Your Eminence, As You Approach Conclave

An Open Letter from Bishop Joseph E. Strickland

Your Eminence,

Very soon, you will travel to Rome with the intention of electing a Successor to St Peter.

I know that you take your responsibility to elect a true and holy pastor seriously.

Yet, as the conclave approaches, I feel bound in conscience to share my deep concern - which I know is shared by many bishops, clergy, and members of the lay faithful - that this conclave will attempt the election of a man ineligible to hold the office of pope.

Therefore, with the greatest humility, I ask you to keep in mind that the papacy is not a human political institution to be passed between factions but rather a divine institution established by Our Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of souls.

This is also why I take this opportunity of recalling to your mind that there are conditions established by divine law that govern papal elections.

Only an individual of the male sex who possesses the use of reason and is a member of the Catholic Church can be elected to the Roman Pontificate.

And, as Pope Pius XII and the whole Tradition of the Church teaches us, there are three conditions for membership in the Church: (i) valid baptism, (ii) public profession of the Catholic faith, and (iii) obedience to the legitimate authorities of the Church.[1]

A man who does not fulfill these conditions is not a member of the Catholic Church and cannot be elected as her visible head. Any attempt to elect him as pope will be null and void.

Your Eminence, I would also recall to your mind that you have a grave obligation before God to refuse to give assent to the election of any candidate who does not fulfill the conditions established by divine law.

If a public heretic, or a man who is reasonably suspected of being a public heretic, receives sufficient votes, faithful cardinals have an obligation to refuse to accept the validity of his election.

The suffering and confusion of the faithful have now reached a level unparalleled in the history of the Church. As you and I both know, this crisis is causing many men, women, and children to lose their faith, and many more are falling into mortal sin. These are souls for whom Our Lord died and with whom He wishes to spend eternity in perfect bliss.

Your Eminence, if a false pontiff is presented to the world as the pope, I fear that many more souls will be lost. All those cardinals who consent to his invalid election will share that responsibility with him.

Looking back on the experiences of our own lives, how can we doubt that following the teaching of the Church, however difficult it may seem, always brings us safely through all challenges and trials? When we act rightly, Our Lord blesses our actions and leads us forward, one step at a time, on the right path.

I beg you, on behalf of the suffering faithful, not to place your trust in political strategies or human prudence, but only in the Divine Wisdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He is God; He can do all things. Our part is simply to follow His commandments and leave the rest to Him.

May God bless you at this moment in the Church’s history, and may He give you faith and peace in the midst of trial.

Master, doth it not concern thee that we perish? And rising up, he commanded the wind, and said to the sea: Peace, be still. And the wind ceased: and there was made a great calm. And he said to them: Why are you fearful? How is it that you have no faith? (Mk 4:38-40)

Please be assured of my prayers for you and the Church,

Yours in Christ,

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland
Bishop Emeritus

---

[1] Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi, No. 22.