What is sedevacantism?

Answer

Sedevacantism is the belief that the Roman Catholic Church currently lacks a valid Pope. It implies that whoever currently holds the office does so in name only. The Pope may have been elected and accepted by cardinals; yet, due to heretical views, is not “truly” the head of the earthly church. The terms sedevacantist and sedevacantism come from a Latin phrase that means “the chair is empty.” Those holding this view consider themselves Catholic but believe the current Pope espouses heresy, which disqualifies him from office. Most sedevacantists believe the papacy has been vacant since modernist reforms were passed in the 1960s.

The most often accepted Catholic interpretation of Matthew 16:18 implies there will always be a Pope. This stance claims the only gaps are between the end of one Pope’s service and the election of the next, with no true absences. Despite history’s record of serious flaws and scandals in the Vatican, mainstream Catholicism does not believe any Pope has been truly “invalid.”

Sedevacantists argue that any Pope who espouses heresy invalidates his role. The Catholic concept of papal infallibility only applies to statements the Pope makes officially, in concert with the cardinals. It does not suggest that Popes are entirely inerrant or sinless. However, sedevacantists argue that actual heresy disqualifies priests, bishops, and cardinals from office. A heretical official, by that logic, cannot be Pope; therefore, any such person has no valid claim to the office.

In politics, the boundaries between “disagreeable” and “unconstitutional” often shift based on partisan bias. In kind, arguments over sedevacantism are usually proxy battles for other doctrinal disputes within Roman Catholicism. The main body of such debates involves modernism and ecumenism.

Most sedevacantists are from the United States, via the current “movement” of sedevacantism that began in the mid-1960s.The main concern of this faction is the reforms implemented during the Second Vatican Council. Sedevacantists consider those changes to be heretical. As a result, individuals who support the Second Vatican Council are not recognized as legitimate priests. Consequently, every Pope elected after that council is deemed invalid, effectively leaving the Catholic Church without a Pontiff since that time.

Sedevacantists represent a small minority within Catholicism. There are debates both in favor of and against sedevacantism. However, these debates highlight the theological issues present in Roman Catholicism. The institution’s heavy reliance on fallible individuals—or even on a single fallible person—does not align easily with the Bible’s frequent portrayal of a unified, equal, global church (1 Corinthians 1:12-17;Luke 20:46;Revelation 1:4-6).