Sedevacantism

Sedevacantism is the term commonly used to denote the belief, held by a minority of Traditionalist Catholics, that some or all of the men generally recognized as Popes since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958 (Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI) have not truly held the papal office, and have hence been antipopes. The word is derived from the Latin phrase "sede vacante", which means "while the See is vacant" and is used in Vatican documents in the interval between the death or abdication of the Pope and the election of his successor.

The sedevacantist position

The central feature of sedevacantism is a rejection of the changes carried out in the Catholic Church in the wake of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The best-known of these changes was the replacement of the Latin-language Tridentine Mass with a revised liturgy (often known as the Novus Ordo), the prayers and actions of which differ significantly from those of its predecessor. Sedevacantists, however, would maintain that the changes to the Mass liturgy, though of the highest importance, are simply one aspect of a much more wide-ranging assault on historic Catholic beliefs and practices.

Related Topics:
Second Vatican Council - Latin-language - Tridentine Mass - Novus Ordo

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All Traditionalist Catholics are, by definition, opposed to the post-Conciliar reforms. Most traditionalists, however, would argue that, while the recent occupants of the Vatican may personally have held many scandalous or heretical beliefs, they have nevertheless been true Popes, and have never tried to use their infallible authority (which is only used very rarely) to teach heresy - something which all orthodox Catholics believe would be impossible. Sedevacantists, by contrast, believe that these men's promulgation and endorsement of the post-Conciliar changes has made them guilty of heresy, and each in turn has hence either forfeited the papal office or rendered himself ineligible for election to it.

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Arguments used by sedevacantists to defend their position include the following:

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• It is a necessary implication of the First Vatican Council's decree on papal infallibility that a "pope" who promulgates heresy cannot truly be Pope, since he lacks infallibility.
• Canon 188.4 of the pre-Conciliar (1917) Code of Canon Law provides that a cleric who publicly defects from the Catholic faith automatically loses any office that he holds in the Church. (The canonical issues raised by this argument are discussed further below.)
• A Pope falls from office if he embraces heresy even if he does not explicitly promulgate heretical teachings.
• Paul IV's 1559 Bull Cum ex apostolatus officio teaches that a heretic cannot be elected Pope.
• Recent occupants of the Vatican have performed actions that could not have been carried out by true Popes: Paul VI refused to wear the papal tiara, the traditional symbol of papal authority; John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI abandoned the traditional papal coronation ceremony; and all four men declined to take the traditional papal oath.
• It is sometimes claimed that Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, became a Freemason prior to his (alleged) elevation to the papacy, an act which would have earned him automatic excommunication under canon law. (Mainstream Catholics reply that this claim is unsubstantiated, and note that the invalidity of the elections of John XXIII's successors would in any event still need to be established.)

Sedevacantists are a tiny group compared to the mainstream of Catholicism. There are estimated to be between several hundred and several thousand worldwide, mostly concentrated in the United States and Australia, but their numbers are not certain; there may be either more or fewer sedevacantists globally. Sedevacantists note that Catholic doctrine teaches that the Church is identified by its unity, sanctity, catholicity and apostolicity, and they base their claim to be the legitimate Catholic Church on the presence of these four "notes" rather than on the size of their numbers.

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Some sedevacantists in England prefer to be called "recusants". The original recusants were those English Catholics who refused to embrace Anglicanism and attend Anglican services after the Church of England was established as the official state church.

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