Sedevacantism and the Alleged Loss of the Four Marks

A pivotal point in the Sedevacantist debate is the question of the Four Marks of the Church. Sedevacantists assert that, while the previous six popes have all been anti-popes, there are no valid bishops left in the world, and the whole sensus fidelium has fallen into heresy, yet somehow the Church has retained its Four Marks. It is definitive Catholic teaching from the Apostles Creed on that the Church perfectly possesses these Four Marks, and to say they are lost or not present is to say that the Church is no longer the Church. Thus the Sedevacantist must maintain that the Church preserves the Four Marks despite lacking a Successor to Peter, while the orthodox Catholic must prove that such a scenario would mean the Marks had been lost. This article originally appeared on the Traditionalist blog Athanasius Contra Mundum on September 3rd, 2009. The dispute is between Mr. Ryan Grant representing the Catholic position and one of the Dimond Brothers, Sedevecantists.