Roberto de Mattei, author of The Second Vatican Council: An Unwritten History, offers his thoughts on the Pope’s resignation. His article was published in Italian on the conciliovaticanosecondo.it site, and was translated by Michael J. Miller for SSPX.org, where it may be read in its entirety. Below are the SSPX’s introductory paragraphs.
Note: Professor de Mattei is not affiliated with the SSPX. He has written glowingly of Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, the Brazilian founder of the TFP and author of the justly praised Revolution and Counter-Revolution. Whether Roberto de Mattei has any formal affiliation with any of the autonomous, national societies of the TFP is unknown to me.
De Mattei, and not the copy-cranking illiterati who write for mainstream media outlets, ought to be read by serious-minded Catholics on the subject.
[Professor Mattei] offers a clear understanding of the specific power of jurisdiction held by the Pope, distinct from the power of orders and from the limited jurisdiction of the bishops of the world, and rightly stabs the liberals who wished to reduce to papacy to a primacy of honor and love. The author is certainly no friend of a democratic Church.
Although in de Mattei’s mind, there is as such no question as to the validity and liceity to step down, and signs show that the Pope is aging indeed, the gist of his article suggests more serious problems at the helm of Peter’s Barque. Is this the sign of an “extreme, final, irrevocable symptom of the crisis of a system of government and a form of papacy” (Corriere della Sera)? Do the “questions of deep relevance for the life of faith” referred to by the Pope, allude to the ungovernable situation in which the Church seems be in today?
Those asking the question, “From a theological point of view, how can a person be considered to be infallible and not be infallible anymore?” might want to read the simple, lucid, and theological answer of Professor de Mattei. If the individuals asking that question are Catholic academics, and they don’t understand the Professor’s answer, they should probably consider a career change.
