The Authority of Saint Robert Bellarmine,
Doctor of the Papacy

In his famous Controversies, Saint Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church, details the various reasons why an Imperfect General Council may be convened. He teaches that in the event that a pretender to the papacy has fallen into heresy or schism, an Imperfect General Council may be convened for the purpose of declaring that this man was never pope or has deposed himself through heresy or schism, and to replace him with a true Supreme Pontiff. According to St Robert Bellarmine, only this kind of Council can be convened by the cardinals or bishops, and only in serious circumstances, because the Church necessarily must always have the means to provide itself with a leader:

“Besides these arguments of the heretics, Catholics are accustomed to propose certain doubts. One: whether it is not lawful for a council to be convoked by someone other than the Pope, when it is necessary for the Church, and yet the Pope is unwilling to convoke it. Another: whether it is not lawful for a council to be convoked by someone other than the Pope, when the Pope ought not to convoke it, because he is a heretic or a schismatic. A third doubt: whether it is not lawful for a council to be convoked by someone other than the Pope, when the Pope cannot convoke it, because he would be a captive among infidels, or dead, or become insane, or had resigned.

[…]

“To the second and third [points] I reply that in no case can a true and perfect council, of the kind we are here discussing, namely one that has authority to define questions of faith, be convoked without the authority of the Pontiff. For the chief authority is in the head, that is, in Peter, to whom it was commanded that he confirm his brethren; and for that reason the Lord also prayed for him, that his faith might not fail (Luke 22). Nevertheless, in those two cases an imperfect council can be assembled, which suffices to make provision for the Church with respect to the head. For the Church without doubt has authority to provide for herself with respect to the head, although without a head she cannot determine many matters which she can determine with a head, as Cajetan rightly teaches in his little work on the power of the Pope, chapters 15 and 16; and much earlier [this is taught] in the letter of the presbyters of the Roman Church to Cyprian, which is [letter] 7, Book II, among the works of Cyprian. Moreover, that imperfect council can be held, either if it is convoked by the college of Cardinals, or if the bishops themselves, coming together into one place, convene of their own accord.” [1]

If necessary, in situations of extreme necessity, it is therefore possible for the bishops to convene an Imperfect General Council. This will suffice to provide the Church with a new visible, authentic and indisputable head. The Imperfect General Council allows, by extraordinary means, the restoration of the head of the visible hierarchy, from which jurisdiction will undoubtedly flow. This power of appointment, Bellarmine specifies, derives from the very authority of the Mystical Body, which cannot perish for lack of a head.