Some thoughts about the consequences if Bergoglio is not the pope

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Papal documents – invalid

Of course, if Bergoglio is not the pope, then he can’t issue papal documents, So, there is neither “Amoris laetitia” nor “Vultum Dei quaerere” nor “Laudato si” nor “Traditiones custodes”.

Episcopal nominations – invalid

In dioceses where the pope nominates a bishop, the pope needs to do it – not an antipope.

However, there is a question here. In the Catholic Church, bishops are required to send their resignation to the pope when they become 75 years old. The pope can accept the resignation, in which case they lose their office on a certain date, or reject it, in which case they keep their office until their death or a new resignation request. If a bishop didn’t send his resignation to the real pope, is he still the bishop of that diocese?

The dioceses of Bologna, Augsburg, Berlin, Salzburg, Lisbon, Madrid, Hong Kong, Juba, Tokyo, Manila, Kinshasa and many others are most likely either in a state of sede vacante or have their former bishops in office.

Cardinal appointments – questionable

This question is really interesting. Bergoglio appointed cardinals so far at nine consistories. The first eight of them were held when Benedict was still alive, and Benedict either attended the consistory or they visited him afterwards. It can be argued that Benedict gave tacit consent to the nominations by his presence.

As of the writing of this article, January 14, 2024, there three different kinds of cardinals in the Church: definitely cardinals, questionable cardinals and definitely not-cardinals (pseudocardinals).

According to Universi dominici gregis 33, cardinals who were under 80 on the day the papacy became vacant, can vote. So, the cardinals nominated by John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who were not yet 80 on December 31, 2022, would be able to vote.

The following are, in order of their nomination, the definitely valid cardinals who can vote:

Vinko Puljić (Bosnia), Polycarp Pengo (Tanzania), Christoph Schönborn OP (Austria), Crescenzio Sepe (Italy), Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne (Peru), Marc Ouellet PSS (Canada), Peter Turkson (Ghana), Josip Bozanić (Croatia), Philippe Barbarin (France), Péter Erdő (Hungary), Jean-Pierre Ricard (France), Antonio Cañizares Llovera (Spain), Seán Patrick O’Malley OFMCap (USA), Leonardo Sandri (Argentina), Angelo Comastri (Italy), Stanisław Ryłko (Poland), Angelo Bagnasco (Italy), Oswald Gracias (India), Francisco Robles Ortega (Mexico), Daniel DiNardo (USA), Odilo Scherer (Brazil), John Njue (Kenya), Robert Sarah (Guinea), Raymond Leo Burke (USA), Kurt Koch (Switzerland), Mauro Piacenza (Italy), Kazimierz Nycz (Poland), Malcolm Ranjith (Sri Lanka), Reinhard Marx (Germany), Fernando Filoni (Italy), João Braz de Aviz (Brazil), Domenico Calcagno (Italy), Giuseppe Versaldi (Italy), George Alencherry (India), Thomas Collins (Canada), Dominik Duka OP (Czechia), Wim Eijk (Netherlands), Giuseppe Betori (Italy), Timothy M. Dolan (USA), Rainer Woelki (Germany), Luis Antonio Tagle (Philippines), Baselios Cleemis (India), John Onaiyekan (Nigeria), James Michael Harvey (USA).

So, there are 44 cardinals who definitely could vote in the next conclave. However, there is one caveat. It is possible, based on the bull Cum ex apostolatus officio of Pope Paul IV, that cardinals, who are formal heretics, lose they right to vote at a conclave or be elected.

Among the questionable cardinals, we find bishops like Anders Arborelius O.C.D., Archbishop of Stockholm; Louis Raphaël I Sako, Patriarch of Bagdad; Jean-Claude Hollerich S.J., Archbishop of Luxembourg; Blase J. Cupich, “Archbishop of Chicago” and Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, former “Prefect” of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The “consistory” on September 30, 2023, was definitely invalid and the 21 “cardinals” nominated there are pseudocardinals. The best known of those is Víctor “Tucho” Fernández.

Canonizations – invalid

According to church law, only the pope can beatify or canonize people. Here are some examples:

neither blessed nor saint:

Pope Paul VI (1897-1978, pope from 1963-1978)

Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (1917-1980), archbishop of San Salvador and alleged martyr

only blessed, not saint:

Blessed Pope John Paul II (1920-2005, pope from 1978-2005)

Blessed Pope John XXIII (1881-1963, pope from 1958-1963)

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, religious (1910-1997)

Blessed José Luis Sánchez del Río, martyr (1913-1928)

Children martyrs of Tlaxcala: Blessed Antonio, Blessed Christóbal, Blessed Juan, martyred 1529, 1527, 1529, respectively)

Blessed Titus Brandsma SJ, martyr priest, died in Dachau (1881-1942)

Blessed Junípero Serra y Ferrer OFM, missionary priest in California, (1713-1784)

Blessed Euphrasia of the Sacred Heart OCarm, (Rosa Eluvathingal), Indian religious sister, (1877-1952)

Blessed Francisco de Jesus Marto (1908-1919) and Blessed Jacinta de Jesus Marto (1910-1920), visionaries of Fatima

Blessed John Henry Newman, cardinal (1801-1890)

Blessed Lazarus Devasahayam Pillai, martyr in India (1712-1752)

not beatified:

István Sándor SDB, religious and martyr (1914-1953)

Carlo Acutis (1991-2006)

The four so-called “Martyrs of La Rioja” from Argentina, among them Enrique Angelelli, bishop of La Rioja (1923-1976), who was a Marxist and died in a car crash, allegedly caused by the military dictatorship