By Vicki Yamasaki
Six days ago, Fr. Altman released a video that was seismic in the Catholic community where he made the statement that Pope Francis is not the pope. This matter has drawn widespread attention. Fr. Altman is a friend of mine so I called to talk with him about the video. Below is my recap of the video which is important for context, followed by my take and Fr. Altman’s responses to a few questions I posed to him.
Fr. Altman, an attorney by training and trade before becoming a priest, lays out several important issues and ties them to the very important Council of Trent upon which lays the foundation for our Doctrine of the Faith. Father Altman further uses the fable The Emperor’s New Clothes to help draw an analogy to what he believes is occurring today in the Church with Pope Francis.
In his video, Fr. Altman quotes the dogmatic teaching of the Council of Trent in his opening, specifically Section 13, Cannon 11. In this part of the video Fr. Altman describes quite eloquently how no one may say that someone can receive the Eucharist simply by faith alone for if they do they will be anathema (i.e., damned). The dogmatic teaching of the Council of Trent further states that no pope, cardinal, bishop or priest can change Truth that if you are in mortal sin then before receiving the Holy Eucharist you first must go to Confession. If anyone teaches, preaches or obstinately asserts or in a public disputation defends the contrary he shall be AO ipso (in and of itself) be excommunicated. And the Council clearly stated the person would be automatically excommunicated. Fr. Altman makes the point that the scope of the Council of Trent’s declaration includes any priest, bishop, cardinal or even a pope.
This is an important point Fr. Altman makes because later in the video he draws upon the 20 key points that in his view are “Bergoglio’s New Clothes.” One of these major doctrinal errors that Fr. Altman states is the messages by the pope and other Church leaders that the Eucharist can be received by anyone, even when not in a state of grace. He elaborates on this quite extensively.
In the fable Fr. Altman asks us to ponder of The Emperor’s new clothes we consider where everyone including the emperor is guilty out of ignorance, out of cowardice, or fear of not speaking the truth and allowed themselves to pretend the emperor was wearing clothes. Their cowardice was exposed by the actions of one child who said that the King was not wearing any clothes. Fr. Altman compares this to “Bergoglio” as he states that Pope Francis wears no clothes and how the voice of Truth exposes the Truth that Pope Francis is not a pope.
Fr. Altman then lays out some “facts” for the listeners as he says is an “open and shut case” for not just Pope Francis but for others in his hierarchy. The basis of this argument rests on whether the pope is Catholic or not. He clearly outlines how other parties outside the Catholic faith cannot be Catholic and then clearly states the pope is not Catholic and refers listeners to Matthew 7:15-18 for his reasoning:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.”
He further calls us to action, including himself using 2 Peter 4:1-5:
“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.”
Among the key heretical acts (Fr. Altman’s words) that prompt immediate excommunication include a list of 20. Here are a few:
- The Eucharist can be received by anyone, Catholic, non-Catholic, even when not in a state of grace because of abortion, contraception or cohabitation, or divorced and remarried outside the church, or same-sex “anything” or any state of mortal sin (these statements are committed by numerous Church Leaders).
“Bergoglio’s New Clothes” that conclude Pope Francis is not the Pope, according to Fr. Altman (these are actions directly on behalf of Pope Francis)
- Rehabilitated McCarrick despite knowing his history
- Appointed Archbishop Paglia to JPII Institute, who in turn fired all of the JPII institute staff and then said it would no longer teach Humanae Vitae
- Brought Pachamama into St. Peter’s and held worship service in the garden
- Stated Chinese communism is the model of social justice
- Placed a picture in his office with Jesus dying and descending to Hell to forgive Judas
- Had 5 meetings with an atheist who reported that Pope Francis said “Those people who don’t repent and therefore cannot be forgiven just disappear after death because Hell does not exist rather they disappear.” Pope Francis did not deny nor alter the statement.
- Allowed Biden and Pelosi to receive Communion committing sacrilege
- Appointed Archbishop Fernandez as head of Dicastery of Doctrine of the Faith, a man who had been red flagged in Rome for doctrinal errors and a questionable record of disciplining priests
It is clear from the video that the two bases for Fr. Altman’s final conclusions are The Council of Trent and what St. Bellarmine, a Jesuit Cardinal and Doctor of Church had noted in his book, On Roman Pontiff:
“Men are not bound or able to read hearts but when they see that someone is a heretic by his external works, they judge him to be a heretic and condemn him as a heretic.”
De Romano Pontifice (On the Roman Pontiff) Book 2 Chapter 30
Fr. Altman has in the video stated he exposed some of Pope Francis’ “destructive heresies” and because of this has “excommunicated himself.” He further states “Pope Francis has by what he has said and done and by what he has failed to say and do he has as St. Thomas has taught schismed away from the Church.”
Fr. Altman said “we are not the schismatics because we hold fast to the deposit of the faith. ”He pleads with listeners “dear family, let the scales fall from your eyes.”
He does not ask people to take his word for it but asks people to look to St. Bellarmine who is a doctor of the Church who said:
“A pope, manifestly a heretic, ceases in himself to be Pope and head in the same way he ceases to be a Christian and a member of the body of the Church and for this reason can be judged and punished by Church.”
He then makes his final claim “Bergoglio is not the pope because he is not Catholic but is a fraud, an imposter, a viper from hell.”
CUP’s take on Fr. Altman’s Video (and my discussion with Fr. Altman)
I will caveat my take. I am not a theologian. I will take Fr. Altman at his word when he quotes the Council of Trent and St. Bellarmine.
In fairness to Fr. Altman, he makes excellent points but some of his language simply goes too far. It was just not needed. He can make his point without name calling or going as far as to declare they are eternally damned. Only God can render that judgment. We cannot. If he had left open the possibility of repentance and conversion despite the wrong path that he strongly believes the pope and the cited Church leaders have taken, it would have opened up the opportunity for Divine Mercy which I know Fr. Altman deeply embraces and which now St. Faustina asks of us for each lost soul.
For his excellent points on the Council of Trent and quotes by St. Bellarmine, it should leave us with a nagging question “Why aren’t the Cardinals asking these same questions and doing anything about it?”
There are a few of the 20 points that are deeply concerning such as the Eucharistic abuses that violate directly the declaration the Council of Trent and the adoration of Pachamama that worships another deity.
Frankly, I am surprised Fr. Altman did not bring up the five dubia posed to the pope by the four cardinals expressing their deep concerns over Amoris Laetitia for which no response has yet been received by the pope.
In a quite lengthy conversation, I asked Fr. Altman directly:
“Why did you personally make the statement ‘Bergoglio is not the pope?’ Should you have left that question open for God to answer or the conclave of Cardinals who have the authority? “
In my conversation with Fr. Altman, he inferred that he believed the Church would not decide on the matter. He also stated that Almighty God allows these things to happen along with natural punishments that then drive us to our knees.
I candidly shared with him my belief that he stepped out of his line of authority when he made that statement. I stated that we each must be obedient to our lines of authority and only the conclave of cardinals can choose a pope or can decide when one must go. Fr. Altman shared an interesting perspective that has challenged my thinking when it comes to obedience. He shared a teaching from Dr. Kwasniewski that we can sometimes turn obedience into a weapon and allow evil to manifest. He said our obedience requires a higher calling to God and the Church and the deposit of the faith. In essence Fr. Altman said that we have a higher authority to be obedient to God. He does not believe he stepped out of the line of authority; rather, he said “Bergoglio stepped out when he brought in the Pachamama.”
I just wish at the end of Fr. Altman’s video he could have ended it with more of a question instead of a statement stating “if the Pope is guilty of heresy, now what?” Perhaps if he had ended with an open question he would have elicited more reaction and then been able to gauge the next step.
People have questioned why Fr. Altman is stating the pope is not a Catholic. If you didn’t catch the St. Bellarmine quote in his book On Roman Pontiff it states: “A pope, manifestly a heretic, ceases in himself to be Pope and head in the same way he ceases to be a Christian and a member of the body of the Church and for this reason can be judged and punished by Church.”
So I suspect that from reading the book from St. Bellarmine (who is a Doctor of the Church) Fr. Altman is inferring that if a pontiff is a heretic he himself also ceases to be a pope, a Catholic and a member of the body of the Church.
There has been a lot of speculation bantered concerning whether Fr. Altman is a sedevacantist, so I asked him:
Fr. Altman, are you a sedevacantist?
“Absolutely not,” Fr. Altman replied. He then gave me a primer on Sedevacantism. For 2000 years we have had many occasions where the papal seat has become vacant. But for Sedevacantists, it all began in 1958 when a conclave was held in which Cardinal Giuseppe Siri was elected three times but refused to accept the papal role because he was threatened by the mob and globalists. As a result, they get the lovable Pope John XXIII who then calls for Vatican II. The actions taken both in the conclave and the onset of Vatican II spawned Sedevacantism.
Fr. Altman recognizes all the popes… just not Pope Francis. Therefore, he is not a sedevacantist as many are trying to claim. Fr. Altman’s claims are unique because of the claims of heresy he is lodging.
In closing, the very nature of Fr. Altman’s strong personality is what makes these type of people successful in articulating and fighting against the evil. No one person can possibly have every single ideal personality trait — I much more support someone who may “rub people a little harshly because of their tone” but speaks truth vs. the person who cloaks themselves in false compassion, proclaims heresy but “does it so kindly.” That being said Fr. Atlman’s message was incredibly on point; I just wished he would not have made the conclusion he reached.
As I write this, Fr. Altman is about to record a sequel to this first video. Be on the lookout.
I greatly desire your thoughts on this matter. What did you think of Fr. Altman’s talk? Did he overstep his line of authority? Did you agree with his message but not his conclusion? Did you disagree with it entirely? Please take this survey and I will share it in a special email message back to you all. I value your opinion.