By Fr. Brian Harrison, SThD, OnePeterFive, November 25, 2024
The Rev. Brian W. Harrison, O.S., M.A., S.T.D., a priest of the Society of the Oblates of Wisdom, is a retired Associate Professor of Theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce, P.R. In 1997 he gained his doctorate in Systematic Theology, summa cum laude, from the Pontifical Athenæum of the Holy Cross in Rome. …
Dr. John Lamont is a theologian well known in traditional Catholic circles for his eloquent and incisive analyses of the many critical doctrinal controversies that have arisen during the pontificate of Pope Francis. Readers of OnePeterFive who have seen Dr. Joseph Shaw’s recent essay will be aware that Lamont has recently added his quite weighty voice to that of Archbishop Viganò and others who unequivocally affirm that Jorge Mario Bergoglio is not pope, so that the See of Peter is currently vacant. I offer these reflections in support of Shaw’s reply to Lamont, adding some further points that can be made which I think are especially relevant for priests like myself and many other ordained readers of OnePeterFive.
John Lamont’s argument, following the view of St. Robert Bellarmine, can be expressed as the following syllogism:
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Major: A pope who is a notorious heretic ceases to be a member of the Catholic Church, and therefore ipso facto falls from the papal office.
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Minor: Francis/Bergoglio is a notorious heretic.
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Conclusion: Francis/Bergoglio has fallen from the papal office and the See of Peter is vacant. …
