Many concerned Catholics today, seeing the ways and teachings of Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pope Francis), are asking themselves, Can that man be a real Catholic pope? From the time of Paul VI, a small contingent of faithful Catholics known as sede vacantists have expressed the gravest doubts that he and each of his successors in turn since then were real popes of the Catholic Church. This minority view, long dismissed by most, now emerges into a wide public view as Jorge Bergoglio seems to go out of his way to puncture every expectation a Catholic should have for a Vicar of Christ. But this latest step in the deCatholicization of the church is merely the fullest flowering yet seen of an erroneous direction taken during the Second Vatican Council. Those looking to find detailed lists of all the abominable acts and teachings of Jorge Bergoglio or his immediate few predecessors or justly deserved ecclesiastical anathemas heaped upon them will doubtless be disappointed. Rather, the severe theological implications of the Sede Vacante findings are explored and vindicated for the first time in a systematic and complete book form. In this volume, a theory to account for the Sede Vacante findings is academically ventured, based on the theological findings presented in the previous volume and on events doctrinally predicted therein and herein documented.

Sedevacantism, American Catholicism's only homegrown "new religious movement" (NRM), argues that the Catholic Church has sunk into heresy at the hands of false popes. It sits at the extremes of two growing phenomena: Traditionalist Catholicism and Independent Catholicism. The only Roman Catholic bishop ever to espouse Sedevacantism was Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngô-dinh-Thục -- but who was he? ARCHBISHOP THỤC, Godfather of Vietnam's notorious ruling clan, key CIA contact, and apologist for a brutal, failing regime. But Thục escaped, leaving behind a mysterious fortune, secret deals, abuse cover-ups, and the Vietnam War. In exile, Thục helped launch the fanatical Palmarian cult (which later canonized Franco and Hitler), inspired assorted renegades, and reemerged as the icon of a new hardline movement called Sedevacantism. SEDE VACANTE: The Life and Legacy of Archbishop Thục painstakingly reconstructs this remarkable story: from French Indochina to the Japanese occupation; from the Communist revolution to the doomed US-backed puppet regime; from Thục's exile to his role in Vatican II. Sede Vacante investigates the origins of the secretive Palmarian cult and analyzes the theological, sacramental, and canonical issues arising from all of Thục's exploits; it explains why, now more than ever, Catholics and non-Catholics alike should be aware of Sedevacantism.

Many concerned Catholics today, seeing the ways and teachings of Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pope Francis), are asking themselves, Can that man be a real Catholic pope? From the time of Paul VI, a small contingent of faithful Catholics known as sede vacantists have expressed the gravest doubts that he and each of his successors in turn since then were real popes of the Catholic Church. This minority view, long dismissed by most, now emerges into a wide public view as Jorge Bergoglio seems to go out of his way to puncture every expectation a Catholic should have for a Vicar of Christ. But this latest step in the deCatholicization of the church is merely the fullest flowering yet seen of an erroneous direction taken during the Second Vatican Council. Those looking to find detailed lists of all the abominable acts and teachings of Jorge Bergoglio or his immediate few predecessors or justly deserved ecclesiastical anathemas heaped upon them will doubtless be disappointed. Rather, the severe theological implications of the Sede Vacante findings are explored and vindicated for the first time in a systematic and complete book form. In this volume, sixteen doctrinal categories are discussed and reconciled to the historical events in the church since Vatican II, showing the essential role of the Sede Vacante findings in sustaining the churchs supernatural claims.

"Papal elections are easily the oldest surviving of electoral processes. The current sequestered form, i.e., within a conclave, dates back, uninterrupted, to 1294. The next election will be the seventy-fourth in this sequence. Historical longevity, with its inevitable repertoire of accumulated drama, though entralling, is but just one of the facets that make papal elections so captivating. The dignified pomp as red-clad cardinals solemnly congregate in Rome, the obstinate obfuscation as to who is in the running to be the next pope, and the eagerly awaited color-coded smoke signals [sfumata] are matchless and enduring. Even the urn that serves as the ballot box is a bona fide work of art by a well known Italian sculptor, in silver and gilded bronze, with an abstract depiction of the 'Good Shepherd' gracing the top of the tilting lid. Thus, to say that papal elections are unique is an understatement of considerable magnitude, hence, the potential to fascinate. That is where 'The Next Pope' comes in. It deals, unstintingly, with the traditions, the norms, the papabili, the rituals, the dynamics, the politics, the mechanics, the laws, the precedents and the pertinent history of papal elections. This handbook will, therefore, both stoke and satisfy the reader's fascination as to how the next pope will come to be elected"--Page 4 of cover

In the Early Modern period - as both reformed and Catholic churches strove to articulate orthodox belief and conduct through texts, sermons, rituals, and images - communities grappled frequently with the connection between sacred space and behavior. The Sacralization of Space and Behavior in the Early Modern World explores individual and community involvement in the approbation, reconfiguration and regulation of sacred spaces and the behavior (both animal and human) within them. The individual’s understanding of sacred space, and consequently the behavior appropriate within it, depended on local need, group dynamics, and the dissemination of normative expectations. While these expectations were defined in a growing body of confessionalizing literature, locally and internationally traditional clerical authorities found their decisions contested, circumvented, or elaborated in order to make room for other stakeholders’ activities and needs. To clearly reveal the efforts of early modern groups to negotiate authority and the transformation of behavior with sacred space, this collection presents examples that allow the deconstruction of these tensions and the exploration of the resulting campaigns within sacred space. Based on new archival research the eleven chapters in this collection examine diverse aspects of the campaigns to transform Christian behavior within a variety of types of sacred space and through a spectrum of media. These essays give voice to the arguments, exhortations, and accusations that surrounded the activities taking place in early modern sacred space and reveal much about how people made sense of these transformations.

Electing the Pope in Early Modern Italy, 1450-1700 offers a radical reassessment of the history of early modern papacy, constructed through the first major analytical treatment of papal elections in English. Papal elections, with their ceremonial pomp and high drama, are compelling theatre, but, until now, no one has analysed them on the basis of the problems they created for cardinals: how were they to agree rules and enforce them? How should they manage the interregnum? How did they decide for whom to vote? How was the new pope to assert himself over a group of men who, until just moments before, had been his equals and peers? This study traces how the cardinals' responses to these problems evolved over the period from Martin V's return to Rome in 1420 to Pius VI's departure from it in 1798, placing them in the context of the papacy's wider institutional developments. Miles Pattenden argues not only that the elective nature of the papal office was crucial to how papal history unfolded but also that the cardinals of the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries present us with a unique case study for observing the approaches to decision-making and problem-solving within an elite political group.

The 19th Century produced some of the most popular coinage in world monetary history, as evidenced by the number of high-profile auctions worldwide bringing record prices and further driving demand for these classic coins. The Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, is designed to meet the needs of researchers, collectors, auctioneers and dealers of this vast range of coins produced during the critically important time. With a more than 40 year tradition of excellence in the hobby, the Standard Catalog of World Coins gathers and vets data from more than 140 worldwide experts to produce the most respected and referenced resource on the subject. Featuring 27,500 actual-size images, the volume covers all mint-issue coins of the world, as well as tokens, patterns, sets and more. Arranged alphabetically by country, each coin listing provides: • Current values listed by date, variety and grade • Universal KM reference number • Detailed descriptions of obverse and reverse designs • Clear images to aid in identification What's more, coins struck in gold, platinum and silver are detailed with: • Total coin weight • Fineness • Actual precious metal weight