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| Opinion: The Purge at LifeSite News - Why John-Henry Westen Had to Go |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-09-2025, 06:51 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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Looks like LifeSiteNews is following the conciliar SSPX's playbook - do not critically examine Rome's actions in the light of tradition:
The Purge at LifeSite News: Why John-Henry Westen Had to Go
Trad Inc. is now firing its own founders for questioning the Synodal Pope. Welcome to the era of enforced silence.
![[Image: https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.ama...54x400.png]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!mm9U!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb46264e1-b267-484f-b6c0-0dc20b2de8b1_354x400.png)
Chris Jackson via Hiraeth in Exile | July 9, 2025
Jul 09, 2025
John-Henry Westen, co-founder and longtime Editor-in-Chief of LifeSiteNews, is out. Not retired. Not taking a break. Not transitioning to another role. He’s been removed. Voted out by a board of directors at the very institution he helped build. Fired, then repackaged as a “sabbatical.”
The official statement from LifeSite tries to soften the blow with religious language, “extensive prayer,” “a commitment to best serve our donors,” but don’t be fooled. This was a political execution dressed up in piety. And it reeks.
Let’s be clear: Westen didn’t suddenly become ineffective, immoral, or irrelevant. He committed the one unforgivable sin in today’s Trad Inc. ecosystem: he publicly questioned the Synodal Pope.
“God have mercy on Thy Church,” The Final Straw
In the days leading up to his removal, Westen posted a string of pointed critiques of Leo XIV on X. He questioned the motives behind the new “care for creation” Mass. He raised alarms about Leo’s appointments, particularly the pallium being placed on Cardinal McElroy. He shared Archbishop Viganò’s plea for Leo to abandon “Bergoglian synodality.” He even speculated that Leo’s election was engineered to bring disillusioned U.S. donors back into the Vatican fold.
He knew what he was doing. He saw the red flags, and in good conscience, he couldn’t stay silent.
And for that, he’s gone.
Who Controls the Movement Now?
Let that sink in. A man who co-founded LifeSiteNews, one of the most prominent outlets defending Catholic tradition and life, can now be removed by a board. Not for scandal. Not for doctrinal error. But for questioning the very direction of a papacy that is aggressively advancing the same program as Francis under a more traditional exterior.
This is not just an internal personnel shake-up. It’s a signpost. The purge is real.
And Westen wasn’t the only casualty.
Stephen Kokx, a faithful Catholic journalist and longtime contributor to LifeSite, announced a day earlier that he too was “forced to seek new employment.” The implication was obvious: dissent is no longer tolerated, even when that dissent is loyal to the Deposit of Faith.
Trad Inc. Has Been Compromised
We are witnessing the consolidation of a new orthodoxy; not the orthodoxy of the saints, martyrs, and councils, but the orthodoxy of strategic silence, selective outrage, and the unquestionable legitimacy of Synodal Rome.
Trad Inc. has learned well from the Vatican II Church it once claimed to oppose: centralize power, marginalize dissenters, and replace principles with narrative control. Today’s conservative Catholic media class is no longer a resistance. It’s an HR department for Vatican-approved optics.
First came the pivot: the hushed deletion of old critiques, the sudden embrace of Leo’s “reverence.” Then came the justifications: “We mustn’t appear hostile to the papacy,” they said. “Let’s give him time,” they pleaded. And now, the punishment: fire those who refuse to comply.
We’ve gone from Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi to Lex Placendi: the law of appeasement.
The Conspiracy of Silence Becomes a Campaign of Suppression
What has happened to the Traditional Catholic movement?
This is not just a course correction, but a capitulation. Two months ago, figures across the trad landscape, especially Westen, were rightly warning that Leo XIV, then Cardinal Prevost, was a key player in the ouster of Bishop Strickland, a man targeted specifically for resisting Traditionis Custodes.
That same Leo now occupies the Chair of Peter, and within 24 hours, the resistance collapsed. Influencers, bloggers, and even bishops began parroting lines about “hope,” “unity,” and “dignity of office.” Some went further, demanding silence from the very people who had been right all along.
We see what happens to those who play along.
And now we see what happens to those who won’t.
Westen didn’t “retire.” He didn’t step aside. He was ousted, reportedly by a narrow 5–4 board vote, according to journalist Edward Welsch. A faithful man of conviction, shown the door by his own institution, for failing to conform to the new regime’s standards of docility and deference.
A Lesson in Power—and How to Lose It
Let this be a cautionary tale to anyone founding an apostolate, organization, or publication.
Never give away controlling ownership. Never let “a board” or “outside advisors” have the final say on the mission you built.
Because if you do, it can, and will, be taken from you. The very structure you built to fight the revolution will be infiltrated and turned against you. Look no further than the Church itself after Vatican II: the same pattern, the same smiling coups, the same weaponization of authority in the name of “prudence” and “unity.”
Westen built LifeSite as a bastion of truth in a collapsing Church. But in the end, it became just another institution that chose survival over fidelity.
This Isn’t Just About Westen. It’s About You.
If they can do this to John-Henry Westen, they can do it to anyone.
The message is loud and clear: fall in line, or be removed. Bend the knee to the Synodal Church, not to Christ the King, and you’ll be allowed to speak. Critique only what the narrative permits. Praise Leo’s Latin vestments, but never question the continuation of Francis’s agenda. Accept the illusion. Promote the program.
But if you dare to see, and say, that nothing has changed except the packaging, you’ll be labeled divisive. Dangerous. Disloyal.
And then they’ll come for your job.
Consider John-Henry Westen’s final X posts before he was fired. This is the truth the LifeSiteNews “board” does not want you to hear:
Let the Faithful Take Heed
The crisis is not just in the Vatican anymore. It’s in our movement. And the greatest danger is no longer the heretics we oppose, it is the betrayal of those we thought were allies.
LifeSiteNews may have removed John-Henry Westen from its masthead, but he has already joined a far more important list: the growing number of voices who told the truth and paid the price.
They fired him for asking the questions you’re not allowed to ask. Which means it’s up to the rest of us to keep asking them.
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| Vatican pushes ‘new way of being Church’ in 3-year Synod rollout plan |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-08-2025, 07:21 AM - Forum: Pope Leo XIV
- Replies (1)
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Vatican pushes ‘new way of being Church’ in 3-year Synod rollout plan
The document is intended to be read alongside, and indeed formed by, the final document from the Synod on Synodality's October 2024 session in Rome.
![[Image: synod-tables.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/synod-tables.jpg)
Synod on Synodality members. ©MichaelHaynes
Michael Haynes
Jul 7, 2025
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews [slightly adapted, not all hyperlinks included from original]) — The Vatican’s synod office has issued guidelines for how to implement the three-year implementation phase of the multi-year Synod on Synodality, emphasizing that it is a manner of “growing in a new way of being Church.”
As announced last week, on July 7 the General Secretariat of the Synod published a 14-page document on how the Catholic Church at the local level ought to continue with Pope Francis’ multi-year Synod on Synodality. It comes amid much continued speculation about how new Pope Leo XIV will respond to the synod and what line he might take with it.
The document is intended to be read alongside, and indeed formed by, the final document from the synod’s October 2024 session in Rome. That meeting served as the culmination of the synod, which began in the autumn of 2021.
In March, from his hospital room, Pope Francis approved a three-year extension to the synod by virtue of the “implementation phase,” with a focus on the local churches, and with a concluding event of an ecclesial assembly in Rome in 2028.
Speaking at the time, the Secretary General of the Synod’s General Secretariat – Cardinal Mario Grech – said the new three-year stage was “to make exchanges and dialogue between Churches and within the Church concrete.”
Now in his new document, certain themes and suggestions are presented for the “local churches” to be able to live the new synodal style, as promoted by the Vatican. Ultimately, the new document is described as providing the plan on how to bring into effect this new manner of “being Church” in preparation for the October 2028 ecclesial assembly.
The synod has been highly controversial from the outset. Billed as being a way for the Church to understand itself and exist, the process has sought participation and advice from non-Catholics and those who no longer practice the faith. It has been mired by a number of campaigns for the overturning of established Church teaching – such as on the female diaconate, priestly celibacy, and the practicalities of Church authority.
Much of these issues have been consigned to a series of study groups which will now deliver their findings by the end of the year. One of the 10 study groups instituted by Pope Francis is the most controversial of the synod since it is given to the topic of the female diaconate – as requested at the October 2023 synod session.
But a revelation from today’s implementation guide is that Pope Leo has quietly formed two new study groups: dealing with “The Liturgy in Synodal Perspective” and “The Statute of Episcopal Conferences, Ecclesial Assemblies and Particular Councils.”
A “synodal liturgy” was highlighted by the October session’s final document. “Deepening the link between liturgy and synodality will help all Christian communities, in the diversity of their cultures and traditions, to adopt celebratory styles that make visible the face of a synodal Church,” the text reads. Questioned on this point during the synod briefing Saturday night, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich stated that there were no plans for a liturgical “revolution.”
Leo has already shown himself more attuned to liturgical tradition in remarking that the West needs to rediscover a “sense of mystery” in the liturgy. It remains to be seen what a synodal-style liturgy might resemble.
As outlined by the synod office today, the final document from October is “the reference point of the implementation phase” and hence the Vatican opined “it is essential to promote its knowledge, especially by members of synodal teams and those who at different levels are called to animate the implementation process.”
The final document, wrote the synod secretariat, is “an organic text, animated by its own internal dynamism as a consequence of the long journey of listening, confrontation and discernment of which it is the fruit.”
The synod has long been posited against the backdrop of the Second Vatican Council and described as the extension, or rather the implementation, of that event. This aspect the synod office re-iterated today, writing:
Quote:Listening to the Holy Spirit, remaining within the ecclesiological vision that the final document receives from the Second Vatican Council, the proper goal of the implementation phase is to discern steps to convert culture, relationships and ecclesial practices, and consequently to reform structures and institutions. This is a crucial point in the whole process: “Without concrete changes in the short term, the vision of a synodal Church will not be credible, and this will alienate those members of the People of God who have drawn strength and hope from the synodal journey” (final document, no. 94).
Leading synod officials have decried resistance to or skepticism of the synod, and their urgency for the synod to be defining for the Catholic Church is contained again in the implementation phase document. They write:
Quote:At the same time – and here we are referring to the whole Church and local Church polarity mentioned above – the need to move forward together as the whole Church is also alive. Indeed, this is the main reason for launching the process of accompaniment and evaluation.
Listing 11 ways to accomplish this, the synod office includes mention of promoting “synodal spirituality,” increased lay roles of leadership, synod-style decision making at every level, and making adult conversion courses synodal in nature also:
Defending the process, the secretariat argued that “the synodal method is not reduced to a series of meeting management techniques, but is a spiritual and ecclesial experience that implies growing in a new way of being Church, rooted in the faith that the Spirit bestows his gifts on all the Baptized, beginning with the sensus fidei.”
Throughout the multi-year synod, its leaders have spoken about being “surprised” by “the Spirit”: something which critics have attested means simply attempting to argue against Catholic teaching on various issues. But doubling down on their theme, the synod team’s new document states that:
Quote:The synodal method has allowed us to allow ourselves to be surprised by the Holy Spirit and to reap unexpected fruits in the consultation and listening phase, as well as during the unfolding of the sessions of the Synodal Assembly, arousing the amazement and enthusiasm of many participants, as evidenced by many syntheses and documents received: communion among the Faithful, among the Pastors and among the Churches has been nurtured by participation in synodal processes and events, renewing the momentum and sense of co-responsibility for the common mission. This empowers us to look with confidence at the path ahead in the coming years, starting with the Jubilee appointment of synodal teams and participation bodies.
The Synod on Synodality has been beset with criticism from influential Church prelates such as Cardinals Raymond Burke, Joseph Zen, and Gerhard Müller, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, and former U.S. Nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó.
Indeed, addressing the conclave which elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Zen described the synod’s outcome as a “matter of life and death” for the Church.
Leo was a participant in the synod, and is particularly close to key leaders of the synod’s governing office. Some of his speeches have suggested he may use the synod to gently re-emphasize Catholic teaching which was made vague under Pope Francis, but as yet, his young pontificate contains many unanswered questions.
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| The Lavender Legacy Continues: Leo XIV Endorses Fiducia Supplicans |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-06-2025, 06:19 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
- Replies (1)
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The Lavender Legacy Continues: Leo XIV Endorses Fiducia Supplicans
The pontificate of Francis lives on. The papal reboot Trad Inc. promised was a fantasy.
![[Image: https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.ama...2x392.jpeg]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!cxRZ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc8762546-b281-4c40-ac46-ec873a8fa445_392x392.jpeg)
Chris Jackson, Hiraeth In Exile [Emphasis mine] | Jul 06, 2025
Well, that didn’t take long.
Not even two months after the white smoke, and already the Vatican’s top doctrinal officer has made it crystal clear: the controversial Fiducia Supplicans, Francis’s infamous 2023 document that legitimized blessings for same-sex couples, will “absolutely” remain in force under Leo XIV.
So much for reform.
The Lavender Curtain Doesn’t Close
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, still head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, told Il Messaggero’s Franca Giansoldati:
Quote:“The Declaration will remain… Fiducia Supplicans will absolutely not fall into oblivion.”
Not “revised.”
Not “reconsidered.”
Not “suspended pending further synodal reflection.”
Nope. Just reaffirmed, defended, and permanently installed.
This follows Fiducia Supplicans’s literal text, which opens the door to “blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples” under the guise of “non-liturgical” gestures. As if wrapping modernist rebellion in the language of nuance somehow justifies the theological rot.
Austen Ivereigh boasted the same on X:
Quote:“The blessings of gay people in relationships… will remain.”
Rich Raho added,
Quote:“Received in audience just 2 days ago by Pope Leo, DDF Prefect Cardinal Fernandez forcefully says Fiducia Supplicans ‘will remain’…”
So let’s be honest: Fiducia has not just survived the Francis era, it is being institutionalized under Leo. That means any traditionalist pundit, bishop, or blogger still claiming we’ve entered a new era of “reform” is either naive or willfully blind.
Trad Inc. Did a 24-Hour Pivot and Now We See Why
When Leo XIV was elected, many Trad Inc. voices, who just days earlier warned about Fernandez, LGBTQ blessings, and Francis’s doctrinal chaos, suddenly pivoted to a hopeful, even glowing tone.
“Maybe this is our Benedict XVII!”
“Let’s give him time.”
“His voice is so pastoral!”
That sudden shift wasn’t based on any doctrinal clarification or papal repentance. It was based on papal aesthetics, low expectations, and above all, a desperate hunger for permission to cling to Rome no matter how corrupted it becomes.
They told us Leo might rein in the synodal madness. That he would at least walk back Fiducia Supplicans. That he wouldn’t double down on Francis’s worst excesses.
Wrong on every count.
Trad Inc. sold you a fairytale. And they did it fast, within hours of Leo’s election, because they didn’t want to be caught on the wrong side of papal access, TLM favors, or Vatican press credentials.
Africa and the Resistance That Rome Ignores
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Kinshasa, Congo, voiced what many faithful Catholics are thinking:
Quote:“For us, it remains a fundamental doctrinal problem… It was a surprise, experienced as a sort of imposition.”
Africans, he explained, are dealing with poverty, war, and persecution. They’re not looking for blessings of moral irregularity, they’re looking for fidelity, for survival.
Quote:“This topic, related to gay blessings, is more for you Europeans.”
He rejects criminalizing homosexuality, but also rejects pretending it is compatible with Church teaching. That’s the mature, Catholic position. It’s the one being ignored.
What’s more, Ambongo emphasizes that Africans aren’t the only ones resisting Fiducia, many European episcopates have quietly shelved it too.
But the Vatican? They’re marching forward with PRIDE flags and pastoral gaslighting.
Fernandez: Still in Power, Still in Charge
This whole debacle proves something more disturbing: Fernández is still the gatekeeper of doctrine. The man who ghostwrote Amoris Laetitia, shoved Traditionis Custodes down our throats, and gave us Fiducia Supplicans: he’s still calling the shots under Leo.
“Absolutely not,” he said, when asked if Fiducia might fade away.
That’s a full-throated affirmation of Francis’s theological revolution.
And remember, Leo could have fired him.
So far he hasn’t.
Final Thoughts: The Real Continuity
They said Leo would restore continuity with tradition.
They were right, but not in the way they meant.
This is continuity with Vatican II. Continuity with Amoris. Continuity with Traditionis Custodes. Continuity with Pachamama. Continuity with rainbow stoles on rainbow altars and the deconstruction of Catholic moral theology in real time.
It’s the continuity of apostasy.
Let’s be blunt: Fiducia Supplicans is no longer a temporary anomaly, but the new normal in the conciliar church. And Leo XIV has just signed off on it.
You were warned.
You were mocked for saying it.
And now you’re watching it unfold.
So what will Trad Inc. say now?
Will they issue a correction?
Will they admit they were wrong?
Don’t hold your breath.
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| Pius X to Prelates: ‘Promote Sound Teaching & Spotless Morals’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-06-2025, 06:10 AM - Forum: Resources Online
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Pius X to Prelates: ‘Promote Sound Teaching & Spotless Morals’
Encyclical E Suprimi of October 4, 1903.
TIA | July 5, 2025
In his first encyclical E Supremi addressed to all the Patriarchs and Prelates of the Church, Pope Pius X gives a formula for the restoration of society, that is to restore all things in Christ. He confesses himself terrified at his selection because of the “disastrous state of human society today.”
Facing this “great perversity,” which seems to be “a foretaste of the the evils reserved for the latter days,” the Saint encourages the Bishops to act, to call men back to the empire of God through Jesus Christ & the Holy Church He instituted, and no other. He encourages the Hierarchy to form holy and orthodox priests by keeping their “seminaries aright so that they may flourish equally in the soundness of their teaching and in the spotlessness of their morals;” as well as to give the laity solid religious instruction. He ends by ordered the Prelates to have the Rosary publicly recited daily in all the churches throughout the month of May.
Let us pray Pope Leo XIV reads these words, and might issue a similar exhortation to the progressivist prelates whom he governs in our much more perverse days.
Pope St. Pius X:
"Then again, to omit other motives, We were terrified beyond all else by the disastrous state of human society today. For who can fail to see that society is at the present time, more than in any past age, suffering from a terrible and deep-rooted malady which, developing every day and eating into its inmost being, is dragging it to destruction?
"You understand, Venerable Brethren, what this disease is – apostasy from God, which truly is allied with ruin, according to the word of the Prophet: "For behold they that go far from Thee shall perish." (Ps. 72:17) We saw therefore that, in virtue of the ministry of this Pontificate, which was entrusted to Us, We must hasten to find a remedy for this great evil, considering as addressed to Us that Divine command: 'Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant" (Jerem. 1:10). But, cognizant of Our weakness, We recoiled in terror from a task as urgent as it is arduous. …
"You see, then, Venerable Brethren, the duty that has been imposed alike upon Us and upon you of bringing back to the discipline of the Church human society, now estranged from the wisdom of Christ; the Church will then subject it to Christ, and Christ to God. … And if Our desire to obtain this is to be fulfilled, we must use every means and exert all our energy to bring about the utter disappearance of the enormous and detestable wickedness, so characteristic of our time – the substitution of man for God; this done, it remains to restore to their ancient place of honor the most holy laws and counsels of the Gospel; to proclaim aloud the truths taught by the Church, and her teachings on the sanctity of marriage, on the education and discipline of youth, on the possession and use of property, the duties that men owe to those who rule the State; and lastly to restore equilibrium between the different classes of society according to Christian precept and custom. …
"The times we live in demand action – but action which consists entirely in observing with fidelity and zeal the Divine Laws and the precepts of the Church, in the frank and open profession of Religion, in the exercise of every kind of charitable works, without regard to self interest or worldly advantage. … Oh! when in every city and village the law of the Lord is faithfully observed, when respect is shown for sacred things, when the Sacraments are frequented, and the ordinances of Christian life fulfilled, there will certainly be no more need for us to labor further to see all things restored in Christ.
Nor is it for the attainment of eternal welfare alone that this will be of service – it will also contribute largely to temporal welfare and the advantage of human society. For when these conditions have been secured, the upper and wealthy classes will learn to be just and charitable to the lowly, and these will be able to bear with tranquillity and patience the trials of a very hard lot; the citizens will obey not lust but law, reverence and love will be deemed a duty towards those that govern, "whose power comes only from God" (Rom. 13:1).
"And then? Then, at last, it will be clear to all that the Church, such as it was instituted by Christ, must enjoy full and entire liberty and independence from all foreign dominion; and We, in demanding that same liberty, are defending not only the sacred rights of Religion, but are also consulting the common weal and the safety of nations. For it continues to be true that "piety is useful for all things" (1 Tim. 4:8) – when this is strong and flourishing "the people will" truly "sit in the fullness of peace" (Is. 22:18). …
"Let us turn, too, to the most powerful intercession of the Divine Mother – to obtain which We, addressing to you this Letter of Ours on the day appointed especially for commemorating the Holy Rosary, ordain and confirm all Our Predecessor's prescriptions with regard to the dedication of the present month to the august Virgin, by the public recitation of the Rosary in all churches; with the further exhortation that as intercessors with God appeal be also made to the most pure Spouse of Mary, the Patron of the Catholic Church, and the holy Princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul.
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| Croatian bishops consecrate nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, marking 125th anniversary |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-03-2025, 04:34 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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Croatian bishops consecrate nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, marking 125th anniversary
The bishops of Croatia consecrated the country to the Sacred Heart again last week, commemorating a similar event in 1900.
Young Croatians also made a solemn consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
![[Image: shutterstock_2603635771.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/shutterstock_2603635771.jpg)
Statue (19th century) of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.
Shutterstock
Jul 2, 2025
ZAGREB, Crotia (LifeSiteNews) — The Catholic bishops of Croatia led their nation in a consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus last Friday on the solemnity celebrating this image of the outpouring love of Jesus Christ for His people.
This occasion also commemorated the 125th anniversary of a similar event in 1900 when approximately 160,000 Croatian consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a similar way.
Friday’s consecration took place in churches and chapels across the nation at 7:00 p.m., initiated by church bells ringing for five minutes followed by Holy Mass.
According to Catholic News Agency, after the prayer following Holy Communion, the clergy led the faithful in the formal Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“In Zagreb, the faithful gathered at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus while EWTN affiliate Laudato TV broadcast live from the Church of Our Miraculous Lady of Sinj in the small town of Sinj,” the Catholic outlet reported.
In commemoration of the universal Jubilee Year 2025, the Croatian Bishops’ Conference decided to renew the traditional devotion at their 69th Plenary Assembly in November 2024.
“We, Croatian believers, trusting in your goodness, come to you to open for us once again your Most Sacred Heart,” the consecration prayer begins, addressing Christ as “Wisdom, Love, and the Word of the Father.”
Bishop Petar Palić, head of the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno, said, “This consecration comes as a response to the spiritual needs of our time. It is an act of dedication, trust and faithfulness to the heart of our Lord.”
On Saturday, following the Sacred Heart consecration, a solemn consecration of young people to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was also held at the Church of Croatian Martyrs in Udbina. This was the first known consecration of its kind in the region.
Apostolic nuncio to Croatia, Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, presided over the ceremony at 3:00 p.m., which was also broadcast by Laudato TV. This event was organized by priests of the Marian Priestly Movement in Croatia.
The Church’s Directory on Popular Piety and Liturgy (DPPL) affirms, “Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a wonderful historical expression of the Church’s piety for Christ, her Spouse and Lord: it calls for a fundamental attitude of conversion and reparation, of love and gratitude, apostolic commitment and dedication to Christ and His saving work. For these reasons, the devotion is recommended and its renewal encouraged by the Holy See and by the Bishops. Such renewal touches on the devotion’s linguistic and iconographic expressions; on consciousness of its biblical origins and its connection with the great mysteries of the faith; on affirming the primacy of the love of God and neighbour as the essential content of the devotion itself.”
During the prayer last Friday, Croation families, married couples, young people, children, clergy, parishes, religious communities, the sick and elderly along with professionals across various fields were consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The DPPL also emphasizes the importance of “personal consecration, described by Pius XI as ‘undoubtedly the principal devotional practice used in relation to the Sacred Heart.’”
The original Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque can be found here.
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| Vatican report reveals most bishops did not want Pope Francis’ Latin Mass crackdown |
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Posted by: Stone - 07-03-2025, 04:31 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Vatican report reveals most bishops did not want Pope Francis’ Latin Mass crackdown
Most bishops who responded to a Vatican questionnaire about restricting the Latin Mass said reversing Pope Benedict XVI’s liberation
of the traditional rite ‘would cause more harm than good.’
![[Image: shutterstock_1155020944.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/shutterstock_1155020944.jpg)
Pilgrimage on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Summorum Pontificum, Pontifical Mass in Vetus Ordo Mass in Latin, Holy Mass at the Saint Peter's Chair
Shutterstock
Jul 1, 2025
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Journalist Diane Montagna revealed in a July 1 report that the Vatican’s overall assessment of the consultation of bishops, which was believed to have prompted Pope Francis to implement the 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, stated that the majority of bishops were satisfied with the implementation of Summorum Pontificum and believed that making changes to Pope Benedict XVI’s motu proprio would do “more harm than good.”
“The majority of bishops who responded to the questionnaire stated that making legislative changes to Summorum Pontificum would cause more harm than good,” the report said.
The report notably contradicts Pope Francis’ claim in his letter accompanying Traditionis Custodes, which stated that the bishops’ assessment found the implementation of Pope Benedict’s motu proprio to be a key source of division in the Church.
“An opportunity offered by … Benedict XVI, intended to recover the unity of an ecclesial body with diverse liturgical sensibilities, was exploited to widen the gaps, reinforce the divergences, and encourage disagreements that injure the Church, block her path, and expose her to the peril of division,” the late Argentine pontiff wrote.
But, according to the report, the Vatican’s overall assessment shows that while the bishops had concerns about division caused by attendees of the Tridentine Mass rejecting the Second Vatican Council and other disagreements, the majority of the “gaps,” “divergences,” and “disagreements” that Francis cited actually stem from the resistance by a minority of bishops to Summorum Pontificum.
“The majority of bishops who responded to the questionnaire, and who have generously and intelligently implemented Summorum Pontificum, ultimately express satisfaction with it,” the report stated. “In places where the clergy have closely cooperated with the bishop, the (divisions) has become completely pacified,” the report continued.
Traditionis Custodes, which has led to the suppression of numerous Latin Masses around the world, has been denounced by clergy and scholars as a repudiation of the perennial practice of the Catholic Church and even of solemn Church teaching.
Cardinal Raymond Burke has affirmed that the traditional liturgy is not something that can be excluded from the “valid expression of the lex orandi.”
“It is a question of an objective reality of divine grace which cannot be changed by a mere act of the will of even the highest ecclesiastical authority,” the cardinal wrote in 2021.
Liturgical scholar Dr. Peter Kwasniewski has also implored priests to resist Traditionis Custodes and its accompanying Responsa ad dubia “regardless of threats or penalties,” since obedience to these documents would undermine the very mission of the holy Catholic Church.
Kwasniewski has made the point that “the traditional liturgical worship of the Church, her lex orandi (law of prayer),” is a “fundamental” “expression of her lex credendi, (law of belief), one that cannot be contradicted or abolished or heavily rewritten without rejecting the Spirit-led continuity of the Catholic Church as a whole.”
‘The traditional Mass belongs to the most intimate part of the common good in the Church. Restricting it, pushing it into ghettos, and ultimately planning its demise can have no legitimacy. This law is not a law of the Church because, as St. Thomas [Aquinas] says, a law against the common good is no valid law,’” he said in a speech at the 2021 Catholic Identity Conference.
Recently, a letter-writing campaign was launched by the Faithful Advocate, inviting parishes and Catholics across the country to write to Pope Leo XIV, “asking him to abrogate Traditionis Custodes and protect the Sacred Liturgy worldwide.”
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