Sedevacantism Rising?

[From my latest article, "Sedevacantism at the Gates?"]

Neither sedevacantism nor sedeprivationism claimed many adherents back when I first embraced the tridentine liturgy. Thus the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) spoke of the “Council’s decrees, constitutions, and declarations, contain[ing], more or less explicitly, some of the same doctrinal errors for which liberals in the past had been condemned,” [SSPX US District official website, “What are Catholics to Think of Vatican II?” (September 23, 2005)] and of the Novus Ordo being “intrinsically evil,” but SSPX adherents were not to publicly question the validity of the post-conciliar Roman Pontiffs. Sedevacantism became the line that older generations of traditional Catholics dare not cross.

Today, things have changed. Surf traditionalist websites for any length of time and you soon discover that younger traditionalists do not shy away from sedevacantism. Among the growing list of relatively young sedevacantist authors are: John Lane, John S. Daly, Mario Derksen, Griff Ruby, and the Dimond brothers. Many others hang around individual blogs, chat lines, message boards and email discussion forums. From my own experience as a canonist, I now field more questions relating to sedevacantism than every other aspect of traditionalism combined. These questions come from other canonists and other laity. If my recent experiences are any indication, sedevacantism is on the rise.

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