Here is a link to the original publication of this document, “Call for the Resignation of Pope Francis”, found at Rorate Caeli. I plan to offer a series of brief posts criticizing this Call, on several grounds. Today, I’ll discuss the lack of due process and authority by the signatories.

Due Process and Establishment of Guilt

In the United States, we have a right to due process of law, with very specific requirements from law and precedent. Under the eternal moral law, I believe that all human persons have a general right to due process (which might vary in its specific application in various nations and legal jurisdictions). And this right to due process includes the Roman Pontiff. It is contrary to his fundamental human rights to assert that he is certainly guilty AND to assert what the penalty must be (that he must resign or be deposed in some way). This assertion of guilty and penalty took place with no due process. None of the 17 signatories are Cardinals or Bishops, and only one is an ordained member of the clergy. The ordained clergy of the Roman Catholic Church currently includes over a hundred Cardinals, thousands of Bishops, and hundreds of thousands of priests and deacons. Only one signed this document declaring the Roman Pontiff guilty of a long list of serious crimes and heresies.

The signatories have usurped an authority in the Church which they do not possess. They have declared the Roman Pontiff guilty without any authority or any due process. They have assumed his guilt based on various claims largely made on the internet. They have no investigative or legal authority in the Church, nor any authority over the Pope.

Moreover, they had the gall to claim that the Cardinals and Bishops would be guilty actual mortal sin for refusing to do as the signatories have suggested regarding Pope Francis.

“It is a mistake and a sin for faithful bishops and cardinals to do nothing, in the hope that Pope Francis will soon die and be replaced by someone better. Pope Francis is causing unremitting harm day by day to souls and the Church. The faithful have a right to expect their believing shepherds to protect them from his attacks. These shepherds have a duty before God to protect them, and failure in this duty will bring eternal punishment upon them.”

A person only received eternal punishment if they die unrepentant from actual mortal sin (leaving aside the question of dying in original sin alone). The signatories are accusing any Cardinals and Bishops of actual mortal sin, and assuming death without repentance by claiming that failing to do as the 17 signatories have suggested will result in eternal hellfire for them. This type of arrogance is extreme. Not only do the signatories make themselves out to be judges over the Pope, the Cardinals, and the Bishops, but they presume to judge the Cardinals and Bishops, in advance, to be guilty of actual mortal sin without repentance merely for not doing as the signatories claim they must.

This type of condemnation, of the Roman Pontiff first, and of the Cardinals and Bishops second, is contrary to the moral law as it assumes guilt and punishment without authority, due process, or any competency in these matters.

Ronald L Conte Jr