alive today. What's the problem? Do these particular Sedes have issues with consecrating without a papal mandate or something? A rather funny position for a sedevacantist to have...

Sounds like a "home aloner" group to me. This is how home-aloners justify that the Church hasn't failed. "It hasn't failed. These 10 bishops are still the hierarchy. I just can't get to any of their Masses, so I stay home."

Like I said -- I'm not wishing for evil or anything, but it will be helpful once these bishops have gone on to their reward. Then these home-aloners won't have any excuses to cling to. They will be forced to admit they were wrong, or that the Church has completely failed and the end of the world hasn't come.

THAT is what I look forward to.

This is interesting.  May I inquire to what group of 'sedes' you are referring?

I might hazard a guess that a line is being drawn at the introduction of the 1968 Rite of Episcopal Consecration, making then a distinction between Bishops consecrated before and after this event.  These ten, then, that are here identified, being somehow distinct from Bishops, licit or illicit, consecrated in this same rite, either with or without papal mandate.

SO lets make some top-level grouping of the living Bishops:
1. The ten Bishops listed above.
2. Bishops consecrated by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer
  2a. Bishops Fellay, Galarreta, Mallerais , and  Williamson
  2b. Bishop Rangel    
3. Bishops consecrated by Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc Pierre Martin
  3a. Bishops Lauriers, Carmona-Rivera, Hernandez (all deceased)
  3b. Bishops McKenna, Munari, Gutiérez, Hillebrand, Pivarunas
  3c. Bishops Bedingfeld, Oravec, Slupski, Sanborn, Vezelis, Miguet, Main, Dolan, Gandara

Please add to the list where information is available.