I did a bit of research and just as I suspected, that quote was falsified! I’m not blaming you, but whoever was the source of this lie, and I believe I know who it is, should be flogged severely! Some people will go to any lengths just to say that some heretic dressed in white is the pope. Will you retract this “quote”?
From the website “Catholics in Ireland”:
To answer this, and to oppose St. Bellarmine teaching that we should judge a heretic by his external acts, another theologian was needed, Fr. Charles-Rene Billuart. Here we have the most astounding opinion:
“According to the more common opinion, Christ, by a particular providence, for the common good and the tranquility of the Church, continues to give jurisdiction to an even manifestly heretical pontiff until such time as he be declared a manifest heretic by the Church.”
The footnote at the above sentence is directing us to Billuart, De Fide (Diss.V, A.III,No.3,obj.2).
Although this sentence is given without quotation marks, in later publications it will have such. It would be significant, if the quotation was true. Let’s open “De Fide”, to check the source of the quotation carefully:
Dissertatio V (De Vittis Fidei Oppositis), Articulus III (De Apostasia):
Qui ab Ordine Sacro fine legitima dispensatione retrocedit ad statum Seacularem, est apostata & peccat mortaliter; quia deserit statum cui per Ecclesiam erat solemniter mancipatus, quem deserere vetant plures Canones, poenis impositis contra transgressores.(1)
In English translation it is:
One who leaves Holy Orders without a legitimate dispensation [in order] to return to a secular state, is an apostate and sins mortally; because to quit the religious state, in which one was solemnly enrolled by the Church, is forbidden by several Canons, which impose penalties against transgressors.
The relevance of the sentence from “A little Catechism…” to the source given in the footnote is null. As it was already said, this “quotation” of Billuart, which is false and fabricated, has been spread wide and far. We might even suppose that every SSPX district printed it in its own bulletin and since 2001 nobody dared to check the comparability of the “quoted” sentence with the given source! We can assume that this infamous sentence is just a summary (a precise one, at that) of the SSPX attitude regarding post Vatican II Council heretical popes. Let’s look at it again: “[C]hrist, by a particular providence, for the common good and the tranquility of the Church, continues to give jurisdiction to even manifestly heretical pontiff” – this is utterly unheard and opposite to the Church teaching. How astonishing that it was “cited” as Billuart’s work! SSPX theologians must have been desperate to have the “quotation” to support themselves and to give us confirmation of their own philosophy.
I realize the conversation has progressed beyond this quote, but since I mentioned I would post Avrille's response once I received it, here it is:
"Dear Sir,
Indeed the reference is incorrect, it should read Diss. IV, A.III, No.3, obj.2
The sentence is at the bottom of page 128:
Assuring you of my religious devotion,
Fr. Pierre Marie +
Convent of La Haye-aux-Bonshommes"
Fr. Pierre Marie's email included an attachment of the relevant section, which I have attached to this post.
Topic: Miles Christi volume 24 discussion - Fr Chazal's newsletter (Read 59509 times)