About Unam Sanctam for the Imperfect General Council

For a General Council
What unites the Catholic Church is not opinion, personality or personal convictions. She is a visible society founded by Christ, and must therefore be governed visibly. The Pope is not merely a matter of ceremony. He is the principle of unity established by God, the supreme judge who can settle disputes, safeguard doctrine and preserve the Church as one body.
Many Catholics today harbour at least some doubt regarding the legitimacy of the most recent claimants to the papacy. Yet, if this office is in practice absent, unity becomes obscured. Jurisdiction becomes contested, discipline collapses into improvisation, and Catholics slowly grow accustomed to living as though it were normal for the Church to exist without a visible head whom they can obey with straightforward simplicity. But this is not normal. A vacancy of the Apostolic See, as recognised by numbers of Catholics who have remained faithful, especially if it becomes permanent, is not a stable solution, but …More