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I wish all of my readers and their families in the United States a Happy and Holy Thanksgiving!
God bless you all, my dear readers---Introibo
The Gates of Hell Vs. The Gates of the Church
By Steven Speray
In 2015, I posted The Gates of Hell and the Gates of the Church (The Best Defense for Sedevacantism) I revisited the topic in 2020. However, it’s never a bad idea to review old topics and keep them ready at hand when needed. The following is a solid response to those who keep bringing up the same ole tired arguments against sedevacantism.
A common anti-sedevacantist argument that keeps popping up concerns the gates of hell.
If sedevacantism is true, says the opponent, then the gates of hell have prevailed.
Therefore, sedevacantism can’t be true.
Most everyone is unaware that the Church has told us what the gates of hell are.
Pope Vigilius at the Second Council of Constantinople, in 553 called “the tongues of heretics” the “gates of hell.”
Pope St. Leo IX’s, In terra pax hominibus, Sept. 2, 1053, declared to Michael Cerularius that “the gates of Hell” are the “disputations of heretics.”
Pope Leo XIII declared in Satis Cognitum on June 29, 1896:
The words – and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it proclaim and establish the authority of which we speak. “What is the it?” (writes Origen). “Is it the rock upon which Christ builds the Church or the Church? The expression indeed is ambiguous, as if the rock and the Church were one and the same. I indeed think that this is so, and that neither against the rock upon which Christ builds His Church nor against the Church shall the gates of Hell prevail” (Origenes, Comment. in Matt., tom. xii., n. ii). The meaning of this divine utterance is, that, notwithstanding the wiles and intrigues which they bring to bear against the Church, it can never be that the church committed to the care of Peter shall succumb or in any wise fail. “For the Church, as the edifice of Christ who has wisely built ‘His house upon a rock,’ cannot be conquered by the gates of Hell, which may prevail over any man who shall be off the rock and outside the Church, but shall be powerless against it” (Ibid.). Therefore God confided His Church to Peter so that he might safely guard it with his unconquerable power.
As Catholics (sedevacantists), we know and understand that the gates of hell are basically heretics and heresies according to papal teaching and it is precisely because we believe in Christ’s declaration that we hold to sedevacantism.
Pope Leo XIII called the Roman Pontiffs “the Gates of the Church” in his 1894 encyclical letter Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae.
Therefore, Roman Pontiffs can’t be heretics or else the gates of the Church and the gates of hell would be one and the same thing implying the Church and Hell are identical. Can the Gates of Hell run the Church? It’s a total absurdity.
However, many who call themselves Catholic have admitted that they personally think the Vatican 2 popes have been heretics and at the same time true popes of the Catholic Church.
Even if they privately believed this were true, it would mean they personally think the gates of hell and the Gates of the Church are one and the same thing.
They argue that a public judgment must be made by their bishops before a pope ceases to be or considered not the pope. The problem, however, is that before their bishops can make that public judgment against the pope, they must first make a private one. In doing so, they would believe the gates of hell and the Gates of the Church are one and the same thing, which is impossible.
Therefore, the entire scenario of needing warnings, declarations, etc. to make an official determination that a true pope is not a true pope is impossible. No one can even suspect the pope of heresy without the consequence of suspecting that the Head of the Church forms the gates of hell. There can be no doubt about the pope for as Rev. Francis X Doyle, S.J. so elegantly explained in 1927, “The Church is a visible society with a visible Ruler. If there can be any doubt about who that visible Ruler is, he is not visible…Blessed Bellarmine, S.J., says: ‘A doubtful Pope must be considered as not Pope.’”
This fact refutes every argument or proposition ever put forth by any and all theologians, canonists, etc., that a pope can be heretical or else Peter and his successors who’ve been handed the Church by God for safekeeping from the gates of hell can themselves be the gates of hell.
Only a pope can cease to be pope by himself, and every individual Catholic must recognize that fact by believing and accepting the laws and teachings of the Church and the Divine laws of God. A heretic is not a member of the Church.
Pope Innocent III, Eius exemplo, Dec. 18, 1208:
“By the heart we believe and by the mouth we confess the one Church, not of heretics, but the Holy Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.”
Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, “Cantate Domino,” 1441:
“The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics…”
St. Antoninus, O.P. (1389-1459):
“In the case in which the pope would become a heretic, he would find himself, by that fact alone and without any other sentence, separated from the Church. A head separated from a body cannot, as long as it remains separated, be head of the same body from which it was cut off. ‘A pope who would be separated from the Church by heresy, therefore, would by that very fact itself cease to be head of the Church. He could not be a heretic and remain pope, because, since he is outside of the Church, he cannot possess the keys of the Church.’” (Summa Theologica cited in Actes de Vatican I. V. Frond pub.)
Pope Leo XIII, Satis cognitum, June 29, 1896:
“So long as the member was on the body, it lived; separated, it lost its life. Thus the man, so long as he lives on the body of the [Catholic] Church, he is a Christian; separated from her, he becomes a heretic”
Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, January 6, 1928:
“10. So, Venerable Brethren, it is clear why this Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics: for the union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it, for in the past they have unhappily left it. To the one true Church of Christ, we say, which is visible to all, and which is to remain, according to the will of its Author, exactly the same as He instituted it. During the lapse of centuries, the mystical Spouse of Christ has never been contaminated, nor can she ever in the future be contaminated, as Cyprian bears witness: ‘The Bride of Christ cannot be made false to her Spouse: she is incorrupt and modest. She knows but one dwelling, she guards the sanctity of the nuptial chamber chastely and modestly.’ The same holy Martyr with good reason marveled exceedingly that anyone could believe that ‘this unity in the Church which arises from a divine foundation, and which is knit together by heavenly sacraments, could be rent and torn asunder by the force of contrary wills.’ For since the mystical body of Christ, in the same manner as His physical body, is one, compacted and fitly joined together, it were foolish and out of place to say that the mystical body is made up of members which are disunited and scattered abroad: whosoever therefore is not united with the body is no member of it, neither is he in communion with Christ its head.
11. Furthermore, in this one Church of Christ no man can be or remain who does not accept, recognize and obey the authority and supremacy of Peter and his legitimate successors.”
Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi, June 29, 1943:
“For not every sin, however grave it may be, is such as of its own nature to sever a man from the Body of the Church, as does schism or heresy or apostasy.”
Conclusion
If sedevacantism is true, have "the Gates of Hell prevailed"? The teaching of the Church Herself makes it clear that the answer is a resounding "NO"!
Dear Introibo,
ReplyDeleteThank you for feauturing Steven on your blog. Steven is one of my favorite apologists. I have three questions:
Should Catholics honor Napoleon Bonaparte? Does he belong with Charlemagne and Saint Louis IX?
What is the difference between mainstream Franciscans and Capuchin Franciscans?
What would happen to a priest before Vatican II if he said the mass in vernacular?
Napoleon kidnapped Pope Pius VII and held him prisoner until the fall of the Empire. He was therefore a persecutor of the Church and the opposite of the holy King Louis IX.
DeleteHi Introibo, would it be ok if I were to ask your readers to help with St. Anne's school expansion project? We are trying to raise funds to make a new school building since we are running out of space. If not no worries, I know Fr. Mrotzka and Fr.Krug would greatly appreciate any help. If thats ok I can post the info for anyone who is inclined to donate. Thank you and God bless.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Introibo and to all the readers of this blog, any support is greatly appreciated!
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God bless everyone.
Also excellent article as always, whether its Introibo or a guest writer its always edifying.
Good post ! Proponents of the “recognize and resist” position stubbornly cling to the idea that true Popes can teach heresies and remain Popes because they reject the only real solution to the current problems, namely that there has been no Pope since the death of Pius XII.
ReplyDeleteCan't really add anything to this. Thanks for this to-the-point answer to the by now age-old question.
ReplyDeleteOrigen's statement is interesting. Don't think I've come across it before. Indeed, if one becomes separated from the other, the pope and the church, it means one is not the pope or the other is not the church. The former cannot become a heretic although everybody else can. The latter cannot be replaced with an impostor (logistics, etc) but the former can.
Given the dispute over this it should be tabled at the next Council for definition, if ever we get there.