Although Benedict XVI's Declaratio of resignation was technically defective and did not fulfill all the requirements servatis omnibus de iure servandis; his clearly and forcefully expressed will now being unequivocally stated, it would now appear that the defect has been remedied. Hence, those cardinals who still have the Catholic faith must proceed to remedy the situation created by the election of a heretic by heretical cardinals. They must confront Bergoglio, and if he does not abjure his heresies, those cardinals who still have the Catholic faith must declare him to be an infidel and proceed to elect a valid and Catholic pope. The heretical cardinsls must be excluded from the conclave -- they are not Catholics and not members of the Church. They are Bergogliani: Heretics.

Ratzinger: “My resignation is valid. Speculations are simply absurd”


(©Ansa) Benedict XVI and Francis: a blending of papacies

Benedict XVI responds to a letter sent to him by the Vatican correspondent Andrea Tornielli. The journalist sent him some questions regarding the alleged pressures and cօռspιʀαcιҽs which some claim led to his resignation

ANDREA TORNIELLI
vatican city

“There is absolutely no doubt regarding the validity of my resignation from the Petrine ministry” and the “speculations” surrounding it are “simply absurd”. Joseph Ratzinger was not forced to resign, he was not pressured into it and he did not fall victim to a conspiracy: his resignation was genuine and valid and there is no “diarchy” (dual government) in the Church today. There is a reigning Pope, Francis, who leads the Catholic Church and  an Emeritus Pope whose “only purpose” is to pray for his successor.

The Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has put pen to paper to set the record straight on the historic decision he took one year ago, in response to the various interpretations that have been circulating in the press and on the web regarding his gesture. Writing from the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican, he replied in person to a letter with some questions which we sent him a few days ago, after certain comments made in the Italian and international press about his resignation. Ratzinger was brief and to the point; he denied speculations about any secret reasons behind his resignation and urged people not to give undue importance to certain choices he has made, such as his decision to carry on wearing the white cassock after stepping down as Bishop of Rome.

Readers will recall the shock announcement Benedict XVI made on 11 February 2013, informing cardinals at the Consistory of his free decision to resign ingravescente aetate (because of old age): “I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.” He also announced that the Apostolic See was going to be vacant as of the evening of 28 February when the cardinals would meet to begin the process of electing his successor. In the days that followed, Ratzinger informed he would be keeping his papal name Benedict XVI (the name with which he signed the letter he sent us), that he would from that moment on be referred to as Pope Emeritus (this title also appears in print on the letter) and that he planned to carry on wearing a white cassock, albeit a simpler version than the papal one: Ratzinger does not wear the short shoulder cape, known as the “pellegrina” and without the fascia.

At his final General Audience on 27 February 2013, Benedict XVI told a packed and sunny St. Peter’s Square that: “In these last few months, I have felt my strength diminish and I have asked God with insistency in my prayers to illuminate me with his light and make me take the best decision. I took this step in full awareness of its gravity and novelty but with profound serenity of spirit. Loving the Church also means having the courage to make difficult, painful choices, always keeping the good of the Church in mind and not ourselves.”

He added that his decision to withdraw from the public spot light “hidden from the world”, did not mean a return to private life. “My decision to resign the active exercise of the ministry does not revoke this. I do not return to private life, to a life of travel, meetings, receptions, conferences, and so on. I am not abandoning the cross, but remaining in a new way at the side of the crucified Lord. I no longer bear the power of office for the governance of the Church, but in the service of prayer I remain, so to speak, in the enclosure of Saint Peter,” he said.

It was these words regarding his wish to stay within “the enclosure of Saint Peter” that led some to think that Benedict XVI’s decision to resign had not been taken freely and was therefore not valid. The idea that the Pope Emeritus wanted to cut out a role for himself as a “shadow Pope”, was light years away from the real Ratzinger. After Francis’ election, the changes he brought with him and the electric effect his words and personal testimony have had on the Church, comparisons with his predecessor were to be expected. This is after all what always happens when a new Pope takes charge. Benedict XVI himself has always rejected this comparison. Over the past weeks, as the anniversary of his resignation approaches, some have gone a bit too far, suggesting that Benedict XVI’s resignation may not have lacked validity and that he is therefore still playing an active and institutional role beside the reigning Pope.

On 16 February, the author of this article sent the Pope Emeritus a letter with some specific questions regarding these interpretations. A response came two days later. “There is absolutely no doubt regarding the validity of my resignation from the Petrine ministry,” Ratzinger wrote in his letter of reply. The only condition for the validity of my resignation is the complete freedom of my decision. Speculations regarding its validity are simply absurd.” Those closest to Ratzinger had been aware of the possibility of his resignation for a long time and he himself confirmed it in a book-length interview with the German journalist Peter Seewald (“Light of the World”, 2010): “If a pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically, and spiritually capable of handling the duties of office, then he has a right and, under some circuмstances, also an obligation to resign."

It was inevitable that this shock decision was going to be linked to the Vatileaks scandal and the cօռspιʀαcιҽs in the Roman Curia. After all, this was the first time in two thousand years that a Pope had decided to step down from the pontificate because of old age. Benedict XVI’s entire pontificate was a Via Crucis, especially his final years. : first the paedophilia scandal which he courageously dealt with without attributing the blame to lobbies or “external enemies” of the Church , but to “persecution”, an evil that comes from within the Church itself; then the leaked docuмents which the former Pope’s butler, Paolo Gabriele, took from his desk. And so Ratzinger’s resignation was linked to these events. But in the interview with Peter Seewald, Benedict XVI explained that a ship could not be abandoned in the midst of a storm. This is why he decided to wait until the Vatileaks saga, Gabriele’s trial and the investigation into the Vatileaks case being carried out by the Commission of three cardinals were all over before he announced his resignation. Only after this did he step down.

In the letter he sent to us, the Pope Emeritus answered some questions regarding his decision to keep his papal name and continue dressing in white. “I continue to wear the white cassock and kept the name Benedict for purely practical reasons. At the moment of my resignation there were no other clothes available. In any case, I wear the white cassock in a visibly different way to how the Pope wears it. This is another case of completely unfounded speculations being made,” he wrote.

Benedict XVI proved this at last Saturday’s Consistory - which Francis had invited him to – when he took a seat along with the cardinal bishops instead of accepting the special seat that was offered to him. When Francis came up to him to greet and embrace him at the start and end of the ceremony, Benedict removed his zucchetto as a sign of respect and also to show that there is only one reigning Pope.

A few weeks ago, the Swiss theologian Hans Kung quoted a passage from a letter Benedict XVI received regarding Francis. Words which leave no room for doubt: “I'm grateful to be bound by a great identity of views and a heartfelt friendship with Pope Francis. Today, I see my last and final job to support his pontificate with prayer." Some on the web questioned the validity of these words or tried to twist them. We asked the Pope Emeritus to comment on this too. “Professor Küng quoted the content of my letter to him word for word and correctly,” he wrote in his reply. He ended by saying he hoped he had answered our questions in “a clear and adequate way”.

I continue to wear the white cassock and kept the name Benedict for purely practical reasons. At the moment of my resignation there were no other clothes available. In any case, I wear the white cassock in a visibly different way to how the Pope wears it. This is another case of completely unfounded speculations being made.

Perhaps he is waiting for the material to arrive so that Gammerelli can make him a yellow cassock.

Perhaps he is waiting for the material to arrive so that Gammerelli can make him a yellow cassock.

Questions, questions and more questions.      

Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) was a German Augustinian nun of great sanctity. She endured a life of sufferings, bore the stigmata of our Lord and was a seer, who witnessed scenes from the life of Christ with the vividness of one who was there. Those revelations were one of the sources used in making the film The Passion of the Christ. She also foretold future occurrences in the Church. The following are from her visions pertaining to the emergence of a subversive Church of Darkness that would deceive many of the faithful into "complete decadence."

May 13, 1820: "I saw the relationship between the two Popes. I saw how baleful would be the consequences of this false church. I saw it increase in size; heretics of every kind came into the city (of Rome). The local clergy grew lukewarm, and I saw a great darkness. Then, the vision seemed to extend on every side. Whole Catholic communities were being oppressed, harassed, confined, and deprived of their freedom. I saw many churches close down, great miseries everywhere, wars and bƖσσdshɛd. A wild and ignorant mob took to violent action. But it did not last long."

Fr. Kramer posts today:

Quote from: Fr. Kramer

BERGOGLIO INVALIDLY ELECTED

The source is confidential -- a prominent figure [He clarifies in the comments section: "A cardinal, who for obvious reasons wishes to remain anonymous, provides the details."] in Rome:

"There was an agreement when card. Ratzinger was elected Pope, as there was a stalemate: 70 to 40. [cf. this article]
Bergoglio had enough votes to block the election of card Ratzinger. So a group of about 12 mainly German and US cardinals changed their vote in favour in exchange for an illicit pact: that card. Ratzinger wouldn't last more than a given period and thereafter, if he had not died before, he would have had to step down and let card Bergoglio become Pope. Once Pope however Benedict tried to have it his own way, see for instance the Motu Proprio and his remarks on Fatima being a reference not to past events but to future ones. From thereon he was besieged and shelled from all sides: the various gαy and paedophilic scandals and the abuses in the Vatican finances with hints that the Vatican bank, the IOR, would be a tool of money laundering, mafia connections and you name it.
"Pope Benedict was therefore reminded of the (illicit) pact and threatened of worse to come.
He felt therefore compelled to resign. This is one of the reason why I consider illegitimate the election of Father Bergoglio."

These mainly American and German cardinals were of the same group that coerced the newly elected pope (Cardinal Angelo Scola) to resign as he was making his way to the balcony of St. Peter's, after he had been elected Pope Benedict 's successor. Bergoglio's election is null & void -- canonically irregular.

He also says in the comments section:

Quote from: Fr. Kramer

If an antipope is elected the oath does not bind. An oath is not absolutely binding, ss Catholic Moral Theology teaches. When ther is reason sufficient to overturn an oath, it no longer morally binds.

So, is Fr. Kramer implying there is a cardinal who believes Francis is an anti-pope?

The recently published critical analysis of Stefano Violi (Professor of Canon Law at the Universities of Bologna and Lugano) on Pope Benedict's letter of renunciation of the Petrine ministry, demonstrates quite plainly that Benedict renounced only the "ministry of the Petrine office", i.e.,  exercise of the power of office; but did not abdicate the Petrine office itself. Thus, there is a defect of intention on the part of Pope Benedict to vacate the office of successor of Peter; rendering his "renunciation"  null & void.