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TWENTY\u00a0<\/b>years ago or so, I was given a glimpse of something coming<\/em> that sent chills down my spine.<\/p>\n I had been reading the arguments of several Sedevacantists\u2014those who believe the “seat of Peter” is vacant. While they are divided even among themselves as to who the last “valid” pope was, many hold that it was St. Pius X or XII or…. I am not a theologian, but I was able to clearly see how their arguments failed to grasp theological nuances, how they pulled quotes out of context and distorted certain texts, such as the documents of Vatican II or even the teachings of St. John Paul II. I read with jaw-wide-open how the language of mercy and compassion was frequently twisted by them to mean “mediocrity” and “compromise”; how the need to revisit our pastoral approach in a rapidly changing world was viewed as accommodating worldliness; how the vision of the likes of St. John XXIII to “throw open the windows” of the Church to allow the fresh air of the Holy Spirit in was, to them, nothing short of apostasy. They spoke as if the Church was abandoning Christ, and in some quarters, that may have been true.\u00a0<\/p>\n As if that was not shocking enough, I was disturbed by the frequent brutality of their words towards those who have remained in communion with Rome. I found their websites, bantor, and forums to be hostile, merciless, uncharitable, judgmental, self-righteous, impertinent and cold towards anyone who disagreed with their position.<\/p>\n …a tree is known by its fruit. (Matt 12:33)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n That is a general assessment of what is known as the “ultra-Traditionalist” movement in the Catholic Church. To be certain, Pope Francis is not at odds<\/a> with faithful “conservative” Catholics, but rather “those who ultimately trust only in their own powers and feel superior to others because they observe certain rules or remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style from the past [and a] supposed soundness of doctrine or discipline [that] leads instead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism…” [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. Evangelii Gaudium<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>n. 94<\/span><\/span>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/dividedfall.jpg\")
But that’s precisely what they did when unilaterally, and without authority, these men declared the seat of Peter to be vacant and themselves to be the authentic successors of Catholicism. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n