From this document: "The Catholic Church has always held that popes can be heretics, and that a pope who commits the public crime of heresy loses the papal office thereby. This belief is based on the teachings of the Scriptures, which assert that the heretic separates himself from the Church by committing the sin of heresy. ... Theologians and canonists have disagreed on the details of how a heretical …More
From this document: "The Catholic Church has always held that popes can be heretics, and that a pope who commits the public crime of heresy loses the papal office thereby. This belief is based on the teachings of the Scriptures, which assert that the heretic separates himself from the Church by committing the sin of heresy. ... Theologians and canonists have disagreed on the details of how a heretical pope falls from office".
Well, based on what was said in the first paragraph, the authors of the document, if I understood them correctly, still reached a consensus that Francis, being a public and notorious heretic, fell away from the Church according to Divine Law. The only difficulty (noted in the second paragraph) is the question of how to remove a heretic (who has already fallen away from the Church) from the position he occupies. It seems to me that despite the difficulty noted, consensus on the first point is important.
I believe that second point which is how to remove a heretic (who has already fallen away from the Church) is not, and should not be that difficult. Because he [in the case of a heretical pope, if this man in white ever was one] who has already fallen away from the Church must simply be declared deposed by the Church [as such]. - as S. Robert Bellarmine says. It's actually that simple. Concerning …More
I believe that second point which is how to remove a heretic (who has already fallen away from the Church) is not, and should not be that difficult. Because he [in the case of a heretical pope, if this man in white ever was one] who has already fallen away from the Church must simply be declared deposed by the Church [as such]. - as S. Robert Bellarmine says. It's actually that simple.
Concerning the first point, - consensus, which is important for sure, but even that is not first and foremost step to do the right thing that God expects to be done by His apostles for good of the Church. A perfect example for this is s. Athanasius the Great, who probably tried to get other clerics for the case, to reach a consensus, but when that didn't work, he still did it himself alone and persisted in what the sensus fidei, which comes from God the Holy Spirit, told him to do. He was alone, the only one! And boy, he was persecuted, right!?
An even more significant example in the case of a heretic, i.e. illegally and illegitimately appointed cleric on the papal throne, is the lay woman of St. Catharina of Siena. She acted as God asked her to do, inviting the others to do the same, but not waiting to see if they would be encouraged and really dare to do things that, then as now, must have meant exposing themselves to great trouble and falling into disfavor, if one don't succeed in that "difficult business"!
So, our times are for sure the greatest times to become a great saint! They [the clerics] should make a use of that, and not to fly away from it!
Si quis diligit mundum, non est caritas Patris in eo. [1 John 2:15]
"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." [Luke 14:26]
