What is Sedevacantism?

Question

I just had a conversation with someone who identified themselves as this, I thought they were Catholic now I'm confused. Please explain this.

Answer 1

Simply put this is a theory of those who think that the most recent Pope, the Popes since the Second Vatican Council have not really been Popes. This is from the latin word "sede vacante".

This theory comes from a reaction to the very grave crisis which the Church has been undergoing since that Council. The main cause of the crisis has been the dereliction of the Roman Pontiffs, who teach or allow to be taugh serious erros on the subjects of ecumenism, religious liberty, collegiality, etc.

The sedes think that the real Pope could not be responsible for such a crisis and they consider them not to be "real" Popes.

This theory is totally wrong and errorenous. It is like I said a reaction to the crisis, but it is the incorrect action/reaction. Even the great Dominican theologian Gr. Garrigou-Lagrange whose knowledge surpasses ANY sedes explains in "De Verbo Incarnato" that even if we had a heretical Pope, while no longer a member of the Catholic Church, he is and can still be her head. For, what is impossible in the case of a physical head is possible (albiet abnormal) for a secondary moral head.

Sedes seem to forget the promise Christ made that the gates of hell will not prevail...but having no pope for 40 years is ridiculous. The longest time w/o a pope was 2 years in Middle Ages.

Answer 2

Sedevantists believe that the current pope is a sham.

Sede means chair. Vacant - well, you get that.

In other words, the chair of Peter is empty.

Sedevacantists are the Catholic "fundies" to use a term you guys seem to use a lot here. They're the Catholics with a list in their pockets of 100 reasons why YOU are going to hell. Even though their bible tells them to look to their own sin.

They are the "holier than thous."

While I love Catholic tradition, I can not call myself a "traditionalist" Catholic because it is so synonimous with cruelty to others. So I call myself "old fashioned."

They are not happy about Vatican II. Which is funny because very few of them are old enough to know what it was like prior to Vatican II.

By and large they hate the eccumenical movement and the New Mass. They are the people who launched the cliche that Catholics think there will only be Catholics in heaven.

Mel Gibson is often accused of being a sedevacantist because he loves the Tridentine Mass and has his own chapel. He is very active in Catholic Action. Which to me shows he is one of the family. Not one standing outside the window pointing fingers. One who loves the Tridentine Mass is not necessarily a sedevancantist.

I have a lot of problems with the New Mass myself. I love the Latin (Tridentine) Mass. I also love my pope. Word on the street is, B16 (GOD BLESS HIM!) is going to make a unilateral move to restore the Tridentine. Possibly as early as next month!

Steve: I like your resonse! Yes they fall asleep and fall out (sede vacant) of the pew! BAAAHAHAHA!!

Answer 3

Sedevacantism is a theological position embraced by a minority of traditionalist Catholics which holds that the papacy has been vacant since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958 (or, in some cases, the death of Pope John XXIII in 1963). Sedevacantists believe that the subsequent successors (or, in their view, claimants) to the papal office — Paul VI (1963–1978), John Paul I (1978), John Paul II (1978–2005) and Benedict XVI (since 2005) — have been neither true Catholics nor true, legitimate popes.

The term "sedevacantism" is derived from the Latin phrase sede vacante, which literally means "while the seat is vacant", the seat in question being the official chair of a bishop (referred to also as his cathedra). The phrase thus refers to a vacancy of an episcopal see.[1] In the context of this article, the see of the phrase "sede vacante" is that of the Bishop of Rome, which sedevacantists claim remains vacant or unoccupied, just as it is universally recognized to be vacant from a Pope's death or resignation to the election of his successor.[2]

Some groups of traditionalist Catholics give allegiance to alternative Popes of their own choosing instead of the generally recognized Popes, resulting in an open schism. Since they hold that the See of Rome is headed by their nominee and thus is not in fact vacant, they are not sedevacantists in the strict sense. However, the term "sedevacantist" is often applied to them because, in order to proceed to select their own Pope, they had first to declare that the Holy See had become vacant. Another term for them is "conclavist".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedevacantism

Answer 4

isn't that a catholic that falls asleep in mass?