Can a Pope Be Removed from Office?

Canon Law Made Easy ^ | January 31, 2013 | canonlawmadeeasy

[ealgeone]

Q: In a recent piece you explained the Pope can resign if he chooses. To me that raises another question: What would happen if a Pope became so mentally debilitated that he didn't know what he was doing?

[Sasparilla]

..However, the Pope is not immune to RICO laws.
True...but per the article he would still be the pope...

So much for infallibility at that point.

[AlaskaErik]

This is grasping at straws. The same homosexual/pedophile mafia that forced Bennie out and installed Frankie will be picking the next pope and the next one after that, ad infinitum. It doesn’t matter how Frankie exits the papacy, his replacement will not be a reformer, because there aren’t enough reformers left. And those who are left are being forced out, with their replacements members of, or beholden to, the homosexual/pedophile mafia. For traditional catholics, it’s check and mate. You have two options. Swim in the cesspool the catholic church has become, or leave. All the prayer in the world won’t change that. There are no other options, period.

[BenLurkin]

Just set up an alternate Pope.

It’s been done in the past.

[ealgeone]

This is grasping at straws. The same homosexual/pedophile mafia that forced Bennie out and installed Frankie will be picking the next pope and the next one after that, ad infinitum. It doesn’t matter how Frankie exits the papacy, his replacement will not be a reformer, because there aren’t enough reformers left. And those who are left are being forced out, with their replacements members of, or beholden to, the homosexual/pedophile mafia. For traditional catholics, it’s check and mate. You have two options. Swim in the cesspool the catholic church has become, or leave. All the prayer in the world won’t change that. There are no other options, period.

To be clear....I AM NOT a Roman Catholic. I am not arguing for or against Francis staying as pope.

I was merely curious, in light of the myriad of threads on FR by Roman Catholics calling for him to be removed, could it be done.

[ealgeone]

Just set up an alternate Pope. It’s been done in the past.

True....but I don't think based on the article even that could be done.

[married21]

You don’t think like God thinks. He wants us to admit we can’t fix it and then ask Him to. The God that brought His People out of Egypt and redeemed the world on the Cross can fix this. If we trust him and ask him for help.

[ladyjane]

The post was in response to the article, not to you personally.

Cannon law may not allow it but laws are broken every day. Many times.

[narses]

“And the Roman Catholic has to listen to the pope and do what he says per Unam Sanctam.”

Again, wrong. Typical of the non Catholic to misstate what we MUST do based on one document. But nice try.

[tiki]

I was hoping God would take him out.

[Campion]

While there is nobody on earth with the authority to remove a Pope, some canonists believe that, if it were established that a Pope was a heretic, he could be “removed” by the College of Cardinals, who would simply recognize that he had already removed himself from office by his heresy.

[narses]

More - as some believe exists in the case of the current anti-pope, the conclave was improper the election may be a nullity.

[ealgeone]

>>“And the Roman Catholic has to listen to the pope and do what he says per Unam Sanctam.”<,

Again, wrong. Typical of the non Catholic to misstate what we MUST do based on one document. But nice try.

Yeah....most of the Roman Catholics on these threads don't like Unam Sanctam.

However, this is what your pope said....unless narses has abrogated the edict.

Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.http://www.papalencyclicals.net/bon08/b8unam.htm

Either way, short of him being removed by death, you're stuck with Francis.

[ealgeone]

While there is nobody on earth with the authority to remove a Pope, some canonists believe that, if it were established that a Pope was a heretic, he could be “removed” by the College of Cardinals, who would simply recognize that he had already removed himself from office by his heresy.

The Roman Catholic Canon Lawyer in the article says no.

It's an interesting situation to be sure.

[dfwgator]

Ask JP I.

[narses]

Again, you are clueless. You misread, you misstate and it is just a hoot you pretending to tell us what we have to do.

[boatbums]

This is a very interesting article. The conclusion of the article is "there is nobody on earth who has the authority to make an official determination that the Pope is incapacitated and must be removed, or that somebody else should henceforth govern in his place."

I guess that explains why poisoning and other forms of assassination worked in the past. ;o)

[ealgeone]

Again, you are clueless. You misread, you misstate and it is just a hoot you pretending to tell us what we have to do.

I pulled the quote directly from the vatican's website.

Sure seems Roman Catholics don't like it when their own documents confront their view of Roman Catholicism.

[Cannonball Bill]

If Pope Benedict XVI was forced out, does Francis really have papal authority? I would argue not, then the question becomes irrelevant. When the Pope makes heretical statements or acts contrary to cannon law or the gospel, then is he still Pope?

[Rashputin]

Yes.

The the legitimate reasons for removing a Pope, what steps must precede the removal, what the process is, and so on along with every false rationale and line of reasoning rabbit hole Sedevacantists go down is spelled out in :

True of False Pope
Refuting Sedevacantism and Other Modern Errors
John Salza & Robert Siscoe
ISBN 978-1495181429

[ealgeone]

I guess that explains why poisoning and other forms of assassination worked in the past. ;o)

Well, there is that....but then they'd be committing mortal sin upon mortal sin.