- Target:
- Vatican in Exile, Delia, Kansas
- Region:
- GLOBAL
- Website:
- www.betrayedcatholics.com
Owing to the crisis in the Roman Catholic Church which began with the death of Pope Pius XII on Oct. 9. 1958, those refusing to accept the false Vatican II council, the Missal of John 23 and the abolition of the Latin Tridentine Mass ceased to support the church in Rome.
For a time many joined various sects of the Traditionalist movement, attending the Tridentine Mass and believing they were safeguarding Tradition. But major problems with these groups caused constant divisions, and many left never to return.
With time, some came to believe that if they rejected the Roman pope as false, they were obligated to do all in their power to provide the Church with a true pope, since as Pope Pius XII infallibly teaches, the Church cannot exist without a pope. To promote a papal election, a book was written and circulated suggesting that in the absence of any truly Catholic cardinals, the clergy and laity could elect a pope. As a result of the distribution of this work, three laymen and three women gathered to elect a layman, David Bawden, as "Pope Michael" on July 16, 1990.
While the intentions of all involved were sincere, and all believed that they were doing God's will and championing the papacy at the time, the arguments used to support the election were later determined to be contrary to Catholic doctrine. As a result, all but two of Bawden's original "electors" have taken their families and left his "obedience." Despite several requests to put his claims aside, Bawden insists that he is "pope" and refuses to abandon his claim.
Because we believe that this has caused grave scandal to many in the Church, we ask all who wish to see an end to this scandal to join us in seeking a final solution.
We, the undersigned, respectfully request that "Pope Michael," aka David Bawden, abandon his claim to the papacy in order that God be no longer offended and to clear the field for a doctrinally sound solution to the problems plaguing the Church today.
It has been the common and constant practice of the Church, during Her long history, to seek the "resignation" of all those claiming to be pope during times of schism and confusion, to eventually clear the way for the valid election of a true successor to St. Peter. Such a request was issued by theologians and doctors at the University of Paris in 1394, during the Great Western Schism, and again at the Council of Constance, by the clergy of the world.
It has been proven from Divine Law, from infallible Church teaching and from the history of the Church Herself that the laity cannot validly elect a pope; this is reserved to the clergy alone, in an emergency, with the laity only as consultants. Having admitted their errors, and begging God for forgiveness in any scandal given to the faithful, those who have departed from David Bawden hereby urge all who wish to seek true unity among those remaining faithful members of the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church to sign the petition below.
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The Pope Michael: abandon your "papal" claim petition to Vatican in Exile, Delia, Kansas was written by Teresa Benns and is in the category Religion at GoPetition.