Sirianism OR The "Siri Thesis"
Addressing Claims That Giuseppe Siri Was Pope ("Gregory XVII")
"But take no art in vain researches into pedigrees, and controversies that wrangle over points of law; they are useless folly" — Titus iii. 9 (Knox Version).
©Lúcio Mascarenhas, 2002; Revised June 5, 2005.
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Don Siri or Giuseppe Cardinal Siri, a Genoese, is postulated by one faction of the Resistance as having been the true pope. According to this faction, Siri was elected in the 1963 conclave. Later, the account was modified to say that he had been elected in the 1958 conclave.
According to this faction, Siri was also elected, again, in the 1978 conclaves following the deaths of the antipopes John Baptist Montini and Albian Luciani.
The faction claims that Siri was each time threatened and blackmailed by threats of mass violence against the Church, Rome and his extended family, to resign, which he ostensibly did. However, interiorly, says this faction, he secretly continued with his claim to the papacy, and acted as the lawful underground pope.
The faction says that Siri ensured the continuation of this line by naming underground cardinals who elected him a successor after his demise, though this successor also remains secret and underground.
The faction has not said whether, if this account is true, Siri's first successor lives today or has died and has been replaced by a successor.
The faction calls itself
"Siri-ist". I think that that name is ungrammatical; it should (most probably) be
"Sirianist", taking Sirius as the Latin form of the name Siri.
Sirianism is represented most famously by a group of men centered around the aged Mr. Hutton Gibson, father of Mr. Mel Gibson, the actor, besides a Mr. Gary Giuffre and very probably Mr. Patrick Henry Omlor.
Here is an excerpt of the book
The Siri Project which is scheduled to be published as a book:
That a true pope-in-exile existed until 1989, has been confirmed by those who talked to Siri before his death. Hence, the possibility that he passed on the papacy may be reasonably hoped for by the remnant faithful. The unconditional promises of Our Lady of Fatima, that "the Holy Father will consecrate Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and a certain period of peace shall be given to the world," should encourage all Catholics to pray fervently that a true pope yet exists, and that he will soon come to the rescue of the Church and the world....
The above was written to me in an introductory letter sent by one of the followers of Mr. Giuffre, who seems to be one of the foremost protagonist of the Sirianist cause in the USA. The letter went on to say:
While imprisoned by Balisarius, Pope Silverius (536-37) capitulated to the point that he actually abdicated from his office, in order to allow the antipope Vigilius, invalidly installed by the pope's captors, to become regularized in his possession of the Chair of Peter, so that the Church would not be left without a head. (This was likely Siri's motive in keeping his peace after 1958, as he repeatedly tried to get the conciliar "popes" to teach sound doctrine, but to no avail.)
Historians are, by the way, divided as to whether Vigilius became legitimate upon the resignation or death of Silverius.
There have been other popes-in-exile who would have never recovered possession of the Roman See, or perhaps never even been heard of, had it not been for sympathetic Catholic political powers coming to their rescue. The Catholic world might never have known about Pope Innocent II (1130-38), whose see had been usurped for eight years, first by the antipope Anacletus II (Peter Pierleone) and later by the antipope Victor IV, Pierleone's successor, had not St. Bernard of Clarvaux convinced the Holy Roman Emperor Luther (Lotharius) to send his troops to Rome and force the ouster of the false pope and restoration of the rightful Pope to the Chair of Peter. (In contrast, by 1958, all the Catholic Monarchs of any significance, had either been overthrown or assassinated by the forces of Freemasonry, and thus, there was not one Catholic political power left on earth available or able to defend the claims of the rightful pope against the usurpation of the Vatican by agents of the lodge.)
The hidden events of the 1958 Conclave thus fulfilled the stated goal of the Lodge B'nai - B'rith in 1936: "Before the Jewish King can reign in the world, the pope in Rome must be dethroned."
Regarding the implication that [a certain] Cardinal McIntyre denied that the report of Giuseppe Siri's election was anything more than a "story," it would not be the first time that a cardinal, or the entire college of cardinals, had lied about the results of a papal election. In 1378, the cardinals who had just elected Bartolomeo Prignano, who took the name Pope Urban VI (1378-89), to the supreme pontificate, became afraid of what might have been the reaction to their choice by the Roman mob which burst into the conclave, and announced instead that they had elected the Roman Cardinal Tibaldeschi. The confusion and bitterness that resulted from that one lie of the fearful cardinals, caused the forty-year long Great Western Schism, which produced a succession of antipopes and nearly brought the Church to ruin.
Karol Wojtyla (nor his 3 'predecessor' antipopes) has apparently never heard of the binding, papal bull, Cum Ex Apostolatus Officio, promulgated in 1559, in which Pope Paul IV declared to the universal Church (as quoted, in part, below):
"... if at any time it will be found that... a Roman Pontiff, before his promotion or assumption as cardinal or as Roman Pontiff had deviated from the Catholic Faith or fallen into some heresy, before his promotion or assumption as Cardinal or Roman Pontiff, that promotion or assumption concerning him, even if made in concord and from the unanimous assent of all the cardinals, is null, void and worthless; not by the reception of consecration, not by the ensuing possession of the office and administration, or as if, either the enthronement or homage of the Roman Pontiff, or the obedience given to him by all, and the length of whatever time in the future, can be said to have recovered power or to be able to recover power; nor can (the promotion or assumption) be considered as legitimate in any way. And for those who are promoted... as Roman Pontiff, no faculty of administration in spiritual or temporal matters may be... attributed [to them]... but... all things... done, effected and administered... through them, lack power... and they... without any further declaration to be made, are deprived of every dignity, place honor, title, authority, function, and power...
"It is fit to subject persons, both to secular priests and to priests that are members of a religious order, as well as laymen... to retire with impunity at anytime from obedience and devotion to those thus promoted or assumed and to avoid them as magicians, pagans, publicans and heresiarchs... and... to implore the help of the secular arm against those thus promoted and assumed...
"Therefore, it is permitted to no one to impair this page of Our approval, renewal, sanction, wills of repeal, of decrees, or to go contrary to it by a rash, daring deed. If anyone moreover will have presumed to attempt this, he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul...
"Given the 15th day of March, the 4th year of Our Pontificate."
Plus, we know that the Papal Bull of Pope Pius II, Execrabilis, destroys (i.e. illegetimizes) 'Vatican II.'
More from the author of
The Siri Project's explanation of Cardinal Siri being pope while in exile:
Regarding the possibility of the existence of a true Roman Pontiff, it seems sufficient to quote "The Catechism Explained" (1899) by Fathers Spirago and Clarke, page 224, which says: "The Vatican Council [1870] declares that it is the will of Christ that till the end of the world there be successors to St. Peter." If the conciliar popes have not been popes, then someone must eventually emerge who can prove papal continuity back to St. Peter. Since Pius XII has been dead for 40 years and his last cardinal (Leger) died in 1991, the rightful pope most likely exists now with full claim to office intact (without dependence upon some future, unprecedented means of "election"), but, because of the horrendous persecution against the Church, remains hidden from the public, for now.
The writer of this letter went on to say:
Even if I knew or even suspected who such a person was, I certainly would not broadcast his identity, since I would have no normal means of protecting him from immediate assassination. That the ferocious persecution and hatred against the person of the pope, by the World Powers who usurped his see in our time, as in the past, is not comprehended by most "traditionalists" today, is indicative of how limited is their awareness of Church history and events of this century.
Some of the questions that invariably come, regarding the current research into the present crisis in the papacy, are analogous to complaints that a suspect in a crime has not yet been tried, convicted and sentenced, when the investigation into the criminal act is still in progress. Those who have contributed nothing to the investigation of why the Church appeared to begin a radical change after 26 November 1958, are often the ones who complain the most that the answer to this question is even being pursued.
Since the papacy is the foundation rock upon which the Church was established, I fail to see how any other issue would be more "important" to the remnant faithful today, who long for the Church's glorious restoration. For, the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia (Vol. IV., page 426), perhaps anticipating our own frightful age when apostasy runs rampant in the wake of a heretical council, says: "Such instances have only occurred during times of grave constitutional crisis in the Church, when either there was no pope, or the rightful pope was indistinguishable from antipopes. In such abnormal times, the safety of the Church becomes the supreme law, and the first duty of the abandoned flock is to find a new [or true] pontiff, under whose direction the existing evils may be remedied."
Finally, these sites were provided to me, as being expository of the Sirianist Claim:
See also the Feeneyite site, http://www.refugeofsinners.com, article by Michael Raul Rios:
"Who Bewictched Siri?"
Comments In Rebuttal
Granted that the above account is an accurate summation of the
"Sirianist" position, the following objections rise to my mind:
Giuseppe Cardinal Siri and Cardinal Ottaviani were among the most conservative churchmen at the time of the Great Modernist Schism which has resulted in the foundation of the Antichurch — the Roman Modernist sect.
- The Law of the Church forbids under pain of excommunication, the participants in a Conclave to elect the next pope following the demise or death of the previous pope, to divulge the proceedings of that Conclave. (see Pope Pius XII's Apostolic Constitution Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis, governing Conclaves to elect the next popes). However, this argument would hold true only if the Sirianists accepted the 1958, 1963, and the two 1978 "Conclaves" as valid, which they apparently do. But if they do accept these gatherings as legitimate, then they are bound by the Law neither to divulge, nor to give credence to any who would so divulge, the proceedings of these gatherings. Of course, the Sirianists could claim dispensation from this prohibition on the grounds of greater necessity; but, the question is: Do they make out such a case?
- It is a public fact that Don Siri lived in the public and open unity of the Modernist antipopes. Indeed, as a matter of fact, he presided over the nine-day funerary "Novemdiales" for the Antipopes Roncalli, Montini and Luciani. That makes him complicit in the heresies of Roncalli and his fellow klepts, thus destroys any basis of claiming to be a faithful Catholic. This is inexcusable, and by this, Don Siri publicly and tacitly resigned any claim to the papacy that he may have entertained.
Now carry forward to 1963, at the conclave to elect a successor to Roncalli. The Sirianists tell us that the same thing happened again: Siri was elected, but resigned in the face of threats. Same response as above.
- The proponents of Sirianism betray to me the notion that they are not actually aware or 'in the know,' as it is put, of the facts of the Siri claim so that they can claim that it is in fact so, but that their claim for Don Siri lies in nothing more than a romantic hypothesis. This, if confirmed, is fatal to Sirianism.
- The proponents of Sirianism overlook the fatal fact that "secret Cardinals or Cardinals created 'in pectore' lose their rights as Cardinals upon the death of the appointing Pope." This being so, 'secret' Cardinals created by Siri, if we grant this account, ceased to be Cardinals on his death, and so they could not convene in Conclave and elect him a 'successor'.
- My correspondent seems to labour under the misconception that a papal election can and must be exclusively and necessarily conducted only by Cardinals and not by any other means. This is ignorance: The System of Cardinals and of Conclaves is comparatively recent Church History and purely Ecclesial Law, not Divine Law. And, as the Catholic Encyclopedia itself shows, in the event of the failure of the College of Cardinals, in legal fiction, the College of the Canons of the Cathedral of St. Peter of the Vatican, the right of electing passes successively to the College of Canons of the other Papal Cathedral: St. John on the Lateran Hill, and to the Roman Clergy.
Moreover, the same Encyclopedia, in its treatment of the Council of Constance, tells us of how the Church acted by itself without waiting upon Lateran and the Roman Clergy to contrive a new and innovative and consensual system of electing a new pope to replace the existing rival three lines, resulting in Pope Martin V. This legitimate innovation creates in us the right to use it as a precedent to do the same or a similar thing!
- The Rejection by my correspondent of alternative and extraordinary means of electing the pope is not justified. Moreover, such extraordinary means are precisely justified by the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1908, in the quote that my correspondent quoted above, but which has not been quoted in full.
In sum, the Siri Thesis does not have even one leg to stand up on. I get the distinct feeling that this thing called 'Pope' Siri has been invented by some busy minds who do not know how to differentiate fantasy and reality, basing themselves, not on historical facts but on conjectures and on sheer romances. However desperate our cause is, we can't have recourse to fables to supply us with a pope.
That would be a recipe for surefire disaster.
The real reason for this concoction being whipped up is because its manufacturers believe, mistakenly, that there is no other legitimate way to have a pope supplied to the Church in the present dire situation it faces. That is actually an idea born of ignorance.
In its history, the Church has had to face many similar situations, such as the dispute between Pope Innocent II and his rival, the antipope Anacletus II (Peter Pierleone), or again the Great Western Schism that followed hard on the heels of the 'Babylonian Captivity' of the Popes in Avignon, which dire situation was finally solved only by the Council of Constance, after the Council of Pisa had only aggravated it.
The Church and its theologians and saints speculated on such a subject and delineated the possible means all along Church history. One method out is in the precedent of Constance. Another method out is an extraordinary lay or a mixed lay-clerical election. Such an election would be illegal in normal situations, but in a desperate situation, it would be a legitimate means, even in the precedent of Constance. (see article on Constance in the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1910)
See also the
Innocent vs. Peter Pierleone affair.
Specific Rebuttals
"Amen, amen, I say to you: He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber" — John x. 1.
However, in order to provide for specific antidotes to the errors which are the basis and cause of "Sirianism", it is necessary to isolate the particular erroneous statements, and to refute them. There are four statements that set out the error of Sirianism, and I present them here in the decreasing order of importance, along with their rebuttals:
- If the conciliar popes have not been popes, then someone must eventually emerge who can prove papal continuity back to St. Peter. Since Pius XII has been dead for 40 years and his last cardinal (Leger) died in 1991, the rightful pope most likely exists now with full claim to office intact (without dependence upon some future, unprecedented means of "election")
Rebuttal:
- «If the conciliar popes have not been popes, then someone must eventually emerge who can prove papal continuity back to St. Peter.»
This seems to me to be the heart and very cause of the Sirianist heresy.
It is evident that Sirianism begins here, with this false belief, and that it works backward to manufacture for itself a fabulous hidden "Pope" in which deliberate fable they repose their trust and faith!
Sirianism confuses Apostolic Succession with Papal Succession. Apostolic Succession must be shown to be uninterrupted, by the direct handing down of valid Episcopal Orders from man to man, from the Apostles to our time, until the Second Coming of Christ the Redeemer.
But Papal Succession is another matter altogether, and it is not a part of the definition of "Perpetual Successors" that, as with Apostolic Succession, Papal Succession can only be proven by direct hand to hand descent from one man to another.
As a matter of fact, there are only two known direct, hand-to-hand successions known in the Papal Succession, one allegedly by St. Peter to his immediate successor, and another much later (Pope Felix IV appointed Pope Boniface II by direct appointment as his successor).
As for the rest of the popes, there has always been NO direct hand-to-hand succession from one pope handing over succession to his designated successor, but the successor was always chosen after a period of time, short or long, following the death of his predecessor!
- As far as Catholic Theology and Canon Law are concerned, all those who had been legitimate Cardinals, ceased to be so in October 1958 itself, when they failed in their duty by electing Roncalli. That is when they died as Catholics and therefore also as Cardinals.
- The remark «without dependence upon some future, unprecedented means of "election"» is deliberately snide and an effort to rebut opposite reasoning, not by demonstrating its falseness, but by the coward's tool of ridicule!
But, as a matter of fact, is it certain that the Conclavist movement, which resulted in the election of His Holiness Pope Michael is "unprecedented"? Can our opponents demonstrate that this is so? We for ourselves have demonstrated that it is not so! [e.g., Christ the King Library's Election Update: The Right Of The Universal Church To Vote]
- While imprisoned by Balisarius, Pope Silverius (536-37) capitulated to the point that he actually abdicated from his office, in order to allow the antipope Vigilius, invalidly installed by the pope's captors, to become regularized in his possession of the Chair of Peter, so that the Church would not be left without a head. This was likely Siri's motive in keeping his peace after 1958, as he repeatedly tried to get the conciliar "popes" to teach sound doctrine, but to no avail.
Rebuttal: My correspondent resorts to contemptible "cute"-isms in order to exculpate Siri for remaining in union with the Apostate sect, the Roman Modernist Antichurch, in which he persisted till his death. It is necessary for the Sirianists to so exculpate Siri, for their entire premise is founded on Siri being the legitimate Pope. However, excuse him as much as they may, he is totally inexcusable! There was and is never any excuse for a Catholic to remain in formal ecclesial companionship with apostates, and even to publicly venerate them as his superiors! In doing so, Siri demonstrated by his acts that he did not believe himself the lawful pope, but that he merely believed himself obliged to submit to the Modernist heresiarchs as his lawful superiors!
- The unconditional promises of Our Lady of Fatima, that "the Holy Father will consecrate Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and a certain period of peace shall be given to the world," should encourage all Catholics to pray fervently that a true pope yet exists, and that he will soon come to the rescue of the Church and the world....
Rebuttal: The fulfilment of the requirement imposed by the Mother of God on the Pope and the Magisterium is NOT predicated upon the truth of Sirianism, so that Catholics are not obliged to shack up with this error. As a matter of fact, the Holy Father Pope Michael has officially consecrated Russia to her Immaculate Heart, and has promised a further and fuller consecration when the Episcopacy is restored to the Church!
- Some of the questions that invariably come, regarding the current research into the present crisis in the papacy, are analogous to complaints that a suspect in a crime has not yet been tried, convicted and sentenced, when the investigation into the criminal act is still in progress. Those who have contributed nothing to the investigation of why the Church appeared to begin a radical change after 26 November 1958, are often the ones who complain the most that the answer to this question is even being pursued.
Rebuttal: It is deplorable that so many people are ignorant of basic facts and believe themselves free to prattle without having bothered to study the facts — and thereby compromise the Resistance in the eyes of the immature and newcomers! The truth is that the founders and operators of the Roman Modernist sect are NOT in the process of being defined as criminals, and in the process of having their criminality being defined, but that they have already been so defined, that they have been tried and been expelled, all external appearances to the contrary notwithstanding!
Lúcio Mascarenhas
Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam
Mrs. Stanfill-Benns: Some Thoughts On The Sirian Theory
Siri — No Theory At All
The Siri theorists are presenting their case much like many unscrupulous political / historical conspiracy proponents present theirs.
Such writers entice the misinformed and credulous with elitist, sensational assertions, leave the arguments open-ended to facilitate the debate and enhance the suspense mechanisms as well as allow for future backtracking, and lure the fainthearted and unwary with the prospect of future revelations.
In other words, the Sirians seek to delay any meaningful action that would provide a real solution to the crisis in the Church at all costs and focus on empty promises based on hearsay, speculation, and circumstantial evidence.
It is interesting to note that the last foray the Sirians made into the Trad world occurred in 1988-1990, at precisely the same time the first efforts to restore the papacy were underway.
As Mr. Mascarenhas has noted in his commentary, the entire case for Siri as occult pope can be dismissed by this former cardinal's signature on Vatican II documents and his continued public affiliation with the post-Vatican II church until the time of his death.
Faithful Catholics are warned in Canon 1325 that they cannot behave publicly as dogmatic schizophrenics, to all appearances embracing heresy while professing the faith with their lips.
If there is any doubt as to their true position, Canon 2200 comes into play, declaring that unless the innocence of one suspected of heresy is proven beyond a reasonable doubt, such a one is to be considered a heretic for all intents and purposes.
The rules governing Catholic evidence cannot be employed in this case then, because Siri's Catholicity itself is in question and he is not able, himself, to produce the necessary evidence to the contrary.
In reality, no excuse could possibly suffice for the failure of cardinals to defend the papacy even at the cost of their lives, for this vow they solemnly pronounce at the time they receive their red hats.
Since they are thus bound to separate themselves from the evils of heresy and apostasy, failure to do so most conspicuously constitutes a denial of faith.
To pretend otherwise is to dishonor the blood of countless martyrs shed for this same unchangeable faith for the past 1,970 years.
It is time to call a spade a spade and unmask such efforts to neutralize any attempts to successfully resolve the question of the papacy.
Catholics have been repeatedly commanded to undertake Catholic Action since the time of Pope St. Pius X, who specifically implored them to defend the papacy.
They cannot and must not buy into such delaying tactics that embrace false secular philosophy and totally abandon the Scholastic methods endorsed by the Church.
It is enough to say that those promoting such novelties are sadly deluded.
God forbid the situation be actually worse than it seems, verifying St. Jude's warning of "Certain men, secretly entered in..."
An Unabashed Ultramontanist
Teresa Stanfill-Benns
©Lúcio Mascarenhas, 2002; Revised June 5, 2005.
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