Defending the Papacy Against the Orthodox, Sedevacantists, and Hyperpapalists (Guest: Erick Ybarra)

Defending the papacy has always been a primary obligation of Catholics engaging in apologetics, but in the era of a weak pope, it becomes particularly challenging. We'll give practical tips on how to take on all challengers.

Guest:
Erick Ybarra is a revert to the Catholic faith from Protestantism and has spent over a decade studying the doctrinal nature of the divisions that exist within Christendom, particularly between Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, as well as Protestantism. He is a speaker that has appeared on various social media outlets and is the author of the magisterial book, “The Papacy: Revisiting the Debate between Catholics and Orthodox.”

Links:

[Floridiansince]

I am an avid reader. I am also a two year catholic convert- so I am reading lots of catholic books! Love the books of the Saints!

[consecratedsoul]

Would love to see Dr Peter Kwasniewski and Eric Ybarra discuss the Papacy.

[yourboieb]

Any video with Erick Ybarra in it is gold

[troubledguest]

I want to thank both of you for your charity and understanding towards sedevacantists. It is really appreciated. And thanks for having this discussion, it was illuminating.

[Floridiansince]

I am looking forward to reading this book!

[MMichiganSalveRegina]

Lost me at the comparison of JPII pontificate as a mercedes benz. Can't we all agree at this point that the problems didn't start at francis (or benedict, or jpii, ...)

[uchihaitachi]

Ngl, when I heard people complain about Pope Francis, I'm in my head thinking, "Good thing we aren't living during the times when Popes had protestutes" or "Good thing we don't have a Pope that is bringing in protestutes into the Vatican in modern day"

[paulmorse]

Eric made a very strong point when he said that if Francis is not the Pope, since none of the hierarchy have said that, then all the hierarchy would be wrong. - Bishop Schneider’s argument.
I did give a tiny thought to Archbishop Vigano’s position that the validity of Francis’ papacy is in serious doubt. So does that count? Maybe there are several other bishops who hold the same view, but are not saying it publicly.

[dlw]

I’ve struggled with questions about Catholicism vs Orthodoxy lately. I understand that Christ established hierarchy in His Church and that Peter was the first pope. I wonder, though, if the Orthodox aren’t right in saying that the Bishop of Rome is first among equals and should not be elevated to a much higher rank. Could it be that God is demonstrating to the Western Church the problems of giving the pope too much authority? What is God trying to teach us? There is no man made solution to the current problems in the Church. We can turn our faces to Him, fasting and praying in repentance or we can waste time griping and debating man-made solutions while darkness infiltrates the Church until there is only a tiny candle burning.

[rickmiller]

Mostly agree with you both. I still find Erick defends the errors of the current and past popes to a greater degree than I find justified. However, since I completely agree that a Papal authority is needed through history to keep the ship headed in the right direction, not sure I could articulate a clear answer to the messes.

[PrayEveryDay]

wow that's a clippable segment Erick elaborating on understanding the papacy in relation to the body of The Church at 1:01

[erics]

Can we drop the whole Honorius thing please? That was like a one time thing in two thousand years. And it was soooo long ago. I don't know what Honorius was doing and neither does Erick Ybarra. All I know is that Honorius was pope at an extraordinarily difficult moment in history (625-638) when the followers of Muhammad first stormed out of the desert to conquer Palestine and Syria.
The emperor Heraclius was trying to hold his empire together and put an end to Christian infighting and unfortunately got into theology to try to solve the problem and ended up creating a bigger mess. Honorius unfortunately endorsed the enterprise (at the instigation of Sergius who by the way was Patriarch of Constantinople and one of a long line of heretical imperial stooges to occupy that post) to shut everyone up and seemed to fall for the argument that to do otherwise than he did would be tantamount to endorsing Nestorianism. The whole anathema thing is based on a letter written by Leo II almost fifty years after Honorius was dead.

[steveempire]

If the pope cannot teach formal heresy, does this not violate his free will? What if the pope wishes to do so? Will a miracle of God stop him? Will be struck down? How is that not a violation of free will when you say the man, not the office, cannot teach heresy? Doesn't it make more sense that the man loses his office upon teaching formal heresy? That the office is free from teaching heresy, but the man is not?

[JackGordone]

A valid distinction: if Cardinal Fernandez dynamites a house, he can be arrested for destruction of property. If, on the other hand, he digs a trench near the foundation of the other fellow's house but still on Fernandez's own property, his goal may be the eventual destruction of the neighbors' place, but the authorities really can't put the cuffs on the cardinal....

[ThomasMulcahy-fi]

How is it possible that Cardinal Fernandez is Doctrinal Chief? Why did Pope Francis recruit him?

[AdithiaKusno]

Min 55:00 We can't blindly follow a spiritual leader. That's why St Peter told the high priest that he must follow God rather than pleasing men. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. As a Byzantine Catholic at Second Lyon and Florence the councils ratified that divine rights of Eastern patriarchs. We profess neither bodiless nor headless Church. We profess Church with head and body. Christ is our head and the body has three levels: universal, regional, and local. Unless it's universal gathering then it can't be at universal level but must be lower. Ravenna document was signed by all including Moscow. I recommend my Latin brothers and sisters to learn from the Eastern lung as well. In the West the three levels collapsed into one. In the East we only accept the universal level when it's exercised at universal gatherings of all bishops. Unless that happens the authority is not universal but regional to Latin rite alone. This is what Second Lyon and Florence profess. Protestants fall into Sola Scriptura, Sedevacantists fall into Sola Traditio, and Hyper-papalists fall into Sola Papa. The Catholic Church deny emphasizing only one at the expense of all three: Tradition, Scripture, and Papacy. Because all three are consubstantially united then each can't be separated from another.

[ezequielayala]

I think that we don’t believe or give enough credit to Jesus Christ words on Mathew 16:19 !

[CGAPU]

Does he deal with the Cadaver Synod on his book?

[uncomfortabletruth-nrgv]

Why can't the few remaining Bishops elect a pontiff if the sedes are right? Our Lord didn't say how big the church would be be in the end

[rx]

53:25 "The extremity at which this whole papal theory is falsified is when the Pope...obliges the church to damnation, or at least calls us to sin or offend God." Sedevacantists but also traditional Catholics would absolutely say this has happened, if not with the obligation of obedience to V2 or the Novus Ordo, then with Francis.

I would like @Erick_Ybarra to dialogue with such individuals or clarify himself, because I don't think he meant to imply trads might as well become sedevacantists or apostates. I second another commenter's suggestion of speaking with Kwasniewski, even if he's simultaneously a little soft yet radical (wants to undermine V1 lol).