Did Benedict Really Resign? The Canonical Case That Won't Go Away

[00:00:00]Pope Benedict V 16th did not actually give up the papacy because he only gave up its active duties, not the office itself. Since the papacy can't be split into parts, that attempt doesn't work.

[00:00:13]So his resignation would be invalid.

[00:00:17]If you feed these five provable premises into any AI, they will all declare that Benedict the 16th's resignation was invalid. Well, I know that sounds really weird, but uh we're going to get to it.

[00:00:31]Let's begin as we always do with the sign of the cross. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. So, a few months ago at Sign of the Cross Media, we broke the story that the Vatican criminal court was investigating the claim that Pope Benedict the 16th's resignation was invalid based on the petition to the court submitted by canon lawyers of a longtime well-known Vatican journalist named Andrea Shiani. The acceptance of this case by the court showed that there was at least some modicum of possibility of such a claim. And so I've looked into it more than I ever have before. I reviewed statements from faithful and god-fearing Catholics who risked everything to warn openly of what they truly believed was an antipope in Francis and then subsequently in Leo.

[00:01:24]Men like Archbishop Renee Gracida who just died, Archbishop Yan Pavalena, the former superior of Archbishop Aania Schneider, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano who suffered a pronouncement of exorcism for this very thing. The famous Fatima priest Father Nicholas Gruner, Italian well-known Father Georgio Maria Farre, Dr. Edward Maza, Patrick Coffin.

[00:01:51]Basically, the thesis of Benedict's resignation being invalid stems from his failure to resign properly. Whether or not he failed to do it properly was his intent or if it was unintentional, that's a key question, but it's actually beyond the point. And here is the central point. Canon law requires that in order to resign the papal office, the munus in Latin, the office, it must be resigned. So canon 332 number two says that the pope must renounce his munas for the resignation to be legal and complete. The munus is the actual papal office itself, the permanent job title if you will of being the pope. the full authority and role given by God. In Benedict's official resignation document, the Latin language declaratio from the 11th of February in 2013, he wrote that he was renouncing his ministerium, not his moon. The ministerium is the active work, the day-to-day exercise of governing. So that the claim that these many faithful Catholics are making, high-ranking Catholics who again risked everything for this is that Benedict only said, "I resigned from doing the day-to-day work of the pope ministerium, but he never said I quit being the pope, the moon." Therefore, under the exact wording of canon 332 number two, the resignation was not properly done and is invalid.

[00:03:34]Now the weirdest part of this is that twice in his Latin document he actually talks about the moon the pet the munis Petronum the Petrine office which is the actual office of the pope which he was supposed to resign if he wanted to resign but when he actually declares the resignation in the essential line he says and I'll quote it for you in the Latin declar Aro ministerio renunci I declare that I renounce the ministry. So basically he used the wrong word and it is posited that the legal requirement of canon 332 was never met. Benedict kept the moon the office. They say he stepped back only from the ministerium the act of exercise and therefore he remained the true pope in a hidden or impeded way or just by the fact that he didn't do it properly which means he made a substantial error but he's still the pope. You might say the easy explanation for this is that his Latin was not up to scratch. The problem is there's a massive difficulty with that suggestion.

[00:04:52]He was one of the world's greatest Latin scholars.

[00:04:56]Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Benedict the 16th, had his formal classical education in Latin from the age of 10. It was pre-1945.

[00:05:08]Ratzinger attended the classical gymnasium, the high school in Clownstein, where the curriculum centered on Latin and Greek as core subjects. He began this classical training at age 10 and he excelled in it. And you can check out the fact that he excelled in it in his own biography in from 2008. It says he begins lat classes at the local gymnasium for classical languages where he studies Latin and Greek. Go check it out. It's in his official 2008 biography. also in his doctoral and post-doal work they required advanced Latin scholarship. His 1953 doctrinal thesis the people and the house of God in St. Augustine's doctrine of the church involved deep engagement with St. Augustine's Latin texts and required writing and scholarly work in the academic Latin tradition of German theological faculties at the time.

[00:06:12]Joseph ratser's 1957 habit habilitation thesis the theology of history in St. Bonaventure analyzed 13th century Latin theological sources. Both were accepted at German universities where Latin proficiency was mandatory for theo the theology professors. And you can check that out in the Vatican's own testament.

[00:06:34]In fact, Benedict's own 2005 testament it said my doctoral dissertation was about the notion of the people of God in St. Augustine. My post-doal work was about St. Bonaventure. Generally, our formation was historically oriented and that's from the Vatican's own recount of his in 2005 at the time of his election.

[00:06:57]Then in the New Yorker magazine in 2005, the time of his election again they said this about him and I quote, "The young ratzinger wrote his doctoral dissertation on St. Augustine's ideas.

[00:07:13]He became an excellent Latinist which proved important when he was a theological consultant at the second Vatican Council where Latin was the official language. End quote. And you can go check that out from July 25th in 2005 New Yorker magazine. Go to what the New Yorker said. He was a peritus that's an expert at the second Vatican council from 1962 to65 and Latin was the working language as a theological expert or pitus uh to Cardinal Joseph Frings Ratzinger participated in drafting and debating the second Vatican council documents entirely in Latin. He prepared Latin schemas. He worked fluently in the language during sessions. And you can go check that out that there's articles all over the place that describe this.

[00:08:06]Again, you can get another appreciation for this from his reputation as a Latinist while cardinal prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of faith which ran from 1981 till his election at to pope in 2005. As head of the congregation for the doctrine of faith, he routinely oversaw corrected and issued official documents in Latin. A 2010 article notes that interpretations of his Latin documents required precise linguistic analysis.

[00:08:42]All of these things you can verify. I'll put them in my notes uh for my blog post uh on this. But beyond all of this, it's Benedict's own assessment of his own Latin which you can read in the quintessential biography which happened after his resignation with his longtime friend Petal.

[00:09:08]So asked why he wrote the declaration in Latin, the pope explained, and I quote, "Latin is the language that I have so mastered that I can write in it properly. I could have written it in Italian, but with the danger that there would be a couple of mistakes in it."

[00:09:28]End quote. Okay, so he was one of the world's greatest Latinists. Some people will say, "But maybe he didn't have time to write the declaratzio properly."

[00:09:41]Unfortunately, that's also not true because we know right away that Gayorg Ratzinger, Father Rodzinger, Benedict's brother, knew for several months and confirmed Benedict's long consideration.

[00:09:54]I'll quote it for you. He said, quote, this is from the newspaper. his brother told the DPA news agency that the Pope had begun to find walking difficult and had been considering stepping down for months. End quote. You can go check that out. One source I'll leave in my blog post, Global News from an AP report, 11th of February, 2013. So secondly, you have the Vatican spokesman, Father Federrico Lombardi, at the time he said, and I quote, "It took months to decide.

[00:10:25]It was not improvised." And you can get that over at my blog, the link to it, but it the source was CNN also from February 11th, 2013. Then you can get it the same news also from observatory Romano, the official Vatican newspaper.

[00:10:43]The decision made, and I quote, nearly a year ago, it says, and that's the official Vatican newspaper for you. So you have all of this evidence showing us that indeed the decision was made long before and he had weeks to write it.

[00:11:00]>> Well, this is kind of incredible. Life Site News not allowed. Of course, the proiffers.

[00:11:05]>> You just heard Tucker confirmed when we've known for years. Lifeight News is being blacklisted for telling the truth.

[00:11:12]The truth about abortion, the truth about politics, the truth about the Catholic faith. And powerful people want those truths silenced. But while big tech and the media may try to shut us down, they cannot stop us as long as faithful supporters like you stand with us. Lifeight News takes no money from big government or corporate interests.

[00:11:34]We depend on you alone. That's why your donation matters so much. Whether it's $25, $50, $500, every gift keeps truthful, faithful journalism alive. Go to livesightennews.com today and help give truth the victory.

[00:11:54]Another claim could be, is he losing his mind?

[00:11:58]So, some might say maybe Benedict was just losing his mind altogether. And even though he thought his Latin was still up for the task, in reality, he was losing his mind and needed to resign. And this error was just more proof of that very fact that he needed to resign. That doesn't work either.

[00:12:17]Most of us know he spent years afterward still functioning. But even at the time, you have this incredible testimony. It's an explanation from lifelong Vatican watcher Phil Lawler. He's known for his Catholic culture blog. And in his article titled The Real Story Behind the Pope's resignation, which was issued on February 15th of 2013, Phil Lawler wrote this, and I quote, "Has there been any evidence at all that Pope Benedict is losing his mental acuity?" Absolutely not. Just this week, at a Thursday afternoon meeting with priests of the Rome Dascese, the Holy Father apologized for not having a prepared address. and then extemporaneously delivered a cogent, wellorganized and fascinating 45inute talk on the interpretation of Vatican 2. He remains a brilliant analyst, preacher and teacher. Go check that out from Phil Lawler at the time. In order to find an explanation, we have to dig deeper into this resignation which has caused so much controversy. The only explanation for Benedict I 16th failing to resign properly seems to be his belief that in some way he could retain the papacy.

[00:13:43]It is in fact what he said. The main texts of this postulation come from Archbishop Guansine who is Benedict I 16th's longtime personal secretary and prefect of the papal household. In a May 20th, 2016 speech at the Pontiplical Gregorian University in Rome and I'll give you the full link to the full talk which was in German. It was during this presentation of a book on Benedict's pontificate. Archbishop Gansfine explicitly described Benedict's 2013 resignation as creating and I quote a new situation in the papacy. He said there's an expanded or quasi shared petan ministry with two complimentary parts. One active that mean meant Pope Francis and one contemplative meaning Benedict himself. He stated that Benedict had not abandoned the ministry he accepted in 2005 even where while stepping aside from active governance.

[00:14:44]This is the closest thing to an open description of what critics call a bifurcation or split or dual aspect of the papacy with Benedict retaining a contemplative um or prayerbased share of the papacy.

[00:15:02]That speech, by the way, May 20th, 2016.

[00:15:06]Uh and again, you can get the full uh link to the full text over at my blog post. Gensine says this is why Benedict the 16th has not given up either his name i.e. the papal name Benedict the 16th or the white cassich this is why the correct name by which to address him even today that's post this is 2016 now is your holiness which is the title reserved for the pope and this is also why he has not retired to a secluded monastery but is within the Vatican Benedict himself confirmed it he described his resignation as resigning only the active exercise of the ministry while remaining being bound as he said always and forever to the patron office in a new way through prayer being in the enclosure of St. Peter. It's basically the same thing that Gensine himself said. Now let me give you his words. The real gravity of the decision that's the decision to resign was also due to the fact that from that moment on I was engaged always and forever by the Lord.

[00:16:14]Always anyone who accepts the Petran ministry no longer has any privacy. He belongs always and completely to everyone to the whole church. The always is also a forever. There can be no longer there can no longer be he says a return to the private sphere. My decision to resign the active exercise of the ministry does not revoke this. I no longer bear the power of office for the governance of the church but in the service of prayer I remain so to speak in the enclosure of St. Peter St. Benedict whose name I bear as pope will be a great example for me in this. He showed us the way for a life which whether active or passive is completely given over to the work of God. End quote. We have to understand that this just doesn't work. There can't be two popes. There can't be a bifurcation of the office. So the pope is a singular office. Christ himself instituted the Petrine primacy as part of the divine plan for the church. It's not just a ecclesiastical arrangement. Why didn't he for instance make all the apostles popes? He didn't. He made Peter the first pope. Vatican 1, the document pastor eternis from 1870. If you look at chapters 1 to2, the council solemnly defines that, and I quote, "The primacy of jurisdiction over the whole church of God was immediately and directly promised and given to blessed Peter the apostle by Christ the Lord." It is singular in that, and you can tell this, it's uniquely given to one man. The office was given by Christ to Peter alone, not to the college of cardinals, not to the college of the apostles or to multiple persons. Why not for instance to John the beloved apostle? Nope. In fact, the code of canon law at number 331, the bishop of the Roman church in whom constitutes the office that's the moon given by the lord uniquely it says or you could translate that singularly to Peter the first of the apostles and to be transmitted to his successors. You have this idea from the church that it is always a singular office. It's given to one person. It can't be two. Even the second Vatican 2 document lumencium says just as the office granted individually to Peter the first among the apostles is permanent and is to be transmitted to his successors.

[00:18:59]In the Bible you'll read Matthew 16:18-19 and John 21:15-17.

[00:19:07]They use the singular you when Christ gives the keys and the command to feed the flock to Peter alone. After all that, we've now proved the different premises that you can feed into AI to get this answer. Here's the prompt that I used. You're an expert in ecclesiastical Latin, canon law, and the Catholic dogmatic theology. Base your entire analysis on the following premises. Do not introduce any external considerations or additional principles beyond these premises. And here are the premises that I used. Number one, Benedict the 16th was one of the greatest Latinists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Number two, Benedict the 16th had many months to prepare the declaratio.

[00:19:57]Number three, in the declaratio, he deliberately chose to renounce only the ministerium or ministry of the bishop of Rome while explicitly discussing the munas patronum earlier in the text. He did not renounce the munas. Number four, the Petrine office or munus is one singular and indivisible. And number five, canon 188 of the 1983 code of canon law states, and I quote, "A resignation made out of grave fear that is inflicted unjustly or out of malice or substantial error or simony is invalid by the law itself." Remember, a substantial error is in there. So that all that stuff about thinking to bifrocate the office, if that was why he did it, that would be a substantial error and would also invalidate. But back to our AI prompt. Then I asked the AI, perform a step-by-step canonical and theological analysis strictly within the framework of these premises. Analyze the implications of premise 3 in light of premises four and five for the validity of the resignation. and then state the conclusion follows from these premises regarding the validity of the 23 2013 resignation and the status of all subsequent claimments to the papacy Francis and later Leo and here's what you get from two AI bots that I checked from chat GPT first the conclusion from these premises alone the following conclusion follows the 2013 resignation is invalid Pope Benedict I 16th retained the Munus Petronum that's papal office. Three, the apostolic sea was therefore not truly vacant. Four, the election of Pope Francis and any subsequent claimments would lack a valid jeridical foundation.

[00:21:55]In simple terms, if those premises are all taken as true, Pope Benedict V 16th did not actually give up the papacy because he only gave up its active duties, not the office itself. Since the papacy can't be split into parts, that attempt doesn't work. So, his resignation would be invalid. That means the papal office was never truly empty.

[00:22:20]Therefore, Pope Francis and any later popes would not be valid popes under those assumptions. And that was from chat GPT. When I fed it into Grock, here's what I got from the foregoing analysis, which rests exclusively on the five premises supplied. The 2013 resignation is canonically and theologically invalid. Benedict the 16th remained the true and sole pope of the Catholic Church until his death. All subsequent claimments to the papacy, Francis and any later popes are not and never were legitimate successors of Peter. They possess no canonical or theological title to the Petrine office.

[00:23:02]Go try it yourself with an AI bot. For Lifeight News, this is John Henry Weston. Pray for the church and may God bless you.

[00:23:12]Hey my friends, it's going to be an historic night on September the 24th.

[00:23:17]Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be beatified in St. Louis. That same evening, Life Sight News is hosting a special celebratory banquet just steps from the stadium. We will have Bishop Sheen's own favorite miter with us for veneration. Come celebrate Blessed Fton Sheen with lifelong Sheen promoters Terry Barber and Peter Howard. Hotel rooms are already very difficult to find. Most are already booked, but LifeSight has secured a block of rooms for those who join us for the dinner.

[00:23:53]Reserve your seats today. The link is below. We'll see you in St. Louis.