Brick by Brick: Socci, Magister, Tosatti, and now Valli openly opining on the antipapacy, and they’re getting it right
Originally posted February 18, 2020
Aldo Maria Valli is the latest Vaticanista to utter public commentary regarding the faux resignation of Pope Benedict (per canons 332.2/188) and subsequent invalid conclave (per canon 359), wherein the Cardinals “elected” an antipope. Original reportage HERE and HERE.
“After my walk, I returned home, and turned on my computer and found an email with a message from a friend who for some time has invited me to reflect on the impossibility of having a pope emeritus. I will summarize it in my own poor words (I ask pardon of any canonist who is reading this): just as one does not receive a consecration to be the pope, when a pope renounces the pontificate he cannot become a pope emeritus, because he is no longer a pope. He does not even return to being a Cardinal, but a bishop. Period. Consequently, Benedict XVI, with his renunciation of ministerium but not of munus (that is, of the active exercise, but not of the mandate) did something which he could not do and hence his renunciation is invalid. But if his renunciation is invalid, the Conclave which followed it is also invalid, and even the pope which came out of that Conclave.”
Note well that this isn’t some sort of vague hypothesizing. This is pretty much spot on, if you boil the reality down to its essence. When a bishop retires, he becomes bishop emeritus. He’s still a bishop, you see. But in the case of a pope, you cannot have a pope emeritus, because a truly retired pope cannot retain any of papacy. It’s a one man gig. You can’t still be some sort of semi-pope anymore. There is no indelible mark of consecration imparted to a recipient of the papacy. It’s not a degree of Holy Orders: It’s an Office. The Office itself is a state of being, a temporal juridical authority, like POTUS. When you’re POTUS, you’re POTUS. When you’re not, you’re not. It’s a binary set.
You can’t still be a little sorta non-active pope. You can’t “remain” pope in any way whatsoever, because only one man can be pope at one time. So if you intended to remain pope, in any way, this is Substantial Error, which nullifies the renunciation, which, oh by the way, was already invalid because you attempted to renounce the ministerium, not the Munus, and oh by the way, was almost certainly executed under grave fear, malice, and coercion. Invalid renunciation = invalid conclave = antipope “elected.” The fact that the Cardinals unanimously “accepted” the resignation has zero effect on the validity of the resignation. The fact that they convoked a conclave and “elected” someone, even if they did it in good faith, has zero effect on the validity of the “election.”
Can. 188 A resignation made out of grave fear that is inflicted unjustly or out of malice, substantial error, or simony is invalid by the law itself.
Can. 332§2. If it happens that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested but not that it is accepted by anyone.
If you’re gonna resign the office, you need to actually resign the office. And there’s no sharesies.
People hurl ad hominems at us for supposedly throwing everything against the wall hoping something will stick. But honestly, have a thorough look at the data set and you will see ALL OF THE ABOVE in play. The resignation is invalid ten ways to Sunday.
As the truth continues to filter into the mainstream, at some point we will reach critical mass, and the trickle will become a flood. It will happen overnight, and you need to be prepared for this. Putting the truth up in Klieg lights is going to elicit a response from the demons that will be… not pretty. Isn’t it interesting how this whole affair has lured all the cockroaches out into the open? Just seven eleven years ago, most of us had no idea how deep and wide the rot went. It’s almost as if all this were Providential, no?
