The Saint Louis Catholic blog conducted a similar poll last September.

Pope vs. Antipope: Dissecting the Poll


"Therefore I put up a poll last week asking readers just to give their opinion: Who do you really think is pope, and why? Even allowing for the undeniable traditionalist (or as others rightly point out, Catholic) bent of the blog, the results surprised me.

I think many are saying, "Hey, I'm either not crazy or else most of us are, but I think Benedict is still pope!"  And of those, most cite the ineffectiveness of the putative abdication or some combination of factors including also allegations of heresy, invalid election, deposition, or mistake of fact.

No, this is definitely not a scientific poll. Votes were limited only by platform, and a person with multiple devices could theoretically vote more than once. Yet there were 674 votes, and a sample of 500 in a scientific poll would yield a +/- of 5%. No, it was not a random sample. Yes, most respondents would be considered traditional Catholics or "conservative" Catholics-- but then again, the poll was intended for Catholics only. I don't consider the editorial board of NCR or America to be Catholic.

But even considering the limitations, the results are, I believe, quite significant:

WHICH BEST DESCRIBES YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE CURRENT POPE?

Francis is Pope                      16%
Benedict is Pope                    72%
Some other person is Pope      1%
No one is Pope                        9%


IF YOU CHOSE ANY ANSWER IN POLL ABOVE THAT INDICATES FRANCIS IS NOT POPE, WHY DO YOU THINK SO?

Benedict's abdication was not effective         38%
Francis' election was invalid                            5%
Francis has lost his office due to heresy          4%
Some combination of the above                     42%
Neither Francis nor Benedict was ever pope    8%

Out of 674 votes, a staggering 490 said that in their opinion, Benedict XVI is still Pope. That's 72% of those who voted. But who cares if it were "only" half? It boggles the mind.

Of those, the plurality focused on the ineffectiveness of the putative abdication. Meaning, either he never intended to resign; he wrote his resignation in a legally ineffective way; he made a mistake in fact by not intending to resign the whole office; or that he was coerced such that it was truly involuntary.

Even allowing for the readership's "style" of Catholicism (for which Francis does not care), even allowing for some multiple votes-- the least that can be said is that hundreds of Catholics who found this poll on this blog have the opinion that Benedict XVI is still Pope and that the guy the world and most of the self-identified Catholics of the world hail as pope is in fact NOT THE POPE. Ann Barnhardt cited this for the notion that such persons should not feel isolated, weird or crazy-- that there are others.  True, but I ask you to consider this: When was the last time in history (not including obvious interregnum periods) that at least 400 Catholics at any one time were not certain who the Pope was? It's unprecedented-- unless the sedes are right. And I don't believe they are.

This uncertainty, in addition to the maladies arising from personnel, policies and persecutions-- this uncertainty by and of itself-- is a chastisement from God. A chastisement that only the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart can alleviate.

There are perhaps practical solutions. Perhaps a true public correction/declaration of deposition would solve the problem of the current occupant. But it would not lift a cloud over the next conclave unless that declaration of deposition leads Benedict to claim the mantle that may still be his, or else prove that he did (or now would) freely and effectively resign, explaining away the coercive indicators from the last such time."

http://stlouiscatholic.blogspot.com/2017/09/pope-vs-antipope-dissecting-poll.html

I actually believe it.  I think, among the "conservative" and indult-type Novus Ordites, most who believe Francis is not pope do in fact believe Benedict is still pope.  It will be interesting to see what these folks will say when Benedict finally kicks the bucket.

I happen to really like Louie Verrecchio even though I do not agree with him.

Unfortunately the problem with most Resignationists/those who think Benedict is the true pope is that they completely miss the boat on Vatican II (although this is not true of Verrecchio).  They miss the boat that the real issue is Vatican II and therefore the real issue involves all of the post-Vatican II popes, not just Francis.

Wouldn't "I just don't know or I have my doubts."  be along the lines of "Sede-privationist, Sede-impeditist, Sede-doubtist, etc. - something in between." ? If yes, then it seems there are almost more essentially privationists than others who voted in the poll.

It can also be argued the many R&Rs are essentially privationist except for the semantics they use to profess their beliefs. Therefore, there are certainly more privationists that actually admitted.

I agree but to save myself all the stress of worrying about the past popes (even those of us raised in the SSPX in our 30s only remember JP2) I just focus on the here and now. If this Bergoglio guy is the pope, I don't know, but it seems unlikely.  I don't say he isn't, but I don't see how he could be. Verrechio and others ain't bad guys. We have to remember that they're living through  the post-conciliar crisis with the rest of us.