Bishop Victor Bendico of Baguio warned the faithful against a “sedevacantist” group that is reportedly sprouting in one of the parishes in the diocese.
The prelate said the group called “Rosary Confraternity Benguet” is not a Catholic movement.
While praying the rosary is a Catholic practice, Bishop Bendico said the sect “is not related” to any parish and recognized organizations in the diocese.
“I admonish all the faithful to be guided accordingly and strongly discouraged from joining any activities of such a group,” he said.
The group is currently in the jurisdiction of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Benguet province’s Kabayan town.
Bishop Bendico said its followers no longer consider themselves as Catholics as they accused Pope Francis of being “anti-Christ”.
“They deny the validity of the sacraments administered by the Catholic Church,” he said.
The bishop also called for vigilance against groups whose teachings and activities “bring confusion and propagate erroneous, false and distorted teachings to our Catholic faithful.”
“Sedevacantism” is the position held by people who claim that the current pope is not truly the pope because of the Church’s espousal of what they see as the heresy of modernism.
They believe that because of the lack of a “valid pope,” the Holy See has been vacant since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958 or the death of Pope John XXIII in 1963.
The term sedevacantism is derived from the Latin phrase sede vacante, which means “with the chair [of Saint Peter] vacant.” The phrase is commonly used to refer specifically to a vacancy of the Holy See from the death or resignation of a pope to the election of his successor.
