8 critical flaws in Bishop Schneider’s defense of “Francis is Definitely Pope”

By Matthew McCusker via (LifeSiteNews)

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Schneider’s article is mainly directed against those who reject the claims of Francis to the papacy because of (a) questions about the abdication of Benedict XVI and/or (b) the papal conclave which apparently elected Francis. However, Schneider reaches a conclusion which is much broader than simply refuting what has been called the “benevacantist” (“Benedict was still pope”) position. He asserts without qualification that “Pope Francis is certainly the valid Pope.”

This conclusion does not follow from the arguments which he makes in this article. His arguments may have some force against the “benevacantist” position, but they are not adequate to address the position which eschews consideration of resignations, conclaves, and conspiracies, and instead bases its argument for the current vacancy of the Holy See on theological principles rather than contingent events.

There are, I contend, eight critical flaws in Bishop Schneider’s argument, seen from this perspective:

1. He prioritizes history over theology in resolving a question which is primarily theological in nature
2. He fails to distinguish between what is of human law and what is of divine law in the law concerning papal elections
3. He denies that the Holy See can be vacant for a “considerable time”
4. He appears to deny that there can be temporary doubt over the identity of the pope
5. He appears to make “the wish the father of the thought” in denying the possibility of a vacant see because of the evil consequences that would follow from it
6. He assumes that it is certain that new ordinaries cannot take up office if the Holy See is vacant
7. He encourages the faithful to make a profession of faith directly opposed to the teachings of the man whom he holds to be the pope, and thus the man who is “the living rule which the Church must follow in belief and always follows in fact” (Cardinal Billot).
8. He categorizes the errors and heresies of Francis as “ambiguities.”

I will now explain each of these critical flaws in Bishop Schneider’s article, and their significance, in more detail…

https://www.lifesitenews.com/analysis/8-critical-flaws-in-bishop-schneiders-defense-of-a-francis-papacy/