Knowra Sedevacantism Sedevacantism Sedevacantism is the belief that the papal see is vacant because one or more recent claimants to the papacy are not legitimate popes. Its adherents generally regard the post–Vatican II hierarchy as lacking valid papal authority.
Second Vatican Council : The Catholic Church’s 1962–1965 ecumenical council, which addressed liturgy, religious freedom, and relations with other religions. Sedevacantists often identify the council’s teachings and reforms as evidence of a break with Catholic tradition.
Papal primacy : The doctrine that the pope holds supreme authority over the Catholic Church. Sedevacantist claims about an empty see depend on what authority belongs to a legitimate pope.
Traditionalist Catholicism : A range of Catholic movements that emphasize older liturgy, devotional practices, or interpretations of doctrine. Sedevacantism is one position within a broader traditionalist landscape, not its defining consensus.
Traditionalist Catholic religious orders : Catholic religious communities that preserve preconciliar forms of liturgy and discipline. Some communities operate independently because they regard postconciliar authorities as illegitimate.
Novus Ordo : The ordinary form of the Roman Rite Mass promulgated after the Second Vatican Council. Opposition to this reformed liturgy helped shape early sedevacantist arguments.
Papal infallibility : The Catholic doctrine that the pope is preserved from error when defining certain teachings on faith or morals for the whole Church. Debates over whether recent popes taught error often invoke, or misstate, the limits of this doctrine.
Society of Saint Pius X : A traditionalist Catholic priestly society founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970. The society criticizes postconciliar changes but recognizes the popes, unlike sedevacantists.
Independent Catholicism : A broad movement of clergy and communities outside the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church and other major churches. Sedevacantist groups may develop independent structures while claiming continuity with Catholic tradition.
Paul VI : Pope from 1963 to 1978, who oversaw the close of the Second Vatican Council and the introduction of liturgical reforms. His papacy is often treated as the point at which the papal see became vacant.
Heresy : A persistent denial or doubt of a truth that must be believed with divine and Catholic faith. Some sedevacantist arguments allege that recent popes publicly professed heresy.
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