“I Am the inviolable rock, the Corner Stone that makes TWO things into one, the foundation that no man can replace with another. You also are a rock, for you are made firm by My power, so that you are to share in common participation with Me in what is proper to My power.” ~Matins Lesson Viii Chair of Saint Peter homily by Pope Saint Leo~

Praying for the wrong pope, praying for two popes, or not praying for the pope at all (unless the See of Rome were to actually be vacant) is denying the Divinity of Christ and the answer to the “why?” is ALL found in that quote by Saint Leo above.

Our Lord essentially said “I am a rock” and to Peter “you are also a rock” but “I make these two rocks into one” that “NO MAN can replace with another”. Whoever becomes the newly elected rock after Peter, and so on and so forth, becomes one with THE rock, which is Our Lord. Those two rocks, and two names: “thou art Christ the Son of the living God” (Divinity of Christ solemnly professed) and “thou art Peter” are made into one substance. Peter shares in the Divinity of Christ by becoming one with Our Lord and so do the rest of the popes who came after Peter. So shunning the “name” of the pope himself when it has indeed been merged with Our Lord’s IS shunning God’s Divinity. And vice versa. Why? Because they are ONE.

We can shun that name by not praying for Pope Benedict at the Te Igitur of the Mass or simply not praying for him as the only Holy Father. Praying for Bergoglio as a bishop is completely fine; he NEEDS prayers. But praying for him as The Holy Father is denying Christ’s Divinity, because He is ONE with Benedict right now; when you turn your back on Benedict, you are doing the same to Our Lord at this point. Validly elected popes, elected after Peter, sharing in God’s Divinity isn’t heretical but the words of SAINT Leo and solemnly professed by Our Lord and Peter.

So in praying for a man who isn’t the Pope, since Our Lord never became one with Bergoglio (even if Pope Benedict dies) the bishop, is indeed denying Christ’s Divinity; ESPECIALLY while the one who He is STILL one with, this very moment (Pope Benedict), is still alive. Notice how Our Lord also didn’t say: “ I make THREE things into one”. The office of the Papacy can never be shared; it is always two (Our Lord and the newly elected pope made into one). This is why Ann Barnhardt says pray for Pope Benedict “whether he likes it, or knows it, or not as the ONLY pope” because Our Lord only chooses one VALIDLY AND CANONICALLY elected Holy Father at a time.

Side note: I still get very confused when people send me new “Saints” being canonized by Jorge Bergoglio, because he has no power to bind and loose. If Benedict canonized them, it would be a different story, but as far as I can tell, if Benedict made them a blessed, then that’s what they still are, because at this point only BENEDICT has the power to bind and loose. By accepting “canonizations”, “beatifications”, “doctors of the Church”, “servants of God” and “venerable” by a man who is NOT Peter, you are accepting the current state of the Papacy and saying it can in fact be a regency or shared office. Do not fall into this error. Canon Law says that the office of the Papacy itself can never be delegated to another. This is why Benedict broke that Law by thinking that the “governance of the Church” could be shared and passed onto another “dressed in white”. Benedict believing this is okay ultimately breaks another Law: 188- substantial error.

I was reading in the Roman Rite breviary many months ago about “the chair of Moses” and the “chair” meaning doctrine: the “doctrine of Moses” and we can apply the same to Peter’s Chair: the “doctrine of Peter” (or the doctrine of the Papacy). The feast of the Chair of Saint Peter is so pertinent because it is the very “doctrine” of the Papacy being attacked at this very moment. Law after law after law has been violated, disrespected and the attempted “replacement with another”. Remember, Our Lord is sovereign and ultimately, He is allowing this for the “New Jerusalem” depicted in Chapter 21 of the Apocalypse; it’s for the fulfillment of the scriptures. Let us simply stay close to Our Lady with the “practice of Her presence” and put our trust in the Lamb of God because “blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb”. These times are teaching us sacrificial love; the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass teaches us this selfless act. If we have Mary and we have the Lamb, what have we really to fear?