+St. Eusebius, Bishop and Martyr of the Arian heresy+
I have no intention of endlessly repeating myself on the Siri matter in these posts. Now those pushing this ridiculous hypothesis are regurgitating the Ad Evitanda Scandala justification, misusing Pope Martin V’s constitution to claim that practically no one can be a heretic or schismatic and all are free to communicate with this farcical body of Traditional clerics to “save” themselves. As if… They continue to paint the position of those adhering to Church law and teaching as Pharasaical rigorists who deny God’s mercy and goodness and condemn their “fellow” Catholics, contrary to Church law and teaching. And they ignore Canon Law and the many papal documents presented on this site which demonstrate the Church’s true teaching.
Incredibly they even ignore the final part of Ad Evitanda Scandala itself, which clearly states that notorious heretics and schismatics are excluded from Martin V’s constitution. Further, Pope Pius VI removes the ability of those ordained and consecrated by schismatics and heretics to convey these orders in his Charitas. Because these orders were never received with papal approval, he declares them null and void. Pope Pius VII later upheld Charitas as absolutely binding. And the Siri bunch knew all this in 2012, following a tangle with this author that resulted in a pages-long article explaining communicatio in sacris. I have the back and forth emails to prove this, and they are not pretty.
Fortunately I also have the application of Ad Evitanda Scandala clarified by none other than St. Robert Bellarmine. So if those following this topic wish to champion Siri advocates over St. Bellarmine, whose works Trads rightly and wrongly cite in their arguments on various issues, fine. They only prove they are unable to conduct reliable research and value their own opinion over that of a distinguished Doctor of the Church. In his work de Romano Pontifice, lib II, Cap. 30, Bellarmine writes:
“There is no basis [for the argument] that, by Decree of the Council of Constance, they alone lose their jurisdiction who are excommunicated by name or who assault clerics. This argument, I say, has no value at all, for those Fathers… argued on the basis of the very nature of heresy. The Council of Constance only deals with the excommunicated, that is, those who have lost jurisdiction by sentence of the Church, while heretics already before being excommunicated are outside the Church and deprived of all jurisdiction. All the ancient Fathers teach that manifest heretics immediately lose all jurisdiction” (see Archives, jurisdiction for full quote in article on
Ad Evitanda Scandala).
The teaching of the Church above is based at least in part on Pope Paul IV’s Cum ex Apostolatus Officio, that dreaded bull detested and discredited by Traditionalists. It also destroys their contention that their “clerics” can invoke Can. 2261§2 to receive supplied jurisdiction from the law itself. For to receive such jurisdiction one must at least be a member of the Church as well as a provably legitimate pastor, and neither is the case where Traditionalists are concerned. This, once again, has been demonstrated repeatedly on this site from papal and conciliar teaching, as well as authors approved by the Church prior to 1958. But those who contest them either cannot read or refuse to accept Church teaching, as is required to maintain their membership in the Mystical Body. And once faith is lost, as Rev. John Kearney the Irish catechist warns, only a rare miracle of grace, begged for from Our Lord, can restore it, (see https://www.betrayedcatholics.com/?s=Communicatio+in+Sacris for the necessary background on the refutation written to the Siri supporters in 2012).
And sadly, there is more
We have gone to great lengths, in several articles, to demonstrate the heretical nature of the material-formal pope heresy. This is best summarized in the most recent article posted to the Recent Articles page (see Articles page, bottom listing). It also is verified by what is written here and in our last blog post regarding St. Robert Bellarmine. The results of following such false teaching will now become all too clear. If anyone would like to know the true position of ISOC, and those supporting Giuffre, including Tradition In Action (TIA), this was stated in TIA’s response to British newspapers in 2017, regarding their true stand concerning the heretical pope heresy. We would love to give you the link for Catholic Info where this article and others were first posted, but their site is currently unavailable. In a letter to those accusing TIA of heading the movement to unseat Francis, it’s founder stated the organization’s position as follows:
“A pope can be an apostate and even a heretic and not lose his pontificate, i.e., he is still a valid pope. In this case Catholics should resist his bad teaching and obey him while he continues to rule the Church. This position of resistance is the one TIA adopts.” No wonder they are unconcerned that Siri participated in the NO and endorsed its popes — they never left the Counterchurch, just as their friends the Lefebvrites and others of the Remnant persuasion never left it. And so TIA sums up the material-formal papacy heresy in a nutshell, for themselves and their collaborators.”
In a DVD advertised on the site, they also unveil their plan for “papal restoration” — attend Mass and receive the Sacraments! It doesn’t seem to matter where, how, or from whom, as their suggestions indicate. While TIA assured the British publishers they are not backing anyone for Francis’ replacement, here they are pounding the Siri drum. And while ISOC runs a disclaimer that the views and opinions of those they interview are not necessarily their own (possibly to shield them from their critics), this is a lame excuse when what is presented is passed off as Catholic truth. It explains why no one respects approved theologians, past popes or truths of faith. If Catholics are expected to pick and choose their own “truths” from among the dishes of flyspeck served up by Francis, what can anyone expect???!
In the 1980s, a former member of the St. Pius X Society informed me that the hidden agenda of the organization was to eventually redirect its members back into the Novus Ordo. It appears that this is exactly what is happening with the ISOC and its affiliates, regardless of any disclaimers. The determination of who is a canonically elected pope and whether any given election is valid is a matter of infallible Church teaching, not the adoption of opinions and views. Who is and was pope is a dogmatic fact and cannot be subject to debate or speculation, but must be judged by papal decrees and Canon Law. That is another Church teaching that has been treated exhaustively here. No proofs of any kind rising to this level have ever been submitted by Giuffre.
There is but one conclusion possible from all that has been cited above. Those promoting ISOC in any way are a species of Novus Ordo non-Catholics at best. They have denied the existence of papal infallibility and the necessity of a certainly valid Pope to head the Catholic Church. Even worse, they have portrayed the Vicar of Christ Himself as capable of leading the Church astray, even in his public capacity as teacher, voiding the promises He made to His Church regarding the gates of hell. Christ did not invest the faithful with infallibility, to determine which lies of the usurpers are capable of belief. This is the Christ who warned us through St. Paul that the devil could present even as an angel of light, and not to accept any other Gospel from any man, or even from such an angel. Certainly this is another Gospel, presented without even a scintilla of authority, and reject and denounce it we must.
We wish that we could end this discussion here. But there is yet another sinister side to these collected groups that must be revealed. And this will be left for our next post.
