In this episode Trent rebuts the arguments Peter Dimond made in a recent Pints with Aquinas debate on the issue of sedevacantism, or the claim that there have been no valid popes since 1958.
Trent Horn:
In today’s video I’m going to address the arguments Peter Dimond made in defense of Sedevacantism in a recent debate with Jeff Cassman on Pints with Aquinas. To give you a little background, Sedevacantism is the view that the chair of Peter is vacant or there is no valid pope and the current Pope is an illegitimate anti-pope.
There’ve always been periods when no man holds the office of the papacy. This is called an interregnum and it usually happens in the weeks and months that follow when one Pope dies or resigns until another pope is elected. Sedevacantism however, goes much further. It says this interregnum period has lasted for decades and is still not ended. The most common claim which Dimond makes in the debate, is that the last person to validly hold the papacy was Pope Pius XII and that every Pope since 1958, including John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis are anti popes.
The reason I want to make a video on this matter is because Sedevacantism is a spiritually dangerous position. It claims not just that there isn’t a Pope, but that every bishop ordained after Vatican II was never validly ordained, and if they weren’t validly ordained, then none of the priests they ordained are real priests either. This means that it is almost impossible from Dimond’s perspective to find a valid mass or to receive the sacraments. That’s why on his website he wrote the following back in 2014 and doesn’t seem to have updated it.
He said, “We are not aware of any church a Catholic should attend on Saturday or Sunday in order to receive communion, people should stay home on Sunday and pray 15 decades of the rosary. That’s because essentially all the priests are clear heretics and they give sermons or talks on those days. We don’t believe people should receive the sacrament from them during a mass at which they give a sermon.” So basically according to them, you can never receive the Eucharist. This advice can send well meaning Catholics to Hell, and so it needs to be addressed.
But let me share a little more about Dimond and his organization.
Catholic Critique 