The First Duty of the Church

It is certainly an excellent thing that the Mass and the true sacraments have been preserved by the clergy who have remained faithful to the Faith. But we must nevertheless lament the fact that we do not hear the indisputable voice of Peter among us and ask ourselves whether the battle has really been fought as it should have been. Is it not indeed the primary duty of the Church, when there is serious doubt about a pretender to the papacy, to seek to remedy the situation?  Can the Church’s divine mission to spread the light of truth, which alone can save us, be founded on any rock other than Peter’s? Must not this rock be identifiable without any doubt by all members of the Church?

Not only does the fractured Catholic world desperately need to find the certainty of Peter’s voice, but the whole world, sunk in apostasy, will find no remedy unless the Catholic Barque is itself under the command of a Catholic.  Here is the main problem of this world, the most important problem, the most urgent problem, the one that must be solved before all others. The voice we hear is not recognisable as the living voice of the Vicar of Christ, and without it, nothing can be done to reverse the situation and restore order. We must work to clarify this question of the legitimacy of the modern pontiffs. This is a serious duty, especially for faithful bishops, who today embody the visible authority of the Church.

If the See of Peter were truly vacant, or even occupied by a non-Catholic, as many believe, the election of a true Pontiff would be the first duty of the Church. The constitutions governing the vacancy of the Apostolic See and the election of a Roman Pontiff all insist on the urgent necessity of electing a Supreme Pontiff: “most weighty task divinely entrusted to the Church,” as Pius XII tells us in the Apostolic Constitution Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis (8 December 1945). And St. Pius X, in the Constitution Vacante Apostolica Sede (25 December 1904), teaches: “When the Apostolic See is vacant, it is a most grave and most sacred matter to choose the supreme shepherd and head of the Lord’s flock for the prudent and diligent governance of the Catholic Church, one who, succeeding to the place of Blessed Peter, bears the person of Jesus Christ on earth.”

Pope Boniface VIII, in his famous bull Unam Sanctam, warns us: “Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” How, then, can one not put one’s salvation at risk if one is totally indifferent to the undisputed presence of Peter within the Church?