The Serious Questions Facing the Council

Doctrinal Argument

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It will be up to the General Council itself to determine the course of its own action. However, we feel it is important to emphasise a few points:

This General Council cannot proceed with the election of a Supreme Pontiff without first clearly establishing that the Apostolic See is vacant. It would be absurd and impious to proceed with the election of a Supreme Pontiff without first substantiating that such an election is necessary. The Council will therefore have to establish the absence or loss of the pontificate among the pretenders to the papacy since Vatican II before any election can take place. Therefore, those who work with us need not fear that this General Council intends to elect a Supreme Pontiff at any cost, without first demonstrating that it is a necessity.
The General Council, which will be an assembly gathered in the Holy Ghost, will also have to study and clearly affirm its legitimacy to proceed with the election of a true Successor of Peter, if the vacancy of the Apostolic See is established with certainty. There are voices that deny the legitimacy of such a Council to proceed with the election of a Roman Pontiff, if that were necessary. But what voice is more legitimate to establish such a fact than that of the General Council itself?
Assuming that the General Council has concluded that the See is vacant, it will also be its responsibility to determine who the legitimate electors will be. Here again, the voices of individuals do not agree, but it is the General Council that will be able to determine what seems good to the Holy Ghost (Acts 15:28).
As for the other serious issues affecting our Mother the Church in these troubled times, it seems reasonable to say that the presence of the Supreme Pontiff is necessary to resolve them. This General Council is therefore first and foremost an assembly intended to study the question of the legitimacy of the Pontiffs of the Conciliar Church and, if necessary, to remedy the vacancy of the Apostolic See.