De Mattei Calls For Revising Vatican II
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The historian predicts that Benedict XVI's demission will be remembered as one of the most catastrophic events of our century, as it opened the door to a destructive pontificate, and to increasing chaos in the Church. After Benedict's death and the end of Francis pontificate, he expects the worst situation in Church history.
For De Mattei, Benedict is guilty of presenting himself as "Pope Emeritus," dressing as a "pope" and imparting "apostolic blessings," but De Mattei refutes that Benedict XVI’s demission is invalid and that Benedict, in his letter of resignation, renounced only his “ministerium” (practical ministry), not his “munus” (office) and thus keeping a sort of mystical papacy.
De Mattei calls this "abstract discourses" based on "canonical loopholes" and insists that the papacy is one and indivisible and that Benedict has confirmed the validity of his resignation by calling Francis the only pope.
The real problem for De Mattei are not "two popes" but Vatican II.
He observes that "the hermeneutic of continuity has failed” and calls for a “historical and theological revision" of Vatican II, and says that, in this context, the recent interventions of Archbishop Viganò and Bishop Schneider "are to be appreciated.”