The Catacombs - Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism

Leo XIV-Appointed Bishop Ends Diocese’s Only Latin Mass After 20 Years

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:42:04 +0000

Leo XIV-Appointed Bishop Ends Diocese’s Only Latin Mass After 20 Years

gloria.tv | August 9, 2026

Bishop Mark A. Eckman, 67, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will bring an end to the traditional Latin Mass at St. Titus Church in Aliquippa after nearly 20-years.

Bishop Eckman was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh in 2021. In June 2025, Leo XIV promoted him to Bishop of Pittsburgh.

In a letter dated 7 August (see below), Monsignor Eckman announced that the final Mass to be held at St. Titus using the 1962 Missal is scheduled for 4 September.

The remaining two traditional Latin Masses in Pittsburgh are offered by the Institute Christ the King in Brighton Heights and by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X in the West End.

Bishop Eckman said his predecessor, Bishop David A. Zubik, received Vatican permission in 2022 to continue the Mass at St. Titus. The initial two-year authorization was extended in September 2024 for another two years.

The Bishop didn't seek another extension, “The permission to celebrate according to the older ritual in a parish church was only ever meant to be temporary,” he wrote.

He added that the Vatican expected Catholics to be brought toward the Novus Ordo.

Czech Bishop: "Synodality Only Possible with Novus Ordo"

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:19:00 +0000

Czech Bishop: "Synodality Only Possible with Novus Ordo"

gloria.tv | July 29, 2026

Society has a thirst for transcendence, but “the old instruments have already fulfilled their purpose and no longer meet the needs of today's people". This claims Bishop Tomáš Holub, 58, of Plzeň, Czech Republic, in a lengthy article about "Synodality and the Novus Ordo Missae" on 21 July on the blog Come se non, run by the Italian theologian Andrea Grillo. Grillo is an opponent of the Roman rite and is considered an influencer of Traditionis Custodes.

According to Bishop Holub, a missionary outlook must be rooted in synodality: "Synodality is not merely a technique of communication, but a way of living the faith... The point is not to hold a synod, but to become a synod."

The Czech bishop goes on that the Novus Ordo provides the appropriate expression of the Church's synodal identity:

"The Novus Ordo makes it possible for this synodality to be applied in the liturgical sphere. Otherwise, this would be very difficult, since the Vetus Ordo is the expression of a Tridentine vision of the Church which no longer responds to present needs."

The bishop also addresses Catholics who attend the Mass in the Roman rite.

"Many [!] faithful, including some in my own diocese, are attracted to traditionalist celebrations and have difficulty accepting the liturgical reform of Vatican II."

Monsignor Holub argues that participation in the older liturgical form reinforces a particular understanding of the Church.

"By participating in these liturgical services, they become convinced of the ecclesiological vision proposed by these rites."

He warns of “division” and threatens a “firm attitude” to enforce “Vatican II as the expression of the true Magisterium... implementing a process of accompaniment, formation and synodal support."

Vatican calls for representatives of ‘other religions’ in next phase of synodal implementation

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 15:24:18 +0000

Vatican calls for representatives of ‘other religions’ in next phase of synodal implementation
New Synod guidelines call for representatives of 'other religions' in local ‘assemblies’ and leadership roles for lay Catholics

as part of an ongoing ‘transformation’ of Church governance.

Cardinal Mario Grech
Michael Haynes

Jul 28, 2026
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican has issued new guidelines for the next stage of the Synod of Synodality calling on dioceses to involve representatives of other religions, deepen permanent synodal structures, and evaluate broader leadership roles for lay Catholics.

On July 27, the General Secretariat of the Synod published a new 19-page document entitled “Recollecting,” providing bishops and diocesan synodal teams with detailed instructions for preparing local “evaluation assemblies” during the first half of 2027 as part of the implementation of the 2021-2024 synod. The document describes the assemblies not as a one-time consultation but as a stage in an ongoing “transformation” of diocesan life and governance.

“The preparation and conduct of the Assembly do not exhaust the implementation of the Synod by the local Churches: they are simply a moment of assessment within a process that progressively shapes the identity of each local Church, its relationships and its way of life through synodal choices, dynamics, practices and structures,” the document reads.

Published under the authority of the General Secretariat of the Synod, “Recollecting” serves as practical guidance for bishops and diocesan synodal teams. It explains how each diocese is to prepare a narrative report and convene a local “evaluation assembly” before submitting its conclusions to national synodal bodies and ultimately to the Vatican.

Among the provisions drawing particular attention is the recommendation that dioceses consider including non-Catholics in synodal structures. In the section outlining the composition of diocesan synodal teams, the document states that bishops may wish to invite “representatives of other Christian Churches and communities or other religions as observers.”

The same approach appears later in the guidelines governing the diocesan evaluation assemblies. When discussing who should participate, the document says that dioceses should “provide for the participation of representatives of other Churches and Christian Communions or of other religions,” while noting that the precise form of participation “may vary” according to local circumstances and “cultural contexts.”

The new guidance also presents synodality as a lasting feature of Church governance rather than a temporary process. It states that the 2027 assemblies are intended to help local churches continue a process that “progressively shapes the identity of each local Church, its relationships and its way of life through synodal choices, dynamics, practices and structures.”

Elsewhere, the document states that the assemblies are designed to cultivate “a style of listening, co-responsibility and discernment” that local churches are expected to preserve in their normal life after the assemblies conclude.

When describing subjects that dioceses should evaluate in preparing their reports, the document specifically includes “access by lay faithful to leadership roles that do not require the Sacrament of Orders and to other ecclesial responsibilities,” alongside questions concerning synodal decision-making, transparency, accountability, and ecclesial structures.

Local church “narrative reports,” the document avers, should focus on the “promotion of a synodal spirituality” alongside proposals for new liturgical implementations, so that the Mass or other rites may be reformed in such a way as to be “lived in a synodal key.”

The publication of this document is part of the implementation timetable established after the conclusion of the Synod on Synodality. According to the schedule outlined in the document, diocesan and eparchial assemblies will take place during the first half of 2027, followed by national and regional assemblies later that year, continental assemblies during the first months of 2028, and a final “Ecclesial Assembly” in the Vatican in October 2028.

Pagan Aztec war dance takes over LA Catholic cathedral sanctuary

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:06:25 +0000

A reminder that incorporation of different 'cultures' is practically mandated by Vatican II:

Quote:[There are] numerous articles that encourage adapting the Roman Rite (by means of experimentation and creativity) to the vernacular languages, to modern mentalities and cultures (and thus to the spirit of the world), to national and local usages, or which revive archaic forms of these: Sacrosanctum Concilium §§24, 36:2-3, 37, 38, 39, 40, 44, 50, 53, 54, 63, 65, 66, 67, 77, 79, 90, 101, 119, 120, 128, etc.

Pagan Aztec war dance takes over LA Catholic cathedral sanctuary
The sacrilegious ‘Aztec Mass’ event featured pagan Aztec music and war dances with immodest performers near the altar of the Los Angeles cathedral.

Aztec dancers
Shutterstock

Jul 23, 2026
LOS ANGELES (LifeSiteNews) — The Archdiocese of Los Angeles allowed the performance of a “Misa Azteca” (“Aztec Mass”) concert, which featured pagan Aztec music, dances, and poetry in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels last month.

The sacrilegious June 27 event, held in the mother church of the largest archdiocese in the United States, combined the sacred music of the Catholic Mass, such as the solemn “Kyrie” chant and the “Ite Missa Est,” with pagan Aztec rhythms and indigenous instruments accompanying the cathedral orchestra.

The event also featured Aztec war dances being performed near the altar, with the dancers immodestly dressed, and Nahua poetry.

Joseph Julián González, the composer of the “Misa Azteca,” claimed that the Mass composition was born out of his devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and recalled how he felt inspired to write it after the “Kyrie” from the High Mass played to an Aztec dance rhythm popped in his head, believing this was “divine inspiration.”

“It’s so beautiful, the way that God really wanted to bring all people, including the indigenous, to himself,” González said. “It enriches our knowledge of the Guadalupe event, and it enriches our Catholicism.”

While the Catholic Church has always sought to bring people of all cultures together, it has also always condemned the concept of syncretism, or the blending of pagan and other non-Catholic rituals, such as Aztec dances, with Catholic practices.

Furthermore, González saying that devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe inspired the creation of this composition is deeply ironic, as Our Lady appeared to St. Juan Diego to convert the Aztec and other indigenous peoples in the New World to the Catholic faith.

Despite the Church’s clear teaching, syncretism has become common in many Catholic churches across the globe in recent decades. Perhaps most scandalously, during the 2019 Amazon Synod, a ceremony honoring the Andean fertility “goddess” Pachamama was held in the Vatican Gardens before Pope Francis, cardinals, bishops, and priests.

A group that included Franciscan friars knelt and prostrated themselves, foreheads to the ground, before two wooden statues of Pachamama. The ritual was led by a woman with a painted face and headdress, who later processed to Pope Francis and placed rings on his fingers. A second woman brought to him a Pachamama statue, and Francis blessed himself before it, blessed it, and took it as a gift from the woman.

Following the ceremony, the Pachamama idols were processed into the Paul VI Hall, where the pope, cardinals, and bishops met for discussions at the Amazonian Synod. Later, the Pachamama idol would be processed into St. Peter’s Basilica, where, again, the pope and cardinals stood around it, praying.

Photos unearthed by Faith & Reason co-host Father Charles Murr earlier this year, also show then-Father Robert Prevost, the future Pope Leo XIV, attending a Pachamama ritual.

Historic First: Two Women to Lead German Deanery

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:42:16 +0000

Historic First: Two Women to Lead German Deanery

gloria.tv | July 22, 2026

Two women will jointly lead the Catholic Deanery of Bremen-Nord, Hildesheim Diocese, for the first time, marking a historic shift in church leadership. The decision was announced on July 21.

Ute Zeilmann is a theologian and will oversee pastoral ministry and the pastoral staff. Agnes Dobrzynski will lead administration. Both have worked in the Bremen-Nord deanery for several years.

To meet canonical requirements, Rev Johannes Pawellek will act as moderating priest, accompanying the new leadership team after his retirement in November 2026.

The pastoral team will also be joined by Rev Pradyut Bahla, an Indian priest currently pursuing doctoral studies in Frankfurt. He will serve in Bremen-Nord for five years.

The two women want “to embrace the global Church's call to synodality: leading together, listening to the Holy Spirit, and moving away from isolated leadership decisions”.

The Diocese of Hildesheim was led by pro-homosexual Bishop Heiner Wilmer until June 2026. He was promoted by Pope Leo XIV as Bishop of Münster on March 26 and was installed there on June 21. Münster is Germany's largest diocese by Catholic population.

The Other Unauthorized Episcopal Consecration in California

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 14:06:26 +0000

The hypocrisy continues in the Conciliar Church - Tradition is suppressed while every corruption is allowed ...

The Other Unauthorized Episcopal Consecration in California
by Fr. Romano Tommasi, SLD

Above: the other recent unauthorised consecration. Photo credit: InfoVaticana.

1P5 | July 1, 2026

The SSPX has now consecrated bishops without a papal mandate. OnePeterFive has noted the comparisons to the Chinese Church situation (see two views on China here and here).

Here I want to quickly note another similar situation that took place quite recently. Joseph V. Brennan, Catholic Bishop of Fresno (California), participated in an unauthorized consecration of an American Episcopalian bishop without an apostolic mandate 18 April 2026.

Despite this, he remains in his see with jurisdiction and no announcement of canonical trial or penalties.

The Episcopalian Church in America still uses the 39 articles of religion from the Church of England (subtracting those naming the monarch as head of the Church), even if they are guideposts and things of honor, not doctrinally binding. (In fact, it would take quite a specialist to understand what indeed binds consciences under sin in today’s Episcopalian Church in the USA.)

Be that as it may, we shall expect that a communicatio in sacris with a religious body, including consecration of their bishop, without papal mandate will show that the CIC 1983 is only selectively operative.

The instance vitiates rule by law in the Vatican prior to the 01 July 2026 SSPX equally unauthorized consecrations.

What is the scandalous difference: The Episcopal Church rejects the extraordinary and universal ordinary magisterium (and the ordinary magisterium of Vatican II), but no penalties will be applied to Brennan, whereas the SSPX only provisionally rejects some limited decrees of post-Vatican II magisterium until they can be reconciled with the Extraordinary and Universal Ordinary Magisterium. Cardinal Müller, as former head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sees no threat in Brennan for Church unity at the Consistory. Somehow unity is preserved in California but gravely threatened at Ecône.

The mistake the Vatican keeps making is to reduce these absurdities as inconsequential to its publicly perceived teaching authority in the ordinary magisterium. In a first-world Catholic Church where many faithful are better educated and more learned than their clergy, the Church looks unserious, and they are not wrong to join with the traditionalists.

Pope Leo’s pick to lead German diocese proposes scrapping priestly celibacy

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 13:58:34 +0000

Continuing Pope Francis' agenda of elevating extreme liberals ...

Pope Leo’s pick to lead German diocese proposes scrapping priestly celibacy
Bishop Christian Würtz, who supported the Synodal Way's push for homosexual 'blessings,'

says he is open to abolishing mandatory priestly celibacy as part of ‘synodal’ talks.

Jul 14, 2026
(LifeSiteNews) — A German bishop who backed the Synodal Way’s push for homosexual “blessings” says he’s open to abolishing priestly celibacy, telling German broadcasters the Church must weigh what it “gains and gives up.”

Bishop Christian Würtz, who was recently appointed as bishop of Eichstätt by Pope Leo XIV, gave an interview to Bayerischer Rundfunk in which he talked about his attitude toward the “reforms” demanded by the heretical German Synodal Way.

Würtz said he is in favor of an open debate on priestly celibacy, arguing that the Church should weigh the “costs and benefits.”

The 55-year-old Würtz was among the 38 German bishops in 2023 who voted in favor of a document endorsing “blessings” for homosexual “couples” as well as for the divorced and “remarried.” Six months earlier, Würtz supported the German Synodal Way’s heterodox “Theological Reassessment of Homosexuality” document that called homosexual acts “not sinful” and “not intrinsically evil,” contrary to the timeless teaching of Scripture and the Church.

READ: Pope Leo appoints German bishop who endorsed homosexual ‘blessings,’ claimed sodomy ‘not sinful’

His predecessor as bishop of Eichstätt, Gregor Maria Hanke, was known as a conservative who rejected the radical proposals of the Synodal Way and wanted to remain faithful to the Church’s perennial teaching. However, Würtz said that he did not want to make these differences into a point of contention.

“It’s important not to get lost in factional struggles, but to always look for what unites us and what is central,” he stated. “That’s also an important aspect of synodality – this listening to one another, this working together, moving forward together, learning from one another, and not immediately treating one’s own opinion as absolute.”

According to his own account, Würtz was visiting Eichstätt for the very first time when he was appointed as bishop. “I suspect that when most people heard the name Christian Würtz, they had no idea who he was,” the new bishop of Eichstätt said. “But it was really wonderful for me to see that the cathedral was so full, that people spontaneously applauded, and right after the announcement of my appointment, I went out to the cathedral’s forecourt and met many people there.”

“It is a beautiful coincidence that my appointment takes place on the feast day of St. Willibald, the patron saint of the Diocese of Eichstätt. I hope that, with my experience and abilities, I can also contribute to building the Kingdom of God in Eichstätt and walk alongside the people here,” Würtz said in an official diocesan statement after his appointment.

“I thank Pope Leo for the trust he has placed in me and am now looking forward to getting to know the people in the diocese,” he added.

New Jersey diocese suppresses Traditional Latin Mass

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 10:46:19 +0000

New Jersey diocese suppresses Traditional Latin Mass
Bishop Joseph Andrew Williams of the Diocese of Camden has not renewed the indult
for a Traditional Latin Mass in Northfield, New Jersey.

Shutterstock

Jul 10, 2026
(LifeSiteNews) — A Traditional Latin Mass in New Jersey has been suppressed after the retirement of a priest who offered the TLM.

Bishop Joseph Andrew Williams of the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, has decided not to renew the indult (permission) to continue the Traditional Latin Mass that was offered at St. Gianna Beretta Molla parish in Northfield, according to a recent report.

LifeSiteNews confirmed that the last TLM at St. Gianna was held Sunday, June 28, just before the retirement of Father Anthony J. Manuppella. According to several parishioners, the priest who has taken over as an administrator knows how to say the TLM, but lacking permission to offer it, is instead offering Novus Ordo Masses in Latin, ad orientem, at noon on Sundays.

The parish does not disclose its noon Masses on its website, reportedly after Fr. Manuppella was “chastised by the chancery for publicizing the noon Latin Mass on the parish website site and in the bulletin.”

A Responsa issued by Archbishop Arthur Roche, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, to clarify question about Pope Francis’ Latin Mass-crushing Traditionis Custodes stated that TLMs are not to be advertised in parish Mass schedules. [...]

Card. Burke gives Communion in the hand

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 12:44:09 +0000

Card. Burke gives Communion in the hand

TIA | July 5, 2026

On the gifs of this page [see original link] you see Card. Raymond Burke giving Communion in the hand while celebrating the Novus Ordo Mass during his visit to the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, as you can see on the official invitation issued on Facebook, last row below.

The Cardinal did not take the precaution to ask the acolyte, who stands idle behind him, to hold a paten under the chalice to prevent particles of the Sacred Species from falling to the ground and being desecrated.

It is a good example of how one of the "lions of traditionalism" acts, in complete contradiction with what is habitually spread about him.

This Mass took place in St. Thomas Aquinas Church in East Lansing on May 27, 2021, as stated on the invitation below. The gifs were taken from excerpts of the original live stream footage of the Mass from the parish, which is no longer available online in its entirety.

Photos from this video & the Internet

Benedict XVI quote during his second visit to a mosque

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:54:54 +0000

Benedict XVI: "Places of worship, like this splendid Al-Hussein Bin Talal mosque, stand out like jewels across the earths surface. They all point to the divine."

Video: https://gloria.tv/post/1BLgSg1a9JUB2iDuhBQzudb8B

See also: Benedict XVI’s Second Visit to a Mosque

Vs. Archbishop Lefebvre's Warnings Against Ecumenism:

Quotes of Archbishop Lefebvre - On Ecumenism

“Ecumenism is not the Church’s mission. The Church is not ecumenical, she is missionary. The goal of the missionary Church is to convert. The goal of the ecumenical Church is to find what is true in errors and to remain at this level. It is to deny the truth of the Church.” (April 14, 1978)

“… and this, it is really the modern heresy, that we can really designate under this new term, for it really seems that there is a new heresy in addition to modernism, liberalism, and all those old errors, it seems to me that we can define this modern error: ecumenism, this false ecumenism.” (Conference at Econe, May 16, 1978)

“Then came this abominable ecumenism which is nothing but the means to penetrate liberal ideas within the Church, because it is the principle of Religious Liberty, a principle which is in the constitution, in the Declaration of Human Rights.” (Conference, December 21, 1984)

"We want to be in perfect unity with the Holy Father, but in the unity of the Catholic Faith, because there is only this unity that can unite us. But not this kind of ecumenical union, a sort of liberal ecumenism, because I think this is what best defines modern tendencies and what we could almost express as the 'modern heresy.' As I had the occasion to say in Essen, I think that what best defines the whole crisis in the Church is really this liberal ecumenical spirit. I say liberal ecumenism because there is a certain ecumenism that, if properly defined, could be acceptable. But liberal ecumenism, such as is practiced by the present Church and especially since Vatican II, necessarily carries true heresies." (Conference of April 14, 1978)

“The Church, in the course of the 1960's, thus during the Council, acquired values that have come from outside the Church, from the liberal culture - due secoli - from two centuries of liberal culture. It is clear: these are the "rights" of man, it is Religious Freedom, it is Ecumenism. It is Satanic.” (Conference, December 13, 1984)

“In this world, there are forces opposed to Our Lord, and to his reign. Satan and all the auxiliaries of Satan, conscious or unconscious, refuse this reign, this way of salvation and fight for the destruction of the Church. Thus the Church is engaged by her Divine Founder in a gigantic combat. All means were and are employed by Satan to triumph. One of the last, extremely efficacious stratagems is to destroy the combative spirit of the Church by persuading her that there are no more enemies, and that we must put down our arms and enter into a dialogue of peace and cordiality. This fallacious truce will permit the enemy to penetrate everywhere and corrupt the forces of the Church. This truce is liberal ecumenism, a diabolical instrument of auto-destruction of the Church. This liberal ecumenism will result in the neutralisation of the arms which are the liturgy with the Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacraments, the breviary, the liturgical feasts, the neutralisation and ceasing of the seminaries…” (Archbishop Lefebvre to Cardinal Seper)

"The enemy of Ecône is not Such-and-Such, at the Vatican or elsewhere. The enemy of Ecône is Liberalism, the destroyer of the Church. And as to the men who serve this liberalism and who aim to cut us down, these are not our personal enemies – they are only pawns of liberalism. One must understand this: Our battle is not a confrontation between persons and characters. It goes well beyond: it is the battle of faith against error." (Vatican Encounter: Conversations with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, by José Hanu)

Jesus is not optional. “Qui non est mecum, contra me est—He that is not with Me is against Me” (Mt. 12:30). To deny this is the fundamental error of religious liberty and ecumenism. Lefebvre, Marcel, Spiritual Journey. Kansas City: Angelus Press, E-Book

And by this very fact, this “Mystery of our Faith” [the traditional Mass] overwhelms all the errors of Protestantism, Islam, Judaism, Modernism, and materialistic, socialist and communist secularism. No error can withstand our holy Catholic Mass. The Mass is anti ecumenical, in the sense of ecumenism practiced since the Council: namely, the union of all religions in an amalgam of prayer without dogma, without morality, without specific laws, and agreement based on a few ambiguous slogans like “the rights of man,” “the dignity of man,” “religious liberty.” On the contrary, the Novus Ordo is precisely the banner of this false ecumenism, representing the annihilation of the Catholic religion and the Catholic priesthood. (Letter to Friends and Benefactors, February 1982)

Satan, the father of lies, as Our Lord Jesus calls him, has the extraordinary talent of finding out some words, to which he assigns a new meaning so that from their ambiguity, he achieves acceptance of the destructive falsehood which overthrows the best established societies. He found it in this “ecumenism” of the Council which has created an ecumenical liturgy, an ecumenical Bible, and ecumenical catechism, uniting truth and falsehood – marrying the true and the false. The most disastrous result of this marriage is the Catholic-Protestant Mass, the poisoned source afterwards yielding countless ravages: relinquishment of the Church, of the true Faith, sacrileges, tearing of the unity of the Church, proliferation of diverse sorts of creeds unworthy of the Church.

But, there exists a consequence of which one does not often enough ponder on. It is the destruction of the Catholic nations which no longer find in the Holy Mass, the source of political unity based on the unity of the Catholic Faith. Therefore, the Catholic nation hereafter must, in like manner, convert itself to an ecumenical state – pluralistic, very soon finding itself securalized and neutral, if not atheistic. The ecumencial Mass leads logically to apostasy. One cannot serve two masters, one cannot nourish oneself indifferently from truth or falsehood. It is falsehood that flatters our evil inclinations which will prevail over truth which is more austere and more demanding. One must, at all costs, remain bound to truth without mingling. Pope Pius IX vigorously denounced these liberal Catholics who believe they can unite falsehood and truth, good and evil, in order to please their contemporary fellowmen. Whether this poisoned ecumenism reaches us through the hierarchy or not, the channel is not important – it is the poison that one must refuse to swallow. It is a matter of strict obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, to the Church of all times, to all the successors of Peter. We will, therefore, keep the Catholic liturgy, the Catholic Bible and catechism. ... Each one, at his time in the Church, must endeavour to remain Catholic and to maintain the Catholic Church. It is upon this resolution and its realisation that we will be judged by Our Divine Lord. (Letter to Friends and Benefactors, March 1978)

Because we are surrounded by the ruins caused by the corruption of minds and hearts, the evidence of the vitality of the Church of all time takes on a priceless value. We are permitted to hope that we can restore destroyed altars, that we can offer again the true Sacrifice of the Mass. By contrast, when one lives with an ecumenical Eucharist, democratic and liberal, the auto-destruction continues, despite all the calls to order, the statements most worthy of respect and the most spectacular of ceremonies. “Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam – If the Lord does not construct the building, the builders work in vain.” Therefore, the altar of sacrifice of propitiation, the heritage of the new and eternal testament; the Body and Blood of Jesus are the foundation stone of the Church from whence gush the waters of eternal life. (Letter to Friends and Benefactors, October 1979)

Through Religious Liberty we’ve ended up with Ecumenism, and through that all the ‘reforms’ which have been carried out in the Church, the introduction of Collegiality to please the Protestants and the democratic spirit of our age. Everything came through this acceptance of Religious Liberty and the principles of the modern world. It’s clear, and if we don’t keep that in mind, we cannot understand what took place behind the scenes at the Council, nor what happens today behind the scenes in the Vatican. ... Our Lord came to earth to institute the true religion. There is only one religion. Those who have not converted to it will not be able to enter heaven. Our Lord said to His Apostles: “Go, teach all nations.” He didn’t say: leave the Buddhists alone, the Muslims, the pagans, leave them be. They each have their own religion, no need to bother them. The missionaries went out, they were killed, they shed their blood, they became martyrs. (Archbishop Lefebvre, Conference in Madrid, 1986)

Traditionis Custodes strikes again: Kentucky bishop bans Traditional Latin Mass

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 20:34:35 +0000

Traditionis Custodes strikes again: Kentucky bishop bans Traditional Latin Mass
The Bishop of Owensboro, Kentucky, William F. Medley, directed Father David Kennedy to cease celebrating Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal.

Catholic priest celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass
Thoom/Shutterstock

Jun 22, 2026
OWENSBORO, Kentucky (LifeSiteNews) — The Bishop of Owensboro has ordered a priest to stop celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass, citing instructions previously received from the Holy See.

On May 18, the Bishop of Owensboro, Kentucky, William F. Medley, directed Father David Kennedy, priest of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Earlington, Kentucky, to cease celebrating Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal after June 30, 2026, stating that he cannot satisfy conditions established by the Holy See for the continuation of that permission.

“I have reviewed my correspondence with the Holy See from 2023,” the letter reads. “[That correspondence] indicated: ‘If after this period of time, you wish to renew this permission you will need to send us a further relatio along with your request.”

“This relatio should contain details of the number of participants at these Masses, and it should recount the steps which have been taken to lead the faithful who are attached to the antecedent liturgy towards the celebration of the liturgy according to the liturgical books reformed by decree of the Second Vatican Council and which form the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.’”

“As I am unable to demonstrate that this condition has been met, I have no standing to request an extension of the Holy See’s instruction, and I am directing you to not celebrate the Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962 after June 30, 2026,” Bishop Medley wrote.

“I know that in some dioceses the faithful who have shown a preference for the Mass celebrated in Latin have accepted the Novus Ordo Mass celebrated in the Latin language,” he continued.

For this reason, Medley also indicated that Fr. Kennedy would be permitted to continue celebrating Mass in the Latin language, but only to according to the new Missal of St. Paul VI. In the same letter, he stated that he would grant the priest “singular permission to offer this Mass ad orientem.”

“As we discussed, I have permitted nearly a year to pass beyond reception of this consent from the Holy See,” he wrote. “I did this in recognition of the death of Pope Francis. I allowed the continuation of the traditional Latin Mass after the election of Pope Leo XIV to see if he would reconsider the matter of the Mass offered in parish churches.”

Bishop Medley added that he ultimately decided to act after what he described as a decision reached during the January Consistory of the College of Cardinals.

“After more than a year, and the January Consistory of the College of Cardinals in which they specifically chose not to review Traditionis custodes, I feel obligated as bishop to act in accord with the direction of the Holy See,” he wrote.

The bishop also addressed potential objections from members of the faithful affected by the decision. He instructed Fr. Kennedy that concerns could be referred directly to him and emphasized that his actions were being taken in obedience to Rome.

“For the faithful who may object to this directive you may certainly refer them to me, but please make clear that I am acting in accord with my promise to the Pope, the Bishop of Rome,” the letter states.

The letter concludes by thanking Fr. Kennedy for his ministry to Catholics who adhere to the traditional liturgy, whom Midley calls a “small and unique community.”

The motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, issued by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007, recognized the 1962 Roman Missal as the “extraordinary form” of the Roman Rite and granted every priest the freedom to celebrate it without needing special permission from his bishop. The document framed the traditional liturgy not as a relic of the past but as a living expression of the Church’s worship, capable of enriching the entire Catholic world.

The motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, promulgated by Pope Francis in 2021, reversed this approach. It declared the reformed liturgy of Paul VI to be the “unique expression” of the Roman Rite and placed the celebration of the older form under strict episcopal control, requiring explicit authorization and often restricting its use to non‑parish settings. In practice, the two documents represent opposite ecclesiological visions: one of liturgical pluralism within unity, and one of liturgical uniformity as a condition for ecclesial communion.

The extraordinary consistory held on January 7–8 had included, among the four topics to be addressed, the question of the liturgy. However, during the cardinals’ meeting with the Pope, the topic was not taken up. Instead, Cardinal Arthur Roche — Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the mastermind behind Traditionis Custodes — circulated among the senior prelates a report on the implementation of Francis’ motu proprio.

The distinction between the Traditional Roman Mass and the post‑conciliar Novus Ordo is far deeper than the use of Latin versus the vernacular. The two forms embody different theological emphases, ritual structures, and liturgical doctrines.

The older rite highlights sacrifice, transcendence, and ritual fixity, expressed through a stable offertory, a single Roman Canon, a predominantly silent and priest‑centered action, and a dense symbolic language. The Novus Ordo, by contrast, reflects a pastoral and didactic orientation: multiple Eucharistic prayers to chose from, expanded lay participation, audible prayers, and a flexibility that allows for significant variation in tone and style. To reduce the contrast to Latin versus the local language is therefore to mislead.

The community of Catholics attached to the traditional liturgy is neither an eccentric minority nor a sociological anomaly. Over the past two decades, it has grown steadily across continents, attracting young families, converts, and vocations at rates disproportionate to its size. Its demographic profile—high Mass attendance, strong catechetical commitment, and above‑average fertility—makes it one of the most dynamic segments of Western Catholicism.

Polish Catholics issue scathing critique of Synod’s final document: ‘Deeply anti-Catholic’

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:21:34 +0000

Polish Catholics issue scathing critique of Synod’s final document: ‘Deeply anti-Catholic’
‘If we allow the Catholic Church to be replaced by a Synodal Church, we will crucify the Mystical Body of Christ

with our own hands and drive a nail into His coffin,’ warned Polish Catholics.

St. Peter's Basilica
Shutterstock

Jun 9, 2026
(LifeSiteNews) — Polish Catholics have published a scathing and thorough critique of the Vatican Synod on Synodality’s Final Document on moral issues, denouncing it as “deeply anti-Catholic.”

Dr. Artur Dąbrowski, president of Catholic Action of the Archdiocese of Częstochowa, submitted an open letter addressed to priests and synodal group participants on behalf of Polish Catholics who are “seriously alarmed” by the Synod’s Working Group No. 9 report, which falsely suggested that homosexual activity is not sinful.

The letter specifically addresses the Final Document of the Synod on Synodality issued on October 26, 2024, accusing it of mirroring the heterodox German “Synodal Path,” which is “aimed at decentralizing and relativizing doctrine.” The Polish Catholics state that the report goes so far as to give a “framework for the Church’s new identity” that replaces the “unchanging Deposit of Faith” with a new “ideology of inclusivity,” which fails to lead souls to salvation.

The letter points out, as have other scholars, that the synodal report uses a dangerous method to reach its conclusions, a method that essentially elevates the opinions of even those who reject Church teaching to the status of the “voice” of the Holy Spirit.

Under the synodal “dialogue” process, participants are given only two minutes to speak, “without the right to debate,” making a “substantive defense of Church teaching” impossible, the letter notes. “This method deliberately equates the voice of those who faithfully adhere to Church teaching with the voices of those who openly contest it,” the Poles state.

Instead of calling Catholics to moral conversion — the true meaning of the word in the context of faith — the document refers to conversion as a “purely mental” process, stating that the “condition for the Church’s new mission is ‘the conversion of the feelings, images, and thoughts present in our hearts […].’” It speaks of a “conversion of relationships,” of “decision-making processes,” and of “conversion of structures.”

“This phrasing exposes the authors’ intention: the goal is not, therefore, a transformation of life in the light of the Gospel, but a profound revision of the Catholic perception of reality,” the letter states.

The Polish Catholics point to a serious error in point 28 of the document, which claims that synodality is a “constitutive dimension of the Church.” This means that synodality is a key part of the Church, a “condition of its existence.” In other words, “without synodality — there is no Church!”

This is not just a false claim but an attempt at a “usurpation” of the Divine Constitution of the Church, according to the letter.

“For it must be forcefully recalled that it was Jesus Christ Himself who laid the foundations of the Church and that He defined its unchanging nature: the Church is Holy, Universal (Catholic), and Apostolic. No hierarch, not even the Pope, has the right to alter this Constitution,” the letter declares.

The Polish Catholics continue with examples of the document’s blows at the Catholic faith.

Paragraph 33, they note, appears to undermine the meaning of the priesthood when it states that “Synodality provides the most appropriate interpretive context for understanding the hierarchical priesthood itself.” This falsely suggests that priests are subject to a kind of democratic process by which they answer to the people.

As the letter states, “This is a glaring reversal of the order: it is no longer the shepherd who guards the flock, but the bureaucratic framework that becomes the judge over the shepherd.”

Worse, the document goes on to suggest a “desacralization” of worship and of the Eucharist. Without declaring the doctrine of the Real Presence or the Reality of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the document states that “The Eucharist, above all else, demonstrates that the harmony created by the Spirit is not uniformity and that every ecclesial gift is destined for the common good of all.”

It also claims “there is a close link between synaxis and synodos, between the Eucharistic assembly and the synodal assembly,” drawing a false comparison while again totally ignoring the reality of what the Mass is: the unbloody sacrifice of Christ to God the Father.

“The liturgy is a listening to the Word of God and a response to His covenantal initiative,” states the synod document, in a total mischaracterization of the essence of the liturgy. It goes on to compare this false representation to the synodal process: “Similarly, the synodal assembly is a listening to this same Word, which resounds as much in the signs of the times as in the hearts of the faithful, and also a response of the assembly that is discerning God’s will in order to put it into practice.”

The Polish Catholics then lament the document’s “abuse” of the Blessed Virgin Mary by minimizing her role in paragraph 29, which says She is “a figure of the Church […] who listens, prays, reflects, engages in dialogue, accompanies, discerns, decides, and acts.”

“Mary at the foot of the cross is a model of sharing in the suffering of her Son’s Sacrifice, not the patroness of administrative procedures,” states the letter, noting that reducing the Blessed Mother’s role to the above description “ultimately strip[s] Marian devotion of its supernatural character.”

“The foundation for the ultimate deconstruction of Truth” in the document, according to the Poles, is its weaponization of Vatican II’s declaration that “all the faithful possess a sense of the Gospel Truth called sensus fidei and that they possess […] the ability to intuitively grasp what is in accordance with the truth of Revelation in the communion of the Church.”

The document takes Lumen Gentium’s statement out of context, since it says that “the supernatural sense of faith (sensus fidei) manifests itself only when the People of God remain obedient to the Magisterium (under its guidance)[.]”

The Synodal Final Document falsely concludes, then, that “Therefore, the Church is certain that the holy People of God cannot err in faith when the body of the baptized expresses a general consensus on matters of faith and morals.” This distorted idea can then be used as an excuse to sanction immoral behavior, such as homosexuality, on the basis that a majority of self-proclaimed Catholics accept such behavior.

A concrete example of the danger of this way of thinking has already been demonstrated during the synodal process in Poland, noted the open letter. Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, Metropolitan of Kraków, invited the “transgender” Marek (aka “Maria”) Minakowski to participate in the Second Pastoral Synod of the Archdiocese of Kraków, and he was appointed Secretary of the Synodal Group. He has openly admitted that the synod is a “milestone” in changing the Church “from within,” asking those of like mind: “Help push this further (…) once we get the ‘T’ (transgender demands) sorted out, the rest of the LGBTQIA+ community will follow naturally.”

The Final Document also promotes a false ecumenism, declaring that the Church’s dialogue with non-Christian religions is for the purpose of “establishing friendship, peace, harmony, and the sharing of moral and spiritual values and experiences in the spirit of Truth and love” — not conversion, not unity in truth.

“The height of relativism in paragraph 41 is the call to implore the one God together with them,” the Polish Catholics write.

“The suggestion that we pray to the same God as adherents of systems that reject the divinity of Christ is a betrayal of Jesus and His salvific mission,” they admonish. “The Synodal Church no longer proclaims to the world that ‘no one comes to the Father except through the Son’ (Jn 14:6). Where is obedience to the Word of God: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ (Mt 28:19).”

“What is the goal guiding the authors of the Final Document?” the letter’s authors ask. The answer, they say, lies in point 4 of the Final Document: a false unity “of Christians,” which “quietly matures” within the Church. The synodal document “seem[s] to ignore the fact that true unity is not the fruit of negotiations, but remains intact in the Catholic Church, which alone has preserved sacramental integrity,” the Poles observe.

They predict that the “ultimate fruit” of the Vatican Synod, “the culmination of this unity, equality, and brotherhood—which will unite the faiths of all nations—will be the church of a single world religion… It is a church without the Cross—and it is called Babel.”

“To this attempt to transform the Kingdom of the Triune God into an earthly paradise called Babel, we, the Faithful of the Catholic Church, respond: NON POSSUMUS!”

The authors conclude that the Final Document of the Synod on Synodality “resembles a communist manifesto in spirit and is deeply anti-Catholic.”

They call upon their shepherds for a “clear position” on the Final Document, not “diplomatic evasions.”

“If we allow the Catholic Church to be replaced by a Synodal Church, we will crucify the Mystical Body of Christ with our own hands and drive a nail into His coffin.”

Vatican again endorses ‘blessing’ homosexual ‘couples,’ just not ‘formally’

Fri, 08 May 2026 11:56:51 +0000

Vatican again endorses ‘blessing’ homosexual ‘couples,’ just not ‘formally’
Cdl. Fernández reaffirmed ‘spontaneous,’ non-liturgical ‘blessings’ of same-sex couples remain permitted under Fiducia Supplicans,
even as Rome rejected Germany's formalized guidelines.

Argentine cardinal and Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith Victor Manuel Fernandez presides over the sixth Novemdiales Mass held for the late Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica, on May 1, 2025, in Vatican City
Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images

May 7, 2026
(LifeSiteNews [adapted - not all hyperlinks included from original]) — Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), confirmed that the Vatican had rejected the German bishops’ conference’s (DBK) proposed official guidelines for the formal “blessings” of homosexual and other irregular “couples” in a 2024 letter.

In a statement to Vatican News published May 6, Fernández confirmed that back in 2024, the DDF wrote a letter to Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier in Germany saying that the DBK’s proposed guidelines for the “blessing” of homosexual “couples” contradict the 2023 Vatican document Fiducia Supplicans, which allows for the spontaneous, “non-liturgical blessing” of homosexuals.

The cardinal prefect stressed that the text, which was published by the Vatican on May 4, also served as a rejection of the DBK’s official guidelines for the “blessings” of homosexual “couples,” the divorced and civilly “remarried,” and other “irregular unions,” citing “the pastoral approach of the pontificate of Pope Francis,” published just months after the DDF’s letter was sent. However, the Vatican continues to allow the “blessing” of same-sex “couples” in “spontaneous,” “non-liturgical” settings.

“What was said in that letter … also applies to the text of the current Vademecum, which does not have the approval of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,” Fernández said.

As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, in his 2024 letter, Fernández underscored that, per Fiducia Supplicans, the Church does not have the power to “liturgically” bless homosexual “couples.”

“The Declaration Fiducia supplicans states that: ‘The Church does not have the power to confer its liturgical blessing when this, in some way, could offer a form of moral legitimization to a union that presumes to be a marriage or to an extra-marital sexual practice’ (n. 11, nor to those who claim ‘the legitimization of their own status, (cf. n. 31)’” Fernández wrote.

“In the text of the Vademecum, however, there is mention of a union and an ‘official regulation,’ on the part of pastors, of couples who are outside of marriage – with those pastors also becoming the object of a genuine ‘acclamation,’ a gesture that is normally part of the marriage ritual,” he added. “In this sense, the Vademecum effectively legitimizes the status of such couples, in a manner contrary to what is affirmed in Fiducia supplicans.”

The cardinal added that the DBK’s proposal would sow confusion among the faithful.

However, while Fiducia Supplicans may not allow for the formal, liturgical “blessing” of homosexual “couples,” numerous prominent Catholic prelates have condemned the document for permitting the “blessing” of homosexual “couples” as “couples” at all, and have accused it of causing confusion.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who served as the head of the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith before Fernández, in a 2024 essay for First Things, urged Church leaders and the faithful to reject these “blessings” endorsed by Pope Francis because they contradict Catholic teaching and “lead to heresy.”

“Fiducia Supplicans must be considered doctrinally problematic, for it contains a denial of Catholic doctrine,” the German prelate wrote.

Müller warned that such a proposal is “contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church” and “logically leads to heresy.”

“This means that these pastoral blessings for irregular unions cannot be accepted by the Catholic faithful, and especially by those who, in assuming an ecclesiastical office, have taken the Profession of Faith and the Oath of Fidelity, which calls first of all for the preservation of the deposit of faith in its entirety,” he wrote.

In April 2025, just days after the death of Pope Francis, the DBK and the lay organization Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) announced that they had adopted the text of the guidelines during a joint conference.

The “blessings” are meant to be an offer for “divorced and remarried couples, couples of all [so-called] gender identities and sexual orientations, as well as couples who do not want to or cannot receive the sacrament of marriage for other reasons,” per the DBK.

The guidelines state that the “blessings” can be carried out by clerics as well as laypeople with an episcopal assignment. The ceremony for the “blessings” should be marked by “greater spontaneity and freedom with regard to the life situation of those who ask for the blessing.”

However, it’s worth noting that the document is not legally binding and merely represents “practical advice.” “For this reason, no approved liturgical celebrations and prayers are planned for the blessings,” the document states.

Fernández’s statement to Vatican News also confirms an October 2025 report, which revealed that the DDF did not approve these guidelines, despite claims made by German bishops that suggested it had.

New Vatican document urges Catholic families to ‘ecological conversion’

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 12:45:07 +0000

New Vatican document urges Catholic families to ‘ecological conversion’
Two Vatican dicasteries released a joint document calling on Catholic families to embrace ‘integral ecology,’ drawing a direct line between environmental practice and moral formation.

hurricanehank/Shutterstock

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — A new Vatican document calls on Catholic families to embrace “integral ecology,” framing “ecological conversion” as inseparable from the “journey toward holiness” and linking ecological habits to the fight against abortion and euthanasia.

On April 27, the Dicastery for Integral Human Development and the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life released a joint document titled “Integral Ecology in the Life of the Family,” the stated goal of which is to present the Catholic family as the “primary subject” of conversion to integral ecology.

“Social ecology is necessarily institutional, and gradually extends to the whole of society, from the primary social group, the family, to the wider local, national and international communities,” the document reads, quoting directly from Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato si’.

“Families are not only called to care for their own members,” the document continues. “Significantly, the (Second Vatican) Council also recognized the role of families in actively participating in local communities, and even in being protagonists or, in a sense, genuine influencers of national policies that affect them – such as policies concerning social issues, education, infrastructure, labor, healthcare, and so on.”

The 79-page text is divided into two parts. The first outlines the concepts of ecology, family, and “grassroots commitment” in Pope Francis’s teaching. Here it is stated that the vocation to holiness inherent in every marriage necessarily implies conversion to an ecological way of life: “The journey toward holiness within a family can help address the roots of the ecological crisis, since we cannot delude ourselves into healing our relationship with nature and the environment without healing all fundamental human relationships.”

In the second part, which is itself divided into seven chapters, the document goes on to provide a series of practical guidelines and recommendations addressed to families.

In the first and second chapters, titled “Listening to the Cry of the Earth” and “Listening to the Cry of the Poor,” the authors argue that humanity and the planet are facing a “single ecological crisis” – one that concerns not only the degradation of the “Common Home” but also the rise of poverty. In this way, the document draws a direct connection between a supposed environmental emergency and economic problems.

According to the document, the first solution begins with “always keeping in mind the universal destination of goods.” The text thus echoes Pope Francis’ misleading interpretation of this concept that belongs to the Church’s social doctrine.

According to Francis, the “universal destination of goods” represents the goal of every sound social policy and, in practice, coincides with the redistribution of resources and wealth carried out by the state.

In Traditional Catholic doctrine, however, the “universal destination of goods” is a starting point: It affirms that the goods of the earth are meant for all, but that this principle is realized through free initiative, private property, and personal responsibility, not through coercive state intervention. It is the ethical foundation of economic freedom, not the justification for redistributive policy.

Embracing the typically socialist logic that seeks to identify a single actor as the cause of ecological crises (pollution) and economic crises (poverty) – namely wealthy, multinational corporations, and, more broadly, the private sector – can only lead to a politicization of the Church’s magisterium. In doing so, this view reduces the magisterium to a tool of globalist agendas and supranational entities such as the U.N. and the EU, which aim to impose increasingly centralized and intrusive fiscal and economic policies.

Moreover, the text includes bioethical issues such as abortion and euthanasia as part of the stated ecological‑economic crisis rather than as effects of a theological, anthropological, and moral crisis. The document thus suggests a normative and moral connection between adopting ecological lifestyles and combating bioethical issues. Since both stem from a “culture of waste,” if one learns to recycle and to respect the environment, then one will also learn to respect human life at every stage, per the new document.

However, this logical passage is not theologically or philosophically consistent. It conflates moral conversion with behavioral adaptation, implying that external ecological habits could generate internal ethical renewal. In reality, the relationship is inverted: respect for human life arises from a sound moral conscience, not from a supposed environmental discipline. Reducing moral formation to ecological practice risks transforming Christian ethics into a form of “green” moralism, where salvation is measured by lifestyle rather than by grace and virtue. The Social Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ has been replaced by respect for the “Common Home.”

Starting from these chapters, the document then presents a series of concrete proposals for changing the family’s lifestyle in a more ecological direction. Some suggestions are simple, others more demanding. “If you have access to an outdoor space, create a compost bin or a worm farm,” the document states. “If, however, you do not have access to such a space and the municipality does not provide composting services, ask your local school or parish whether it would be willing to host a community compost container.”

The text also recommends “collecting rainwater (and) visiting second‑hand markets” alongside “taking the opportunity to pray surrounded by nature, which may also include an outdoor Mass, with the permission of the local priest.”

The text suggests continuity with the concept of human ecology proposed by Pope John Paul II in Centesimus annus (1991), quoting a passage from it. Yet the perspective of Karol Wojtyła is diametrically opposed to that suggested by this document. According to the former pontiff, the solution to the ecological problem so dear to the modern world can only be found once the primary issue has been addressed: the acknowledgement of creation as order willed by God – a principle that also implies the existence of a natural moral law and grounds any genuine ecology in Christian anthropology.

Unfortunately, Francis’ socialist-like view has been adopted by Leo XIV in the apostolic exhortation Dilexi te (2025), in which the Pope explicitly proposed greater state interventionism as the main solution of the alleged ecological-economic crisis.

The Attitude of the Future Paul VI Toward the Encyclical Humani Generis of Pius XII

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 14:02:07 +0000

The Attitude of the Future Paul VI Toward the Encyclical Humani Generis of Pius XII
Jean Madiran, in Itinéraires no. 128, December 1968, pp. 154–159.

Source: La Revue Item / Abbé Paul Aulagnier [AI translation] / October 2013

Here is Jean Madiran's article on the intellectual attitude of Msgr. Montini, the future Pope Paul VI, who was substitute of the Secretariat of State at the time of the publication by Pius XII, in 1950, of his encyclical Humani Generis condemning modern errors. And they would also like to canonize Paul VI?

"…Since we are speaking of inattention to texts and errors of fact, I may well say that I had stumbled over page 27 of Jean Guitton's book (Dialogues avec Paul VI, vol. 2) concerning the encyclical Humani Generis of 1950. I was so immediately shaken by it that I reopened the encyclical — which is always a grace, a blessing, a light — and for that I thank Jean Guitton, who was its occasional cause.

On page 27 we are at the date of September 8, 1950. The encyclical is not yet a month old: it is dated August 12. It is entirely fresh in the minds of those who have just read it, who have begun to study it. Yet on that date, on that page, transcribing the 'notes he had written that very evening' of September 8, Jean Guitton reports the following remark:

Quote:'You have no doubt yourselves noticed the nuances inscribed in this pontifical text. For example, the Encyclical never speaks of ERRORS (errores). It speaks only of OPINIONS (opiniones). This indicates that the Holy See aims to condemn not errors properly so called, but modes of thought that could lead to errors but which in themselves remain respectable.'

The error of fact is complete; the inattention to the invoked text is total; and point by point:

1. 'The Encyclical never speaks of errors (errores).'

The word 'errors' appears from the very first line of the French translation to render the Latin term aberratio, which is not error, but which is no less serious — on the contrary. We find aberrationem again at the beginning of the second paragraph.

In §6, there is mention of a novae aberranti philosophiae, a new aberrant philosophy.

In §7, of a historicism that subverts veritatis legisque absolutae fundamenta, that is, that 'undermines at its foundation all truth and all absolute law': would this be a mere 'opinion,' and no error at all?

In §10, we find erroribus and errorem, warning us that among our philosophers and theologians there are those who 'strive to escape the direction of the Magisterium and fall imperceptibly and unwittingly into the danger of abandoning even divinely revealed truth and of leading others into error.'

In §18, it is emphasized that what the encyclicals of the Roman Pontiffs explain 'is neglected by some in a habitual and premeditated manner.'

Speaking of the assertions against which the first eighteen paragraphs are directed, §19 declares: 'All these sayings may appear very clever; error, however, is not absent from them' (the Latin does not say error or errores, it says fallacia, which is equivalent, or rather even more serious).

In §22, there is mention of Catholic teachers who 'renew the theory already condemned several times…'

In §37, the encyclical repeats that it is pointing out manifest errors and dangers of error: manifestos errores errorisque pericula — not only, therefore, dangers of error, but indeed MANIFEST ERRORS.

§58 repeats: these errors, 'today spread openly or in secret' (iis erroribus).

Whether one consults the authentic Latin text or the French translation, it is incredible that one could have advanced such a proposition: 'The encyclical never speaks of errors (errores).' It speaks of them constantly. When it does not say errores, it says aberrationes and it says fallacia.

2. 'The Encyclical speaks only of opinions (opiniones).'

The term 'opinions' does indeed appear in the title: 'de Nonnullis falsis opinionibus quae catholicae doctrinae fundamenta subruere minantur': 'On certain false opinions which threaten to undermine the foundations of Catholic doctrine.' It is not a question, therefore, of mere 'opinions'; the encyclical does not speak 'only of opinions' — it speaks of false opinions. It is difficult to see what difference one could perceive between 'a false opinion' and an error, when the opinions in question are false opinions that threaten to undermine the foundations of Catholic doctrine.

It is not true, as we have seen, that the encyclical never uses the term errores: it uses it frequently. It is true that it also uses the terms opiniones and opinationes, but in the same sense as errores: beyond the title, this is clear from §58, where 'these new opinions' (novas eiusdem opinationes) and 'these errors' (iis erroribus) are used alternately not to designate two different kinds of things, but as two expressions having in context the same extension and the same comprehension.

3. 'The Holy See aims to condemn not errors properly so called, but modes of thought that could lead to errors.'

A) Here, in order, are the 'modes of thought' explicitly designated in the encyclical:

monist and pantheist theory (§5)
the dialectical materialism of the communists (ibid.)
immanentism, pragmatism, existentialism (§6)
a false historicism (§7); etc., etc.

It is singularly strange to see in these doctrines 'not errors properly so called, but modes of thought that could lead to errors'…

B) Moreover, the encyclical explicitly declares that it is targeting not thoughts that could lead to errors, but novelties that have already produced, in almost all parts of theology, poisoned fruits (§25: ac mirum non est hujusmodi novitates, ad omnes fere theologiae partes quod attinet, jam venenosos peperisse fructus). Poisoned fruits! Already produced! In almost all parts of theology!

In §16 it was said: 'These attempts not only lead to what is called dogmatic relativism, but already really contain it' (non tantum ducere…sed illum iam reapse continere).

Thus at least twice, the text of the encyclical, in the most explicit and precise manner, takes care to prevent and rule out the interpretation which would claim that it targets 'not errors properly so called, but modes of thought that COULD LEAD TO errors.' Nevertheless, this interpretation was put forward less than a month after its publication.

It is thus indeed, as we have just seen, point by point and word by word, that the remarks of September 8, 1950, reported on page 27 of Jean Guitton, contradict explicit affirmations of the encyclical Humani Generis.

On the preceding page, Jean Guitton had reported his own opinion: 'The encyclical needs an interpretation.' That is possible — at least in the sense that all reading is interpretive. To interpret means, for example, to seek what meaning to give to the terms errores, aberrationes, fallacia contained in the text. But to begin by saying, and apparently by believing, that these terms are not in the text, and that their absence is a characteristic of the highest importance, which must govern the entire reading of the document and which indicates its general intention — that is no longer an interpretation. It is not even a false interpretation. It is, short of any interpretation, the negation of the object, the refusal of the text to be interpreted, replaced by a gratuitous reverie upon which one constructs considerations of a decisive and imperative appearance, but which hang in the air.

Thus reflection, instead of scrutinizing what is, becomes purely 'poetic,' in the Greek sense understood by Marcel de Corte, and begins to hover in an arbitrariness which, discouraging the intellectual communications effected by means of articulate language, leaves in the end, necessarily, nothing subsisting between men but relations of force.

You know the story of the cauldron:

'Have you not yet returned my new cauldron?'
'You never lent me one. And it was not new. And I have already returned it to you.'

Catholic thought, among a growing number of its most highly eminent representatives (N.B. Jean Madiran has in view here Msgr. Montini, substitute of the Secretariat of State), has thus arrived at the hour of the cauldron.

I do not know whether in 1967, when the proofs of page 27 were being re-read, anyone had the simple curiosity to reopen the encyclical Humani Generis of Pius XII; I do not know whether the arbitrary contradiction made against it by private whisper in 1950, and publicly renewed in 1967, was deliberately and knowingly intended. I note the facts.

Compared to the present state of the world and of the Church, the encyclical of Pius XII is as timely as the answer of Jesus to Saint Jude. But we are led to believe that Jesus did not answer; and that 'the manifest errors' noted in 1950 were not truly errors.

And so this generation of men sinks into anguish and into night.