The Illusion of Materially Catholic Hierarchy: A Failed Distinction.
The See is either: occupied simpliciter or vacant simpliciter. There is no stable middle category. No sophistry can create it from the blues. Prologue : I made a pictographic file of an excerpt from my previous article A ‘Catholic Hierarchy Secundum Quid “? A Misleading Illusion with an accompanying tag “ The See is either: occupied simpliciter or vacant simpliciter.” The excerpt reads: “ if the notion of a “material hierarchy” had any theological validity, it would apply most fittingly… [to the schismatic Greeks]. Yet the Church does not employ such language, nor does she recognize in them any partial or qualified participation in her hierarchical structure.” While some replies were edifying and confirmatory, some were counter argumentative. It is not clear whether the dissenters argue for the sake of argument, as in playing the devil’s advocate, or are genuinely unable to see through the argument. Be tha...