Catholics warring against the Pope?

[Pat Mustard]

The extreme disconnect between what the Catholic church taught and practiced pre-1960s and what the Catholic church teaches and practices today has led some Catholics to conclude that the current pope and several of his predecessors were not true popes but heretics. As a result, the papal throne is currently vacant and has been since 1958 (or 1963 according to some). These people are called sedevacantists, a name taken from a Latin phrase meaning "the seat is vacant" and used to refer to the period of time between the death (or resignation) of one pope and the election of his successor.

The splinter group mentioned in the article is the Society of St Pius X, with whom I have been involved. I used to attend their chapel when I lived in Wellington. They practice and teach the Catholic faith the way it was (at least in some places) before Vatican II in the 1960s. They celebrate only the Traditional Latin Mass and their priests still wear cassocks.  They are not sedevacantists, but are very critical of the current pope and hierarchy, sometimes using the term "Conciliar Church" to describe them. They will tell you not to go to the New Mass and are opposed to television.

Technically (except for a small few instances such as the vernacular mass) rcc teaching is the same today as before Vatican 2. But to squar reality and changing cultural nores with papal infallibility (meaning very little is actually up for negotiation in rcc doctrine) the church simply neglects to tell its sheep what's allowed and forbidden under its rules.

Of course the church is still well behind the timse, so don't expect it to go silent on abortion or homosexuality for a few generations yet.