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[Catholic Caucus] Prominent Italian priest claims Francis is not the pope in viral sermon
LifeSite News ^ | October 21, 2024 | Antonino Cambria

Posted on 10/21/2024 12:22:58 PM PDT by ebb tide

[Catholic Caucus] Prominent Italian priest claims Francis is not the pope in viral sermon

Famous Italian priest Father Giorgio Maria Faré said in an October 13 sermon, which now has over 38,000 views, that he believes Francis is not a true pope because Pope Benedict XVI did not fully resign his office.

Faré claimed Benedict didn’t properly resign from the papacy and remained pope until his death in 2022. The priest also charged that Pope Francis was doubtfully elected and Benedict intentionally didn’t resign. 

Francis is not the pope 

Faré opened his sermon by explaining that in recent years, he has spent a great amount of time discerning the state of the Church and after much prayer and reflection, he has come to an uncomfortable conclusion.  

“[A] priest must choose whether to preach what Sacred Scripture and the Church have always taught or to adhere to what the so-called Pope Francis teaches in his ordinary magisterium. Yes, you understood correctly. I said the so-called Pope Francis. What I am telling you today… is that for over eleven years, a man recognized as Pope by the majority has been sitting on the Chair of Peter, but he is not, however, the legitimate Pope,” Faré said. 

Benedict’s resignation was invalid   

Faré then dove into why he believed Pope Benedict’s resignation was invalid, namely that it was a declaration, not a formal abdication, and it lacked the act of resignation. 

 “The formula: ‘I declare to renounce,’ in legal terms, is not the same as saying, ‘I renounce.’ The Pope [Benedict] should have said, ‘I declare to renounce, as in fact, I renounce,’ or a similar formula. As it was pronounced, Benedict XVI’s declaration is, in fact, only a declaration, not a legally valid act, nor was it followed by any ratification.”  

 The priest then underscored that Benedict chose the title Declaratio, or “Declaration,” for his official resignation instead of “resignation” or “abdication.” 

Faré added that Benedict’s resignation lacked the will to renounce the papacy. The priest highlighted that in his original Latin declaration, Benedict used the term ministerium, which refers to the visible execution of the papal office. But, citing Canon 332 §2 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, Faré claims that for the resignation to be valid, he would have needed to resign from the munus, the “office” of the papacy. 

Francis is a heretic whose election is doubtful 

Circling back to Francis, Faré claimed his 2013 election is doubtful because a coalition of four radically liberal Cardinals, who are allegedly members of the St. Gallen Mafia: Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Walter Kasper, Godfried Danneels, and Karl Lehmann, conspired for years to make Francis the pope in order to start a revolution in the Church. The priest added that this alleged conspiracy would violate articles 79-82 of Pope John Paul II’s motu proprio on electing a new pontiff, Universi Dominici Gregis 

The priest also stressed that he believes Pope Francis is a heretic and cited several heretical statements and promulgations, such as in Amoris Laetitia, in which Francis opened the door to allowing couples in adulterous relationships to receive Holy Communion, the Abu Dhabi Declaration, in which Francis said that the “diversity of religions” is “willed by God,” and Francis’s recent statement to an inter-religious meeting in Singapore that “every religion is a way to arrive at God.”  

But Faré emphasized that he believes Francis is an antipope first because Benedict’s resignation was invalid, not because he is a heretic. Francis’s heresies instead serve as evidence that Benedict did not resign from the papacy, according to Faré. 

“This legal fact has theological repercussions: without a valid election, the consequent lack of divine investiture means that Bergoglio lacks the assistance of the Holy Spirit. If he were the Pope, he would be assisted by the Holy Spirit, like every Roman Pontiff, not only when pronouncing ex-cathedra but also in the ordinary magisterium.” 

Benedict knew his resignation was invalid  

Faré further posited that Benedict planned on making his resignation invalid, which is why, in his declaratio, he wrote, “I renounce,” instead of “I declare to renounce,” and resigned from the ministerium and not the munus. The priest noted that Benedict likely took this action because he knew of the St. Gallen Mafia’s plans.  

“The Pope thus found himself at a crossroads: either allow an antipope to be secretly elected upon his death or attempt a strategy to foil the enemies of the Church by issuing a declaration with no legal effect. Incidentally, I point out that — even after the Declaratio — an invalid Conclave could have been avoided. The Cardinals who noticed the anomalies in the Declaratio… could have immediately raised the issue and prevented a Conclave from being convened. This did not happen, so it is important to note that the actual responsibility for what happened should not be placed on Benedict XVI but, rather, primarily on those who understood and remained silent in bad faith.” 

The priest then suggested that Benedict left several more clues that he retained the papal office after the conclave for the Church’s prelates to pick up on and take appropriate action, such as using the title “Pope Emeritus,” continuing to wear his white cassock, and retaining his papal coat of arms.  

Other theories on whether Francis is the pope 

Over the years, several other Catholic prelates and thinkers have suggested that Francis is not the pope, including Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who has posited that Francis lacked the necessary intention to become pope. Viganò has also called for an official investigation into Pope Benedict’s resignation and the 2013 conclave due to apparent irregularities. Others, too, have said Francis’ past statements and promulgations disqualify him from being a true pope regardless of the nature of Benedict’s resignation. 

On the other hand, Bishop Athanasius Schneider has stated that “nobody has the power to judge Francis’s status as pope” because previous writings about a pope becoming a heretic, such as St. Robert Bellarmine’s, are only opinions, not doctrine, and that there is no one within the Church who has the power to declare him a heretic. “[I]n the case of a heretical pope, the members of the Church can avoid him, resist him, refuse to obey him, all of which can be done without requiring a theory or opinion that says that a heretical pope automatically loses his office or can be deposed consequently,” Schneider wrote. 

To read Fr. Faré’s full sermon in English, click here.  

Related:  

Was the US NSA involved in pressuring Pope Benedict XVI to resign the papacy?

Why Pope Francis’ election could be invalid according to John Paul II document

Is there ‘universal peaceful acceptance’ of Francis as pope?

Why ‘universal and peaceful acceptance’ doesn’t prove Francis is pope

Is Francis the pope? The argument from public heresy suggests not


TOPICS: Catholic
KEYWORDS: bergoglio; frankenchurch; giorgiomariafare; morepopenews
Others, too, have said Francis’ past statements and promulgations disqualify him from being a true pope regardless of the nature of Benedict’s resignation.
1 posted on 10/21/2024 12:22:58 PM PDT by ebb tide
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To: Al Hitan; Fedora; irishjuggler; Jaded; kalee; markomalley; miele man; Mrs. Don-o; ...

Ping


2 posted on 10/21/2024 12:23:42 PM PDT by ebb tide ("The Spirit of Vatican II" is nothing more than a wicked "ideology" of the modernists.)
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Comment #3 Removed by Moderator

Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

To: JSM_Liberty

Maybe he will be impeached?


5 posted on 10/21/2024 12:29:16 PM PDT by tsowellfan
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To: ebb tide

Thanks for posting ET.


6 posted on 10/21/2024 12:30:20 PM PDT by one guy in new jersey
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To: JSM_Liberty

Was there ever a papal resignation before Benedict? Especially of someone who lived many years after his “resignation”.


7 posted on 10/21/2024 12:39:44 PM PDT by Freee-dame ( )
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To: ebb tide

there is no one within the Church who has the power to declare him a heretic.


No one?


8 posted on 10/21/2024 12:43:04 PM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: ebb tide

Well ... there’s also the small matter of heaping heresy upon heresy and committing public idolatry ...


9 posted on 10/21/2024 12:43:57 PM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: ebb tide

I heard at one time this guy was a bar bouncer......so much for a faith based lineage.


10 posted on 10/21/2024 12:45:18 PM PDT by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave!)
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To: ebb tide

This obvious evil is NOT the Pope. Pope Benedict did not offer a valid resignation, Pope is not a “shared” position, and this evil was not validly elected. He was placed, much like so many of the world “leaders” now. Evil is currently squatting in the seat, defiling all that it touches. Stop calling this evil, “Pope”. The “But… but… but he’s the Pope” mentality allows the evil to continue in the face of common sense. The answer is NO.


11 posted on 10/21/2024 12:47:21 PM PDT by GrumpyOldGuy
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To: Freee-dame
Was there ever a papal resignation before Benedict? Especially of someone who lived many years after his “resignation”.

Yes. The most famous one was Pope Celestine V:

(From Co-Pilot ai)

Pope Celestine V‘s resignation stands as a unique event in the history of the papacy, primarily due to its context and the nature of Celestine himself.

Elected in 1294, after a prolonged papal vacancy of over two years, Celestine V was an unexpected choice. Before his election, he was known as Pietro Angelerio, a hermit renowned for his devout spirituality and desire for a simple, ascetic life. His election was largely influenced by the belief that a deeply spiritual leader could bring reform and moral integrity to the Church.

However, Celestine V quickly found the demands of the papacy overwhelming. He struggled with the administrative responsibilities, the political intrigues of the time, and the general complexity of leading the Church. His lack of experience in ecclesiastical governance and discomfort with the political aspects of the papal role made his position untenable.

Approximately five months after his election, Celestine V issued a solemn decree declaring that the pope could voluntarily resign. Following this, he resigned from the papacy in December 1294, citing his desire for a return to a contemplative life and his recognition of his inadequacy for the demands of the papal office. His resignation was accepted, and he intended to return to his hermit lifestyle.


Pope Gregory XII resigned to clean up a mess where another man was claiming to be Pope.

Gregory VI resigned because of the manner in which he secured his election (he bought it).
12 posted on 10/21/2024 12:51:14 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana ("Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye." (John 2:5))
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To: ebb tide
i want to be clear that I think very well and highly of Bishop Schneider. He is one of the good guys. However, I have to disagree with him on his position that no one can judge the pope to be a heretic.

8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9  As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. — Galatians 1:8-9

If in his Wednesday audience a pope were to declare “There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet” in a way that was clear he meant it as a personal statement of belief, and he repeated it multiple times after being publicly challenged, he would be both a heretic and an apostate, whether or not any high ranking churchmen acknowledged that fact. He could no longer be pope because one has to be Catholic to be pope. In my opinion this is painfully obvious.

Do any of the various un~Catholic statements of the man assumed to be “Pope Francis” rise to that level of clarity? That’s what each of us has to decide. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

13 posted on 10/21/2024 1:00:21 PM PDT by scouter (As for me and my household... We will serve the LORD.)
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To: Dr. Sivana

Thanks for the info.


14 posted on 10/21/2024 1:01:32 PM PDT by Freee-dame ( )
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To: Fai Mao

Why would Francis praise him?


15 posted on 10/21/2024 1:08:45 PM PDT by Petrosius
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To: ebb tide

I care not. “I defy the Pope and all of his laws!” -William Tyndale.


16 posted on 10/21/2024 3:25:58 PM PDT by know.your.why
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