The jurisdiction of the bishops
in times of prolonged vacancy of the Apostolic See
according to traditional Catholic teaching
Table of contents
- The divine promises of indefectibility
- The Church as a perfect and hierarchical society
- The context of the vacancy since 1964
- The object of the present study
Bibliography
- The divine promises of indefectibility
Our Lord Jesus Christ solemnly promised: “Et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam.”
Translation: “And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Gospel according to Saint Matthew, chapter 16, verse 18.
He added: “Ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem saeculi.”
Translation: “I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.”
Gospel according to Saint Matthew, chapter 28, verse 20.
These words constitute an absolute guarantee that the Church will remain visible, hierarchical and faithful until the glorious return of Christ. Saint Augustine teaches on several occasions that the Church will subsist until the end of the world, notably in The City of God and in his commentaries on the Psalms.
- The Church as a perfect and hierarchical society
The Catholic Church, instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ, is a perfect, hierarchical and indefectible society, ordered to the eternal salvation of souls. Every society, according to the philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas, requires an authority to govern it, without which it becomes a formless mass. De Regno, book I, chapters 1 to 3.
Cardinal Louis Billot writes: “Ecclesia est societas divina et humana, a Christo Domino immediate instituta ad hominum salutem; atque, sicut omnis societas perfecta, indiget potestate regiminis.”
Translation: “The Church is a divine and human society, instituted immediately by the Lord Christ for the salvation of men; and, like every perfect society, it needs a power of government.”
Tractatus de Ecclesia Christi, volume I, question I, thesis I.
Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, of divine origin, comes immediately from Christ. Saint Robert Bellarmine teaches: “Papa jurisdictionem suam immediate a Christo accipit; nec a Concilio, nec a Cardinalibus, nec ab ullo homine.”
Translation: “The Pope receives his jurisdiction immediately from Christ; not from a Council, nor from the Cardinals, nor from any man.”
De Romano Pontifice, book IV, chapter 25.
- The context of the vacancy since 1964
According to the demonstration presented (Volume I) in the study devoted to the loss of pontifical authority by public heresy, the Apostolic See has been vacant since 1964, notably since the public and manifest heresy of Paul VI in 1964.
Saint Robert Bellarmine teaches: “Nam priusquam depositus fuerit, (haereticus manifestus) ipso facto caret omni iurisdictione.”
Translation: “Already before the manifest heretic is deposed from his office, he is deprived ipso facto of all authority.”
De Romano Pontifice, book II, chapter XXX, Opera Omnia, edition Neapoli, 1857, volume I, p. 418.
In conformity with the promise of Christ, the Church can never be deprived of the means necessary for the salvation of souls. The supply of jurisdiction, anchored in canon 209 of the Code of Canon Law of 1917, and the canonical principle of the devolution of powers in the case of lasting absence of the superior authority, guarantee that the Church remains a hierarchical and salvific society, ordered to the salvation of souls.
- The object of the present study
The present study sets forth the traditional Catholic doctrine on the jurisdiction of Catholic bishops faithful to Tradition in times of prolonged vacancy of the Apostolic See. It relies exclusively on magisterial, conciliar, canonical and theological sources prior to 1962: the Codex Iuris Canonici of 1917, the Council of Trent, the First Vatican Council, the treatises of Cardinals Billot, Cajetan, Bellarmine, as well as the classical canonists and moralists.
It treats of the necessary persistence of the power of jurisdiction, of supply, of devolution, of the Imperfect General Council and of the necessity of hierarchical submission.
List of principal sources
Gospel according to Saint Matthew, chapter 16, verse 18 and chapter 28, verse 20 (Latin text of the Vulgate).
Saint Augustine, De Civitate Dei, book XX.
Saint Thomas Aquinas, De Regno, book I, chapters 1 to 3.
Saint Robert Bellarmine, De Romano Pontifice, book II, chapter XXX and book IV, chapter 25, Opera Omnia, edition Neapoli, 1857, volume I.
Cardinal Louis Billot, Tractatus de Ecclesia Christi, volume I, question I, thesis I.
Code of Canon Law of 1917, canon 209.
Council of Trent, session XXIII.
First Vatican Council, dogmatic Constitution Pastor Aeternus.
Cajetan, De Comparatione Auctoritatis Papae et Concilii.
Wernz-Vidal, Ius Canonicum.
Coronata, Institutiones Iuris Canonici.
Franzelin, De Ecclesia Christi.
Journet, L’Église du Verbe incarné (if you accept this source).
Pius XII, Mystici Corporis.
Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum.
Vatican I, Dei Filius.