The prolonged vacancy of the Apostolic See does not interrupt the succession

promised by Christ

 

Table of contents

Introduction

1 The question posed

2 The permanence of the papacy and the exercise of the primacy

3 The argument of prescription

4 The vacancies of the See in the history of the Church

5 The other arguments of traditional theology

6 The situation since 1964

Conclusion

List of sources

Introduction

 

Christ promised a perpetual succession to Saint Peter. This truth of faith does not mean that the Apostolic See must be occupied at every instant. Traditional Catholic theology, as it was taught before 1962, allows us to understand why a vacancy, even prolonged, does not break this succession.

1 The question posed

Is a long vacancy of the Apostolic See compatible with the perpetuity of the primacy promised by Our Lord to Saint Peter and to his successors? The treatise of Father Raphaël Cercia allows us to answer this question by distinguishing a true rupture of the succession from an obstacle that delays the election. It is this distinction that we apply to the vacancy that began with the public heresy of Paul VI in Lumen gentium in 1964.

2 The permanence of the papacy and the exercise of the primacy

In his treatise Demonstratio catholica sive Tractatus de Ecclesia vera Christi et de Romano Pontifice (Catholic Demonstration, or Treatise on the true Church of Christ and on the Roman Pontiff), Father Cercia explains that the promise of Christ guarantees the perpetuity of the succession of Peter. It does not exclude periods of vacancy, but what would really break the chain of successors. Even a long vacancy therefore does not constitute a rupture as long as the Church remains in a state to elect a legitimate pope.

It is necessary to distinguish the permanence of the papacy from the presence of a reigning pope. Between two pontificates, the institution remains, as well as the right of the Church to provide for the vacant See. The absence of a titular suspends the exercise of the primacy; it does not abolish the succession instituted by Christ, whatever the duration of this absence.

Billot clarifies this distinction by considering power under two aspects: as instituted power and as power held by a person. He takes the example of the death of the pope. During the vacancy, one cannot say that the pontifical power is entirely extinguished. The titular has disappeared, but the office remains.

Louis Billot, Tractatus de Ecclesia Christi (Treatise on the Church of Christ), volume 1, third edition, Prato, Giachetti, Filii et Soc., 1909, p. 507, Latin.

Cercia does not, however, consider vacancy as a state destined to replace the papacy. He distinguishes the external obstacles that delay an election from the abandonment of all will to elect. His reasoning supposes that the Church retains both the capacity and the concern to give itself a pontiff. The duration of the vacancy is therefore not enough to establish a rupture of succession. It also follows that the permanence of the succession does not render useless the election of a new titular.

Raphaël Cercia, Demonstratio catholica sive Tractatus de Ecclesia vera Christi et de Romano Pontifice (Catholic Demonstration, or Treatise on the true Church of Christ and on the Roman Pontiff), volume 1, second edition, Naples, Typis Caietani Migliaccio, 1852, p. 359–360, Latin. The last sentence of the preceding paragraph expresses the conclusion that we draw from this passage.

3 The argument of prescription

The argument of prescription rests on the continuous, universal and uncontested possession of the primacy by the Roman See since apostolic times. The Fathers of the Church, the ancient documents, the councils and the constant practice of the Church attest that this primacy belongs by divine right to the bishop of Rome. The difficulties of history do not change its origin.

This argument bears on a permanent right, which is not reduced to the material succession of the titulars. Extraordinary circumstances can momentarily prevent its exercise without destroying it. By analogy, the interruption of the exercise of a power does not entail the disappearance of the power itself. It is in this sense that the prolonged vacancy does not destroy the primacy.

4 The vacancies of the See in the history of the Church

The history of the Church has known long vacancies of the Apostolic See. They have not been considered as ruptures of the succession of Peter. The Church remained in the expectation of a successor.

If each vacancy broke the succession, it would be necessary to admit that the promise of Christ ceased to produce its effect between the pontificates. Such a conclusion would be contrary to the constant teaching of the Church. Whether a vacancy lasts a few days or several years, its duration does not change, by itself alone, its juridical nature.

5 The other arguments of traditional theology

In his Tractatus de Ecclesia Christi sive continuatio theologiae de Verbo incarnato (Treatise on the Church of Christ or continuation of the theology of the Incarnate Word), Billot treats of the perpetuity of the primacy in the Roman pontiffs. He explains that the succession remains during the vacancy of the See.

Saint Robert Bellarmine teaches, in his Controversies, that the death of the pope does not make the Church die. The latter retains its divine constitution while awaiting the election of a successor. Even temporarily deprived of its visible head, it remains a perfect society.

Bellarmine also shows how the government of the Church continues during the vacancy. Episcopal jurisdiction, once conferred, does not disappear at the death of him who gave it. Legitimate pastors therefore retain the authority that they possessed. The death of the pope does not put an end to all government in the Church.

Robert Bellarmine, Opera omnia (Complete Works), Justin Fèvre edition, Paris, Louis Vivès, 1870, volume 2, De summo Pontifice (On the Sovereign Pontiff), book 4, chapter 25, p. 142, Latin.

This explanation concerns a jurisdiction already received. It does not suffice to establish how new bishops could acquire this jurisdiction during the vacancy.

Christ always remains the invisible Head of the Church. The primacy of Peter is a perpetual office of divine right: the absence of a titular suspends its exercise without suppressing the office.

Billot also envisages the extraordinary case where it would be necessary to elect a pope without being able to observe the conditions provided by previous pontifical legislation. In this hypothesis, he admits that the power to elect would devolve to the general council. The impossibility of following the ordinary procedure is therefore not enough to conclude that the Church would have lost all possibility of receiving a legitimate pontiff.

Louis Billot, Tractatus de Ecclesia Christi (Treatise on the Church of Christ), volume 1, third edition, Prato, Giachetti, Filii et Soc., 1909, thesis 29, p. 610–611, Latin.

Billot thus establishes the principle of an extraordinary solution. It remains to determine, by a distinct demonstration, which persons would be competent to act in a given situation.

6 The situation since 1964

From the sedevacantist point of view, the Apostolic See is vacant since the first public heresy of Paul VI in Lumen gentium in 1964. This vacancy abolishes neither the primacy of divine right nor the promise made to Peter. The Church is temporarily deprived of its visible head, but it retains its divine constitution.

Whatever the explanation given to the origin of this vacancy, the distinction remains the same: an obstacle to the exercise of the succession does not suppress the papacy itself. The impediment is temporary. The causes that delay the election are said to be extrinsic because they affect the concrete possibility of electing, without touching the divine constitution of the papacy.

Conclusion

The vacancy of the Apostolic See does not therefore oblige Catholics to choose between faith in the indefectibility of the Church and the recognition of the absence of a pope. These two affirmations remain compatible, even in the midst of the modern apostasy. Because it is indefectible and must subsist until the end of time, the Church retains the radical power to give itself a pontiff when Providence will have removed the obstacles to its election.

List of sources

– Cercia, Raphaël SJ. Demonstratio catholica sive Tractatus de Ecclesia vera Christi et de Romano Pontifice (Catholic Demonstration, or Treatise on the true Church of Christ and on the Roman Pontiff), third edition, Naples, Ex Typographeo Dantis, 1858 (Latin).

– Billot, Louis SJ. Tractatus de Ecclesia Christi sive continuatio theologiae de verbo incarnato (Treatise on the Church of Christ or continuation of the theology of the Incarnate Word), Prato, 1909-1910 (Latin).

– Documents of the Fathers of the Church and councils prior to 1962 attesting the prescription of the Roman primacy.

– Bellarmine, Robert SJ. Controversiae (Controversies) (Latin editions prior to 1962).

– Constitution Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis (Of the Vacant Apostolic See) of Pius XII, 1945 (Latin), which governs the vacancies without considering them as rupture.