The Pillar portal reports that Ed Condon has commented on the resurgence of “Benevacantism” — a theological position asserting that Benedict XVI remained the valid pope throughout the conciliar revolution, and that all subsequent claimants to Peter’s throne are usurpers. The podcast episode, featuring Kate Olivera, frames this resurgence as a “conspiracy theory” now “back in the news.” The article is for paid subscribers, indicating the commercial nature of this content within the conciliar sect’s media ecosystem.
The Deliberate Obfuscation of Heresy
The framing of Benevacantism as a “conspiracy theory” is itself a revealing act of intellectual dishonesty. The Pillar, a media outlet firmly embedded within the structures of the concilar sect, employs the language of secular conspiracy discourse to dismiss a theological position rooted in centuries of Catholic ecclesiology. This is not mere editorial choice; it is a deliberate strategy to delegitimize any position that challenges the legitimacy of the post-1958 usurpers. The very use of the pejorative suffix “-ism” appended to Benedict’s name serves to reduce a serious doctrinal argument to the level of fringe speculation, thereby avoiding any engagement with the actual theological substance.
The conciliar sect has consistently refused to address the arguments of sedevacantism — whether in its Benevacantist or other forms — on their merits. Instead, it resorts to ad hominem dismissal, labeling all who question the legitimacy of John XXIII’s successors as “conspiracy theorists,” “schismatics,” or “crazy.” This rhetorical strategy was condemned in principle by Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors, which explicitly rejected the notion that the Church must reconcile herself with “progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). The Pillar’s approach is precisely this reconciliation — the adoption of secular epistemological categories to suppress Catholic truth.
The Theological Bankruptcy of the Conciliar Position
What The Pillar and its contributors refuse to confront is the overwhelming theological case for sedevacantism. As St. Robert Bellarmine teaches in De Romano Pontifice, a pope who is a manifest heretic ceases by that very fact to be pope and head, just as he ceases to be a Christian and member of the body of the Church. This is not a novel interpretation; it is the common teaching of the Fathers and Doctors, confirmed by canon law (Canon 188.4 of the 1917 Code, which states that every office becomes vacant by the mere fact of public defection from the Catholic faith) and by papal legislation (the Bull Cum ex Apostolatus Officio of Pope Paul IV, which declares null and void the promotion of anyone who has defected from the Catholic Faith).
The post-1958 occupants of the Vatican have, through their words and deeds, publicly defected from the Catholic faith. The conciliar documents — Nostra Aetate, Dignitatis Humanae, Unitatis Redintegratio — contain propositions formally condemned by the pre-conciliar Magisterium. The religious liberty proclaimed at Vatican II was condemned by Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus (Proposition 79: “it is false that the civil liberty of every form of worship… conduce more easily to corrupt the morals”). The ecumenism practiced since 1958 was condemned by Pope Pius XI in Mortalium Animos. The liturgical revolution that produced the Novus Ordo Missae constitutes a public repudiation of the theology of the propitiatory sacrifice as defined by the Council of Trent.
The Benevacantist position — that Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) remained the valid pope — represents a partial recognition of this reality, acknowledging that the subsequent claimants (Bergoglio and Prevost) are illegitimate. However, it fails to address the manifest heresies of Ratzinger himself, who was a principal architect of the conciliar revolution and who, as “pope,” never repudiated a single conciliar error. His theological writings prior to and during his tenure as “pope” contain propositions condemned by the pre-conciliar Magisterium, including the very Modernism condemned by St. Pius X in Pascendi Dominici Gregis and Lamentabili Sane Exitu.
The Symptomatic Silence of the Conciliar Media
The Pillar’s treatment of Benevacantism as a “conspiracy theory” rather than a theological position is symptomatic of the broader failure of the concilar sect’s media apparatus. These outlets — The Pillar, Catholic News Agency, America Magazine, and their ilk — function not as organs of Catholic truth but as public relations firms for the structures occupying the Vatican. Their purpose is not to inform the faithful but to manage perception, to ensure that the faithful remain docile subjects of an apostate hierarchy.
This is accomplished through several mechanisms: the suppression of dissenting voices, the framing of theological questions as disciplinary or psychological problems, and the relentless promotion of the conciliar narrative. When a position like Benevacantism gains traction, it is not engaged with theologically; it is pathologized. The faithful are told that those who hold such positions are troubled, confused, or malicious — never that they might be correct.
The commercial nature of The Pillar’s content — this episode is available only to paid subscribers — further exposes the fundamental incompatibility of the conciliar sect with the mission of the Church. The Gospel is freely given (Gratis accepistis, gratis date, Matt. 10:8), yet the conciliar sect commodifies even its apologetics, placing the defense of its usurped authority behind a paywall. This is not the Church of Christ; it is a corporation selling a product.
The Inevitable Collapse of the Conciliar Fiction
The resurgence of Benevacantism is not a sign of confusion among the faithful; it is a sign that the conciliar fiction is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. The contradictions of the post-1958 era have become too glaring to ignore. The “pope” who declares that “many paths lead to God” cannot be the successor of Peter, who proclaimed that “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The “bishop of Rome” who fraternizes with pagans, blesses sodomites, and promotes religious indifferentism cannot be the Vicar of Christ, who received from Our Lord the commission to “feed My sheep” (John 21:17).
The faithful are not fools. They can see that the structures occupying the Vatican do not teach, govern, or sanctify as the Church of Christ has always done. The resurgence of Benevacantism — and of sedevacantism more broadly — is a natural and inevitable consequence of this perception. The conciliar media may dismiss it as a “conspiracy theory,” but the faithful increasingly recognize it for what it is: the logical conclusion of applying immutable Catholic doctrine to the manifest apostasy of the post-1958 era.
The Church of Christ endures — not in the marble halls of the Vatican, not in the bureaucracies of the conciliar sect, but in the faithful who profess the integral Catholic faith, who worship at the Unbloody Sacrifice of Calvary according to the immemorial Roman Rite, and who refuse to bend the knee to the spirit of the age. As Pope Pius XI declared in Quas Primas, the reign of Christ the King extends over all men, all families, and all states — and no human power, however formidable, can abrogate this divine constitution. The conciliar sect will pass away; the Church of Christ will endure until the end of time.
Source:
Bonus: Crazy or prophet? (pillarcatholic.com)
Date: 24.04.2026