A single reading of Dogmatic Constitution Pastor Aeternus is all is needed to arrive to my conclusions:
7. This gift of truth and never-failing faith was therefore divinely conferred on Peter and his successors in this See so that they might discharge their exalted office for the salvation of all, and so that the whole flock of Christ might be kept away by them from the poisonous food of error and be nourished with the sustenance of heavenly doctrine. Thus the tendency to schism is removed and the whole Church is preserved in unity, and, resting on its foundation, can stand firm against the gates of hell.
Catarella, PLEASE use some
common sense.
Q. What is the gift that was conferred on Peter and his successors?
A. It is the "gift of truth and never-failing faith".
Q. Why was this gift conferred on them?
A. It was given "so that they might discharge their exalted office for the salvation of all and so that the whole flock of Christ might be kept away by them from the poisonous food of error and be nourished with the sustenance of heavenly doctrine".
Q. And what would be the result of having such a gift?
A. It would "remove the tendency to schism and the whole Church would preserved in unity, and, resting on its foundation, can stand firm against the gates of hell."
Now look outside your window, and what do you see?
The modern popes started spouting error, they handed out poisonous food, we have schismatic rites, etc... But wait a minute, what about that gift they received?
Was that gift not supposed to prevent just the kind of situation we're in now? 1. The pope certainly does not seem to have (or at least use) that gift any longer.
2. He is no longer nourishing us with heavenly doctrine.
3. There is no longer unity, but schisms everywhere.
So, was that gift useful to have then? Did it work?According to the sedevacantive narrative, God's gift is utterly useless. The only use they have for this gift is as a tool to reject whichever pope they would like to reject. Exactly the opposite of what the gift was given for: to preserve unity and avoid schism!!According to Traditional Catholics with understanding, the gift was given for a certain purpose, but not forced upon the ones receiving this gift. IF they make use of it, they will be guaranteed to achieve the promised result. IF they refuse to make use of this gift, they will not be guaranteed to achieve the promised results. Just like when you are given a ruler: IF you use the ruler to draw lines, your lines will be straight, but IF you refuse to use that ruler your lines will be crooked.
In the sedevacantist narrative, this gift of never failing-faith would have made St. Peter and his successors impeccable, invincible, perfect, etc.. and it would have taken away their free will.
Let's try another way:
If you believe that a pope can fall into heresy and lose the faith, then you must admit that at that point he also loses this gift of "never failing faith". So he can lose that gift, ok? But if he can lose this gift, could it also not be possible that he can simply choose not to use this gift, while still retaining it for future use? Was the gift forced upon him? And when he refuses to use the gift, will he be deposed because of such refusal? In that case I would say it is no longer a gift but a curse, like the sword of Damocles: "you can be pope, and here's you're welcome gift, but if you step out of line you're no longer pope and I will take your gift off". I would certainly never want to be a pope under such conditions!
I think this whole sede things just defies logic.