Commentaries
Index
"Catholicism
in
the Land of Make Believe" continued
Welcome
to
the Land of Make Believe
Tridentine Catholic
Some of the groups that have recently formed
(or rather deformed out of the Church) profess an ecclesial theology
that is irrational and unreflective as the logic of a child who hasn’t
developed a grasp of reality. A select number of these groups
have separated themselves from the Church due primarily to
disagreements on liturgy and ecumenism. While they continually
open new parishes and ordain new priests and bishops without the
consent of the Pope, they still claim the name “Roman Catholic” even
though they have been formally excommunicated by the Church. To
justify their disregard for the Church’s juridical authority they claim
that the Vatican has fallen away from the “true teachings” of Christ by
promoting “modernist” liturgy and encouraging “association with
heretics” through ecumenism. To simplify this explanation:
Catholics who attend Masses in the vernacular and agree with the
principles of the Second Vatican Council are not truly living as Roman
Catholics. Only those who ignore the decrees of the last
ecumenical council as well as the directives of the Pope based on that
council and are guided by those under the banner of their “spiritual”
jurisdiction are truly living as Roman Catholics. In the Land of
Make Believe this logic is totally acceptable and its adherents are
awaiting a “good” pope to eventually be elected and restore the Church
to its “former glory”.
Sedevacantist Catholic
For those who attempt to demonstrate a better
grasp of logic, there is another category of Pseudo-catholics that open
churches and schools and confer the sacraments without the approval of
the Bishop of Rome, while still maintaining the name “Roman
Catholic”. These religious sects, often referred to as
sedevacantists, believe that they don’t have to follow any decrees or
directives given by Rome because the Papal office is really
unoccupied! The “logic” of their assertions of a vacant papacy is
the idea that a real Pope would not agree with the decrees of the
Second Vatican Council. Another “logical” explanation of
sedevacantism is that every Pope who recognizes the Council is a
heretic before he was elected, thus nullifying the legitimacy of his
Papal reign. According to the sedevacantists a “real” Pope
would not only reverse all of the reforms of the Council, but would
also decree that it was invalid. In the Land of Make Believe a
“true” Catholic can reject any Cardinal who was elected by an official
Papal conclave and declare an ecumenical council heretical based upon
their own private observations.
Commentaries
Index