He started the day in Yuma at the Marine Corps air station. He arrived in Phoenix in the afternoon, his motorcade passing my street around 4pm on the way to the hotel about two miles from me. The police presence in the city was stunning.

Everyone was on eggshells all day.  Someone out of state texted me to ask if I was going to the rally. “Hell no” was my response. “I need to be at home with my family in case SHTF.” As I typed those words, it hit me just how real this is. Before the election, protesters here successfully blocked his motorcade temporarily on the day of a rally.  What would be their plan tonight, I wondered?
Well, the Phoenix PD took care of that, as they took care of everything else last night.
The rally itself was packed, as several pictures today showed. People were lined up before dawn. By 4pm, the line stretched probably a quarter mile down the block and around the building.  I saw video of this on twitter, but now I can’t find it. People waited for hours upon hours.
It was 108 degrees here yesterday.
These were “normal” Trump supporters. There weren’t any white nationalists or neo-nazis. You saw them during the speech. White, black, Hispanic, men, women, old, young, Middle America. You could see a sense of hope in their faces.  They just want to be treated fairly, and they are angry about being lied to for so long. Two of the biggest cheers of the night were when Trump trashed McCain and Flake, our two traitorous RINO senators.
As speech time approached (7PM) I could feel the tension as all the local news outlets were all over it as Antifa converged on the scene from three different muster points, some of them open carrying ARs and AKs, which of course is perfectly legal here. Most “only” had bricks, tear gas, and bottles. The convention center is smack downtown, amid all the skyscrapers, churches, stadiums, museums, etc. I wondered if my city would be smashed/burned.

The speech ended about 8:25pm, and the supporters began exiting the building. Antifa made their move, but the way the police had corralled the crowd, and the manner in which they had placed the barricades, meant that Antifa’s surge was blunted precisely due to their angle of attack. Frustrated anarchists began throwing bricks and gas canisters at police, and the police wasted no time. The ROEs must have been made pretty clear to them. The few minor injuries among the rally goers were mostly due to not following directions and getting caught behind enemy lines. Next time, maybe give a little more thought to where you’re going to park.

As the police formed their line and began pushing Antifa back away from the convention center, the only path of retreat took them directly in front of the local NBC affiliate, which has a glass-walled studio facing that side of the street. Of the four legacy network affiliates in Phoenix, NBC 12 is left of the bunch. But you should have heard them shrieking for justice as the mob came up against the glass.
At the end of the night, thanks be to God, it ended quietly. I walked outside around 9:15 and saw the motorcade heading back to the hotel for the night. The route from the convention center to the hotel is mostly freeway, until the last three miles, which is a surface street with about five stoplights. Those last three miles were blanketed by police, and several threats were removed ahead of time. I spoke to a friend who told me that every single Phoenix PD officer/detective was on duty last night, and they did the job they’re trained to do.
Lest we gloss over that last point… People don’t realize that 90% of police training involves crowd and traffic control. All cops know the proper tactics. That’s why what happened in Charlottesville is so obviously a set up. If you haven’t watched the videos, you really should. The vile Nazis were gathered in the park where they had legally obtained a permit to peacefully assemble. They were spewing their disgusting but protected free speech, peacefully, legally, for about one hour. Then a cop with a bullhorn announced that the permit had been terminated and this was now deemed an illegal assembly, and ordered the Nazis to disperse immediately. As the police forced the Nazis out of the park and into the open streets filled with Antifa fascists, who could know there would be trouble, am I right? It’s not possible to claim that the police could be caught off guard in any way regarding this. It’s literally the very thing they receive the most training on. They knew EXACTLY what was going to happen, and even after it did start happening, they stood down. They didn’t even give chase to the driver of the car… there is video of him driving away from the scene at a low rate of speed.  They did NOTHING.
Are you prepared in the event of a public disturbance in your neighborhood where the police do NOTHING?  Are you?

Folks, how’s your bearing? I have the feeling it’s about to get real, don’t you? Are you planning your contingencies? What’s it going to take?
The title of this post isn’t hyperbole; it’s an understatement. We are actually past the flash point. Quick chemistry refresher:

• Flash Point is the temperature at which a substance will ignite, given an ignition source
• Fire Point is the temperature at which a substance will stay ignited, even if the ignition source is removed
• Kindling Point is the temperature at which a substance spontaneously ignites

I would say metaphorically we are now between the latter two. The majority of Americans are still asleep, and football season starts in a couple weeks, when bread and circuses make it that much harder to penetrate the opioids. So time is short and you have a lot of work to do. Here are three things to know and share regarding Antifa, the name itself being a perfect example of diabolical inversion of truth:

1. The MSM will support, glorify and carry water for Antifa, because in their minds, remember, “they go low, we go high”

This headline at CNN is strikingly accurate, other than the word “activists”. It looks like a headline for a story exposing and condemning the terror tactics, incitement to violence and actual violence of this group, which started mildly with Occupy, morphed into BLM, and now really a coalition of Antifa/Occupy/BLM. But here’s the catch: The story itself is sympathetic to Antifa. Which means the headline, read it again, is endorsing the use of violence to stop free speech. The ideology is so embedded, the copy editors couldn’t even see the stark irony of this, which is perhaps the most telling and dangerous symptom of all. They are saying that bricks, bats and urine cannons are acceptable tools of justice against people who’s ideas you disagree with. Oh, and the only reason they don’t yet have better weapons is because they’re all anti-gun.  Give it time, they will “evolve”.

2. These people actually believe that they are the enforcers of liberty, freedom, and justice for all; they fancy themselves the DEVGRU of SJW

I’m not talking about the NWO globalists who are funding this. I’m talking about the boots on your neck the ground, the riotous mobs.  They can’t even hear you when you try to tell them that you hate Nazis too. These people have been turned into militarized zombies through indoctrination and desensitization, undergirded by a profound lack of education.  This could only have been done in a post-Christian society, and only after a learned disregard for the human person, through a steady diet of fornication, contraception, abortion and pornography.  After the war, books will be written on that last sentence.
Having been thus conditioned, now they finally have something they can feel part of, and they’ve emerged from their parents’ basements to wage war against sanity. This is where we are in America, and there is no longer any excuse for being in the dark about it.

3. Incredibly, “Average Americans” are still totally in the dark about the seriousness of the situation

Obviously, this is partly due to said average American also being completely awash in the fornication, contraception, abortion and pornography I just mentioned. But I’m also talking about people in their 30s/40s/50s who I talk to every day, centrists on the left and the right. One center left friend remarked this weekend that he saw Antifa as “garden variety liberals”, and thinks them to be generally harmless. Many others think the despicable white nationalists “had it coming”. When I try to explain that’s not how free speech works, that’s not how the First Amendment works, and the only trajectory this mindset leads to, all I get is hysteria. Literally.

But still, we have to keep trying. The ones who are willing to engage in reasoned dialogue are still reachable.  But in order to understand just how difficult this is going to be, you need to do a little prep work by reading up on Belief Perseverance and Cognitive Bias. I won’t make a long post longer by going into those here.  Just take ten minutes and research the terms.
You won’t convert anyone in one conversation, but you can certainly get one or two nuggets through. May I suggest that the one concept to focus on is the trajectory I mentioned earlier. There is only one place this leads if it’s not stopped, and it’s going to be much, much worse than anything you can imagine. Did you think we’ve somehow progressed to the point of being incapable of the atrocities of the past? Not only are you wrong, but sadly it’s worse than you can even imagine. Because of the devaluing of human life as a result of the conditioning/desensitization we discussed, we are now actually capable of atrocities far WORSE than in the past, or at least the recent past.
I wrote a post back in March with several more examples that really show how these people are totally blinded by the ideology.  I am re-posting below in it’s entirety. I’m not sure if the videos will re-embed, but if they don’t, you can view them at the original post.
The third video in particular is breathtaking. Tucker keeps describing the violent behavior engaged in by Antifa as being the exact kind of behavior Antifa says it opposes, and even shows video of the interviewee engaged in violence. But the interviewee is so filled with “righteous” rage, she doesn’t remotely get it. These people are so far gone, it really gives you a sense of how bad it’s going to be when their power is far greater than it is today.
Trust me; we didn’t dodge a bullet in Charlottesville, we turned a corner.  Please do not be silent. Engage everyone you can. Develop your contingency plan.

“The nations have raged and the peoples imagined vain things” (Ps.ii., 1.) against their Creator, so frequent is the cry of the enemies of God: “Depart from us” (Job. xxi., 14). And as might be expected we find extinguished among the majority of men all respect for the Eternal God, and no regard paid in the manifestations of public and private life to the Supreme Will – nay, every effort and every artifice is used to destroy utterly the memory and the knowledge of God.

When all this is considered there is good reason to fear lest this great perversity may be as it were a foretaste, and perhaps the beginning of those evils which are reserved for the last days; and that there may be already in the world the “Son of Perdition” of whom the Apostle speaks (II. Thess. ii., 3). Such, in truth, is the audacity and the wrath employed everywhere in persecuting religion, in combating the dogmas of the faith, in brazen effort to uproot and destroy all relations between man and the Divinity! While, on the other hand, and this according to the same apostle is the distinguishing mark of Antichrist, man has with infinite temerity put himself in the place of God, raising himself above all that is called God; in such wise that although he cannot utterly extinguish in himself all knowledge of God, he has contemned God’s majesty and, as it were, made of the universe a temple wherein he himself is to be adored. “He sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God” (II. Thess. ii., 2).

Verily no one of sound mind can doubt the issue of this contest between man and the Most High. Man, abusing his liberty, can violate the right and the majesty of the Creator of the Universe; but the victory will ever be with God – nay, defeat is at hand at the moment when man, under the delusion of his triumph, rises up with most audacity. Of this we are assured in the holy books by God Himself. Unmindful, as it were, of His strength and greatness, He “overlooks the sins of men” (Wisd. xi., 24), but swiftly, after these apparent retreats, “awaked like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine” (Ps. 1xxvii., 65), “He shall break the heads of his enemies” (Ps. 1xxvii., 22), that all may know “that God is the king of all the earth” (Ib. 1xvi, 8)

E SUPREMI    POPE ST. PIUS X, 4 OCTOBER 1903
ON THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS IN CHRIST

Happy feast day!

There was once a time when States were governed by the philosophy of the Gospel. Then it was that the power and divine virtue of Christian wisdom had diffused itself throughout the laws, institutions, and morals of the people, permeating all ranks and relations of civil society. Then, too, the religion instituted by Jesus Christ, established firmly in befitting dignity, flourished everywhere, by the favour of princes and the legitimate protection of magistrates; and Church and State were happily united in concord and friendly interchange of good offices.
The State, constituted in this wise, bore fruits important beyond all expectation, whose remembrance is still, and always will be, in renown, witnessed to as they are by countless proofs which can never be blotted out or ever obscured by any craft of any enemies. Christian Europe has subdued barbarous nations, and changed them from a savage to a civilized condition, from superstition to true worship. It victoriously rolled back the tide of Mohammedan conquest; retained the headship of civilization; stood forth in the front rank as the leader and teacher of all, in every branch of national culture; bestowed on the world the gift of true and many-sided liberty; and most wisely founded very numerous institutions for the solace of human suffering. And if we inquire how it was able to bring about so altered a condition of things, the answer is-beyond all question, in large measure, through religion, under whose auspices so many great undertakings were set on foot, through whose aid they were brought to completion.
A similar state of things would certainly have continued had the agreement of the two powers been lasting. More important results even might have been justly looked for, had obedience waited upon the authority, teaching, and counsels of the Church, and had this submission been specially marked by greater and more unswerving loyalty. For that should be regarded in the light of an ever-changeless law which No of Chartres wrote to Pope Paschal II: “When kingdom and priesthood are at one, in complete accord, the world is well ruled, and the Church flourishes, and brings forth abundant fruit. But when they are at variance, not only smaller interests prosper not, but even things of greatest moment fall into deplorable decay.”
IMMORTALE DEI Pope Leo XIII, 1 November 1885 

Read the rest HERE
The decay of modern society – the fall of the West – is directly traceable to the protestant revolt.  The dethroning of God and the deification of man had a full head of steam, so massive that it shattered Christendom. Soon the error of Americanism promised the peaceful coexistence of all the shiny new sects. Next came the Endarkenment and all its hopes and joys murderous villainy. The hubris spread like the plague, infecting even those who remained Catholic. The rights of man, and all that jazz. The Church herself “officially” caught up with the thinking of modern man at Vatican II, never mind that we already had a council to condemn this mindset four hundred years earlier.
Explains a lot, doesn’t it? Do you see how this only leads to madness? It seems every day there is another sign of the end times. It doesn’t mean it is, but there sure are a lot of signs, wouldn’t you agree?
Next up: Antifa/Occupy/BLM communists are looked upon as heroes because they oppose Nazis and free speech, as CNN praises “peace through violence”.
 

True charity is the means by which the Catholic Church built western civilization. Hospitals, universities, monasteries, churches, libraries, laboratories, infrastructure were all borne from true charity.
But now the world chooses the slavery of Marxism, which makes the state the sole administrator of “charity”. Since the state possesses no wealth of its own, it must forcibly confiscate half the slaves’ wealth (or more, depending on the country). As the state assumes control of a diverse range of institutions, notably education, the process of societal lobotomization can begin. The slaves really truly believe that a state with no wealth can provide stuff for “free.” Once all the mechanisms are in place and the slaves resigned to ever more labor for ever less reward, so long as they’re permitted their Game of Thrones and football, the only thing left for the Leftists is to see how far they can take it (this includes all areas of morality). The Church, itself thoroughly infiltrated, also has to get in on the game, because the Church survives no longer on true charity alone, but also forced redistribution, which flows through the state.
So the next time Antipope Bergoglio abuses the poor, by using them to advance his agenda of redistributive criminality, remember this:
August 10.—ST. LAURENCE, Martyr.
ST. LAURENCE was the chief among the seven deacons of the
Roman Church. In the year 258 Pope Sixtus was led out to
die, and St. Laurence stood by, weeping that he could not
share his fate. “I was your minister,” he said, “when you consecrated
the blood of Our Lord; why do you leave me behind
now that you are about to shed your own?” The holy Pope
comforted him with the words, “Do not weep, my son; in
three days you will follow me.” This prophecy came true. The
prefect of the city knew the rich offerings which the Christians
put into the hands of the clergy, and he demanded the treasures
of the Roman Church from Laurence, their guardian. The
Saint promised, at the end of three days, to show him riches
exceeding all the wealth of the empire, and set about collecting
the poor, the infirm, and the religious who lived by the
alms of the faithful. He then bade the prefect “see the treasures
of the Church” Christ, whom Laurence had served in his
poor, gave him strength in the conflict which ensued. Roasted
over a slow fire, he made sport of his pains. “I am done
enough,” he said, “eat, if you will.” At length Christ, the Father
of the poor, received him into eternal habitations. God
showed by the glory which shone around St. Laurence the
value He set upon his love for the poor. Prayers innumerable
were granted at his tomb; and he continued from his throne in
heaven his charity to those in need, granting them, as St.
Augustine says, “the smaller graces which they sought, and
leading them to the desire of better gifts”
Reflection.—Our Lord appears before us in the persons of the
poor. Charity to them is a great sign of predestination. It is
almost impossible, the holy Fathers assure us, for any one
who is charitable to the poor for Christ’s sake to perish.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed.
[1894], at sacred-texts.com

UPDATE: Some commenters have noted Benedict may not be wearing the Fisherman’s Ring in this photo. It’s not clear. I assumed it was, given his insistence on keeping it even after “retirement”. Nevertheless, this changes nothing about the material covered in the post. Another commenter dug up a piece about Antipope Bergoglio’s ring, which you can read about in the comments. While it is a design belonging to Paul VI, it’s not the same one Paul VI wore as pope.
UPDATE 2: Gloria.tv has picked up on this. H/T Frank Walker HERE.
_______________________
The latest public photograph of Pope Benedict helpfully provides another visual reminder of his failed partial abdication of the Petrine Ministry: Full frontal display of the Fisherman’s Ring.

We have previously demonstrated by weight of the evidence, and declared with moral certainty, that Pope Benedict is still the sole living pontiff. This is due to his intention to bifurcate the papacy into an expanded ministry with two living members, one active/governing member and one passive/contemplative member.  It is this novel impossibility, attempting to alter the intrinsic nature of the Divinely Instituted Petrine Ministry, that renders invalid Benedict’s attempted partial abdication, as it clearly rises to the level of Substantial Error as foreseen by Canon 188.
Anyone who denies the essential truth of the preceding paragraph must support their counterargument with facts that refute the evidence presented.  Any appeal to emotion, any appeal to “who are you to make such claims?”, any appeal to “but Francis is universally accepted!” are all fallacious. The truth doesn’t depend on your emotions, it doesn’t depend on earthly authority, and it most definitely doesn’t depend on popularity. The Passion comes to mind.
Recall that the most convincing evidence of the failed abdication comes from the words of Pope Benedict himself, in his last (so far) official General Audience, later echoed by his personal secretary Archbishop Ganswein (pictured here with Benedict). We’ve covered that ground quite extensively, and the silence has been deafening.  You might call it a dictatorship of crickets.
But what I haven’t written about too much is Benedict retaining the papal vesture. Most infamously, he claimed to be retaining the white cassock (sans pellegrina) out of necessity – because “no other clothes were available.” Yeah, I’m sure Gammeralli was just too busy. Reminds me of the necessity to resign due to fear of jet lag from WYD. Oh and he retained the papal title and name and form of address (His Holiness) out of “convenience.” Whoppers, they are.
Now, about that Fisherman’s Ring. This ring is cast for each pontiff according to his own unique design and conferred at the “inauguration” (formerly coronation) and imposition of the Pallium. Both the Pallium and the Fisherman’s Ring are symbols of the power of the papal office. The ring itself is unique to each pope due to its historical use as not only visual symbol of power, but also as a physical seal to be used when executing official documents in the governance of the Church. At the end of every pontificate, the former pope’s ring is destroyed, smashed with a special silver hammer made expressly for this purpose, in the presence of the College of Cardinals, therefore ensuring no curial misconduct such as generating false documents. Then the new pontiff selects his own unique design and away we go.
Except that’s not what happened this time.
After announcing his intent to (partially) abdicate, the press began running all sorts of stories about things Benedict would be forced to give up in his (false) retirement. Chief among them, of course, was the Fisherman’s Ring.  You can do a quick search and find dozens of articles on this. Then, Benedict intervened to inform everyone that oh no, he wasn’t giving up the ring, see? He was keeping the ring, but he was having an “X” applied to the seal to “negate” its power of governance. Because, as we have learned, Benedict intended for the governance aspect of the ministry to be be passed to the new pontiff. But Benedict kept the ring, because “always” is also “forever” when it comes to acceptance of the Petrine Ministry. Notice here Abp Ganswein showing it off quite nicely.
None of this is conspiracy theory. Nothing is being twisted to fit a narrative. These are facts. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either a liar or in denial. Do your own research. Don’t be afraid of the scoffing, the bullying, and being accused of “being on the crazy train.” Think for yourself and act accordingly. The Catholic media, even Trad media, if they are making any sort of income from being Catholic, are not going to admit to any of this until prelates start going public.
One last thing. You know that part about every pope designing his own unique ring as the unique seal for his pontificate? Well, guess what? Antipope Bergoglio didn’t do that.
He ordered a copy of Paul VI’s ring.
You can’t make it up.
 
 

What a traitorous wretch.
Conservative Tree House has all the sickening details HERE.
Look, as explained here and elsewhere, the entire “healthcare” system in the U.S. is a total scam. There is no such thing as “repeal and replace”, so long as the “insurance” companies are ensured oligarch status and their built-in profit growth of 9% per year, which is what we’ve been handing them. Which, in turn, is by far the greatest threat to the sovereignty this former republic.
However, despite all this, it is still sickening to one’s core to see the downright nefarious, iniquitous, diabolical actions of these people. They have no conscience.

Senator McCain’s vote holds much larger ramifications than just the continuance of ObamaCare.  Inherent within the retention is a reality that any tax reform, tax cuts to benefit the middle-class, will also necessarily be diminished.
The expansion of Medicaid within ObamaCare has, by intention and design, blown a massive hole in the federal budget.
When tax reform legislation is now proposed the CBO scoring will have to factor in a large projected need for additional tax revenue.  This reality essentially dooms the middle-class tax proposal of the White House unless adjustments are made.
When considering the cost of ObamaCare and expanded Medicaid expenditures, it  is now likely the middle-class tax-paying workers will not only have the cost of skyrocketing health insurance premiums locked in, but they will now need to contribute more of their tax dollars to subsidize Medicaid.
Yes, this is a double-whammy impact; and yes, it was done by design.  The original goal of ObamaCare was always to facilitate a collapse in the system creating single-payer as the default setting for any possible financial exit.

The swamp wins again.
 

Answer: He absolutely did.
It’s far more subtle than the devastating evidence shown previously, but it is clearly visible when read within the context of Benedict’s erroneous ideas about the papacy, which we shall review as a primer. Also, the subtlety within the Declaratio is strategic, due to the criticality of this particular speech/document.
Before I explain this, we need to go over a couple things just to make sure you are framing this up properly in your mind, working from a true premise, and allowing linear thinking to do its work. The majority of reader comments I’ve received, whether they be positive or negative, reveal a disturbing level emotive reasoning. Don’t fall into this trap. Wishing  for Francis not to be pope cannot play any role in your search for truth. Arriving at the conclusion that Pope Benedict failed in his attempt to bifurcate the papacy, therefore rendering his abdication invalid by reason of substantial error, cannot in any way be influenced by your dislike of Francis or out of a desire to see him removed/expunged. That’s called intellectual dishonesty. The flip side of this, and equally dishonest, is resisting the truth out of fear of ridicule or being seen as some sort of freak. PLEASE STOP… THIS ISN’T ABOUT YOU.  Your feelings don’t have any bearing on what’s true, and the truth doesn’t care about your feelings. So put Francis out of your mind, demand absolute objectivity from yourself, and start with the Substantial Error supposition. Work through the available evidence, rationally judge the weight, and make your conclusion based on where the weight lies.
Before we get to the Declaratio, we need to review the smoking gun. This is from Benedict’s final general audience of 27 February 2013, the day before his invalid resignation did not become effective, where he exposes his erroneous notion of the indelible nature of the Petrine Ministry. In doing so, he directly contradicts all those previous statements where he claimed he was “renouncing”, “leaving”, and would then be Pontiff “no longer, but a simple pilgrim”. This is the lens through which we must evaluate the Declaratio (comments/emphasis mine):

Here, allow me to go back once again to 19 April 2005 (Ratzinger’s elevation to the papacy). The real gravity of the decision was also due to the fact that from that moment on I was engaged always and forever by the Lord. Always – anyone who accepts the Petrine ministry no longer has any privacy. He belongs always and completely to everyone, to the whole Church. In a manner of speaking, the private dimension of his life is completely eliminated. I was able to experience, and I experience it even now, that one receives one’s life precisely when one gives it away. Earlier I said that many people who love the Lord also love the Successor of Saint Peter and feel great affection for him; that the Pope truly has brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, throughout the world, and that he feels secure in the embrace of your communion; because he no longer belongs to himself, he belongs to all and all belong to him.

The “always” is also a “for ever” – there can no longer be a return to the private sphere. (<in his mind> the papal coronation indelibly anoints the pontiff in a distinct way, which is different from, and more profound than, the priestly or episcopal ordination/consecration). My decision to resign the active exercise of the ministry does not revoke this. (the indelibility is <in his mind> irrevocable – Benedict is pope forever, but <in his mind> now exercising only part of the Petrine ministry). I do not return to private life, to a life of travel, meetings, receptions, conferences, and so on. I am not abandoning the cross, but remaining in a new way at the side of the crucified Lord. I no longer bear the power of office for the governance of the Church, but in the service of prayer I remain, so to speak, in the enclosure of Saint Peter. Saint Benedict, whose name I bear as Pope, will be a great example for me in this. He showed us the way for a life which, whether active or passive, is completely given over to the work of God. HERE

“I remain, so to speak, in the enclosure of Saint Peter.” I wish I could find video to see if he winked when he said that.

In summary, Benedict erroneously believes that acceptance of the papacy itself confers an indelible and irrevocable character on the man who accepts it (similar to the indelible marks of ordination to the priesthood and consecration to the episcopate, except in the case of becoming pope, there is no such thing). Therefore <in his mind> he (Benedict) remains pope even after he “resigns” the governing office and passes the throne to the next “pope”.

This is SUBSTANTIAL ERROR. Honestly, I don’t understand how anyone doesn’t see it already at this point. But let’s press on.

In the original post where I declared with moral certainty the invalid abdication, we also entered into evidence as Exhibit B, Benedict’s decision to retain the papal title as an “emeritus”, to retain the vesture, to physically remain at the Vatican, etc etc. We also reviewed Exhibit C, Abp. Ganswein’s comments last year where he dropped the bombshell of an “Expanded Petrine Ministry.” These were not off the cuff remarks, but rather a formal, well-prepared speech on Benedict’s papacy, given at the Greg in Rome on 20 May 2016:

Archbishop Gänswein…said that Pope Francis and Benedict are not two popes “in competition” with one another, but represent one “expanded” Petrine Office with “an active member” and a “contemplative.”

“Therefore, from 11 February 2013, the papal ministry is not the same as before,” he said. “It is and remains the foundation of the Catholic Church; and yet it is a foundation that Benedict XVI has profoundly and lastingly transformed during his exceptional pontificate.”

He said that “before and after his resignation” Benedict has viewed his task as “participation in such a ‘Petrine ministry’. (Not in the governance of the Church in the world, but in its “essentially spiritual nature”, through prayer and suffering.)
“He left the Papal Throne and yet, with the step he took on 11 February 2013, he has not abandoned this ministry,” Gänswein explained, something “quite impossible after his irrevocable acceptance of the office in April 2005.“ (Do you see how this echoes Benedict’s erroneous idea of the papal coronation being an irreversible event, creating an indelible/irrevocable mark on the recipient forever? It’s exactly the same idea Benedict put forth in his final general audience).

“Therefore he has also not retired to a monastery in isolation but stays within the Vatican — as if he had taken only one step to the side to make room for his successor and a new stage in the history of the papacy.” With that step, he said, he has enriched the papacy with “his prayer and his compassion placed in the Vatican Gardens.” HERE

Not that we need any additional evidence, but many are clamoring that they just won’t accept reality unless it can be shown that these ideas/intentions can actually be found in the Declaratio itself. So let’s have a look at that, shall we?

As I said at the top, the evidence in the actual Declaratio is far more subtle, out of necessity. Benedict, knowing the extraordinary nature of what he was about to do, would have spent an enormous amount of time writing this short speech. Every single word would have been chosen with great care. Keep in mind, the actual Declaratio was written and read out by Benedict in Latin, so you need to take a look at that as well. But the point is this:

THE DECLARATIO IS PRIMARILY DIRECTED TOWARD ITS LONE OBJECTIVE: TO HAVE THE ABDICATION ACCEPTED AS LEGITIMATE BY THE CARDINALS, AND THUS, A CONCLAVE CONVOKED TO NAME A “SUCCESSOR.”

So it’s not surprising that Benedict did not speak of the false bifurcation as openly in the Declaratio as he did several weeks later, in his final general audience, at which point he knew his plan had worked, all the wheels in motion, conclave convened, etc. But he also couldn’t help himself, and made sure his meaning was clear if we look with eyes to see.

So now let’s break down the Declaratio of 11 Feb 2013 in its entirety, bathed in the light of the aforementioned evidence. English, Latin, and seven other languages  HERE .

“Dear Brothers,

I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.

He’s saying he is inadequate. His faculties are insufficient to fully execute the entire Petrine Ministry.  He needs help.

“I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.

He’s still up for the prayer and suffering part, but not the words and deeds.  The governance part will need to go to someone else, a new participant in a new “expanded Petrine ministry”, because he feels inadequate for the governance role.

Now comes the money quote. This is the part that Benedict absolutely had to get right, to ensure the resignation looked so rock solid that no one would question it. But yet even within the same sentence we can, with hindsight, see what he did here.

“For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

“In such a way?” Why are those words in there? Those words are a qualifier. He didn’t renounce completely, he renounced in a certain way. Because as we’ve already seen from his own lips, Benedict doesn’t believe it’s possible for him to completely renounce the Petrine ministry, due to its <in his mind> permanent and irrevocable nature. So he is <in his mind> vacating the “See of Rome”, such that a successor must be named to administer the governing office, while Benedict retains the spiritual role of the prayerful suffering servant pope. Nowhere in this sentence, in any language, will you find the words, “I fully renounce the Papacy,” because in Benedict’s mind, that’s not possible.

“Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects.  And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.”

So there you have it. Come join the party.  The truth will set you free.

The other day, we got another glimpse into the mind of Pope Benedict. The comments attributed to him were read out by Abp. Ganswein at Cardinal Meisner’s Requiem, and the underlying message reinforces perfectly the “logic” behind Benedict’s failed partial abdication of the papacy.
Remember, Pope Benedict’s SUBSTANTIAL ERROR is the idea of a papal diarchy, with one “active” member controlling the worldly affairs of the ecclesiastical office (munus), and one “contemplative” member with an essentially spiritual role dedicated to prayer and suffering. Remember those words, “essentially spiritual role, prayer and suffering” – that was the actual phrasing he used in the Declaratio. We’ll come back to this later.
Also remember that it is absurd to think a mere man should or could alter the intrinsic nature of the divinely instituted Petrine Ministry out of, irony of ironies, some kind of Supplied Jurisdiction. We’ve covered this over and over again. Benedict did not, in reality, bifurcate the papacy. He only thinks he did, and thus in accordance with Canon 188 Benedict remains the only true living pope, his attempted abdication rendered invalid by means of substantial error.
Whatever his reasons for doing so, Benedict sought to maintain some level of control within the Petrine Ministry, not only by (falsely) expanding it, but also by giving himself the greater portion of the ministry, by “delegating” the temporal governance role to his successor while retaining the supernatural, contemplative, spiritual warfare role for himself.
Is there anything else that more accurately explains the observable evidence? What about the confidence, the serenity…the man seems truly at peace. Like he thinks he’s winning.
So now let’s have a look at what +Ganswein read out, supposedly from Benedict’s hand, supposedly regarding the mentality of Cardinal Meisner, in his final days:

“We know that this passionate shepherd and pastor found it difficult to leave his post, especially at a time in which the Church stands in need of convincing shepherds who can resist the dictatorship of the spirit of the age…However…he learned to let go and to live out of a deep conviction that the Lord does not abandon His Church, even when the boat has taken on so much water as to be on the verge of capsizing.”

Talk about patting yourself on the back.
Everyone is taking this as an attack specifically on Francis. You have to stop looking at Francis as the disease instead of merely a symptom of a long-term illness. To stay with the analogy, the boat was already in danger of shipwreck long before Francis, but the damage was below the waterline. Now that the waves are crashing over the bow, it’s just more visible to everyone.
Aside: There actually was a part of the address that specifically mentioned the Eucharist, Confession, Adoration, etc, and that’s the part where he seemed to be drawing distinctions regarding Francis Doctrine. That will be the topic of another post.
Pope Benedict knows exactly how bad – how systemic – the problem really is. He probably even realizes he himself is part of the problem, but at this point it’s too late for him to do anything about it, at least in the mortal realm. Imagine what a horrific moment of clarity that must have been. Maybe that would explain why he attempted to give up the governing office of the papacy, so that he could concentrate all of his strength toward a supernatural solution. He likely knows there is no earthly solution at this point, that if there is any solution at all short of the apocalypse, it will have to be supernatural in nature. And when we need a supernatural remedy, what are our most effective tools?
Prayer, fasting, offering suffering in reparation… an “ESSENTIALLY SPIRITUAL ROLE”.
Benedict chose to deploy this strategy, thinking it was the best way forward, even while knowing the identity of his likely (invalid) successor.  Oh yes, Benedict was fully in attendance at the 2005 conclave which elected him, and he most assuredly knew full well who came in second. And since the forces behind Bergoglio only strengthened and multiplied during the Benedictine pontificate, it would have been no surprise to him when Francis was (invalidly) elected. Pressing this line further, it’s conceivable that knowledge of the inevitability of the Francis or someone like him may have not only hastened but also shaped Benedict’s attempted abdication, not the other way around.  Think about it. This is why his decision looks like a strategy.
Because it IS a strategy, in the mind of Benedict, in SUBSTANTIAL ERROR, still reigning, in the thirteenth year of his pontificate.