[Catholic Caucus] Wisdom from Pope Leo XIII That We Hope Pope Leo XIV Will Follow

Although some Catholics have already voiced concerns with the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, we can at least recognize that there were several other cardinals receiving serious consideration who have been far more ostentatious in their anti-Catholicism. Time will tell whether Leo XIV will accelerate or reverse the evils plaguing the Church, but in these early days we can at least hope and pray that he will cooperate with God’s grace. For now, one of the most charitable and useful responses to his election is to recall the holy wisdom from Pope Leo XIII, which we pray he will follow.

As an Augustinian, Pope Leo XIV surely appreciates the opening thoughts of Pope Leo XIII’s 1884 encyclical on Freemasonry, Humanum Genus:

“The race of man, after its miserable fall from God, the Creator and the Giver of heavenly gifts, 'through the envy of the devil,’ separated into two diverse and opposite parts, of which the one steadfastly contends for truth and virtue, the other of those things which are contrary to virtue and to truth. The one is the kingdom of God on earth, namely, the true Church of Jesus Christ; and those who desire from their heart to be united with it, so as to gain salvation, must of necessity serve God and His only-begotten Son with their whole mind and with an entire will. The other is the kingdom of Satan, in whose possession and control are all whosoever follow the fatal example of their leader and of our first parents, those who refuse to obey the divine and eternal law, and who have many aims of their own in contempt of God, and many aims also against God. This twofold kingdom St. Augustine keenly discerned and described after the manner of two cities, contrary in their laws because striving for contrary objects; and with a subtle brevity he expressed the efficient cause of each in these words: ‘Two loves formed two cities: the love of self, reaching even to contempt of God, an earthly city; and the love of God, reaching to contempt of self, a heavenly one.’ At every period of time each has been in conflict with the other, with a variety and multiplicity of weapons and of warfare, although not always with equal ardor and assault. . . . They are planning the destruction of holy Church publicly and openly, and this with the set purpose of utterly despoiling the nations of Christendom, if it were possible, of the blessings obtained for us through Jesus Christ our Saviour. ”

By all appearances, Francis and so many of those who supported him have either made peace with the enemies of God or, worse, thrown their support entirely behind the kingdom of Satan. We should hope and pray that Leo XIV will unambiguously choose to fight for the kingdom of God.

Jesus Entrusted to the Catholic Church Alone the Charge of Handing Down the Benefits He Purchased

Leo XIII began his 1888 encyclical on human liberty, Libertas Praestantissimum, by emphasizing the unique role of the Catholic Church:

“The Redeemer of mankind, Jesus Christ, having restored and exalted the original dignity of nature, vouchsafed special assistance to the will of man; and by the gifts of His grace here, and the promise of heavenly bliss hereafter, He raised it to a nobler state. In like manner, this great gift of nature has ever been, and always will be, deservingly cherished by the Catholic Church, for to her alone has been committed the charge of handing down to all ages the benefits purchased for us by Jesus Christ.”

So much of the push for Christian unity since Vatican II contradicts this vital truth. It is false humility to imagine that the Catholic Church is anything less than the only religion established by God to safeguard and transmit the truths and graces we need to please Him and save our souls. We should hope and pray that Leo XIV will always insist that the Catholic Church is the only church to which all souls are called by God to belong.

In his 1896 encyclical on the unity of the Church, Satis Cognitum, Leo XIII wrote of the need for Christians to accept all revealed truths:

“As often, therefore, as it is declared on the authority of this teaching that this or that is contained in the deposit of divine revelation, it must be believed by every one as true. If it could in any way be false, an evident contradiction follows; for then God Himself would be the author of error in man. ‘Lord, if we be in error, we are being deceived by Thee’ (Richardus de S. Victore, De Trin., lib. i., cap. 2). In this wise, all cause for doubting being removed, can it be lawful for anyone to reject any one of those truths without by the very fact falling into heresy?-without separating himself from the Church? — without repudiating in one sweeping act the whole of Christian teaching? For such is the nature of faith that nothing can be more absurd than to accept some things and reject others. Faith, as the Church teaches, is ‘that supernatural virtue by which, through the help of God and through the assistance of His grace, we believe what He has revealed to be true, not on account of the intrinsic truth perceived by the natural light of reason, but because of the authority of God Himself, the Revealer, who can neither deceive nor be deceived’ (Conc. Vat., Sess. iii., cap. 3). If then it be certain that anything is revealed by God, and this is not believed, then nothing whatever is believed by divine Faith: for what the Apostle St. James judges to be the effect of a moral deliquency, the same is to be said of an erroneous opinion in the matter of faith. ‘Whosoever shall offend in one point, is become guilty of all’ (Ep. James ii., 10). Nay, it applies with greater force to an erroneous opinion. For it can be said with less truth that every law is violated by one who commits a single sin, since it may be that he only virtually despises the majesty of God the Legislator. But he who dissents even in one point from divinely revealed truth absolutely rejects all faith, since he thereby refuses to honour God as the supreme truth and the formal motive of faith.”

By all appearances, very few clerics still believe this, which leads us to believe that the majority of priests and bishops may be at least material heretics because they deny at least one infallible teaching of the Church. We should hope and pray that Leo XIV will remind the Church that all souls are required to believe all the truths of the Catholic religion.

The Church Cannot Change Its Teachings to Attract Non-Catholics

In his 1899 encyclical against “Americanism,” Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae, Leo XIII condemned what is now the commonplace belief that the Catholic Church should change its teachings to attract non-Catholics:

“The underlying principle of these new opinions is that, in order to more easily attract those who differ from her, the Church should shape her teachings more in accord with the spirit of the age and relax some of her ancient severity and make some concessions to new opinions. Many think that these concessions should be made not only in regard to ways of living, but even in regard to doctrines which belong to the deposit of the faith. They contend that it would be opportune, in order to gain those who differ from us, to omit certain points of her teaching which are of lesser importance, and to tone down the meaning which the Church has always attached to them. It does not need many words, beloved son, to prove the falsity of these ideas if the nature and origin of the doctrine which the Church proposes are recalled to mind. The Vatican Council says concerning this point: ‘For the doctrine of faith which God has revealed has not been proposed, like a philosophical invention to be perfected by human ingenuity, but has been delivered as a divine deposit to the Spouse of Christ to be faithfully kept and infallibly declared. Hence that meaning of the sacred dogmas is perpetually to be retained which our Holy Mother, the Church, has once declared, nor is that meaning ever to be departed from under the pretense or pretext of a deeper comprehension of them.’ . . . Let it be far from anyone’s mind to suppress for any reason any doctrine that has been handed down. Such a policy would tend rather to separate Catholics from the Church than to bring in those who differ. There is nothing closer to our heart than to have those who are separated from the fold of Christ return to it, but in no other way than the way pointed out by Christ.”

Vatican II’s quest for Christian unity violated all of this in spirit, and the Synod on Synodality openly contradicts these words from Leo XIII. Under Francis, everything objectionable to non-Catholics was to be set aside, which is at least part of the reason why he objected to the “rigid” and “backward” Traditional Catholics. We should hope and pray that Leo XIV will remind Catholics that the Church can never change its doctrines to accommodate non-Catholics.

We do not know yet what kind of pope Leo XIV will be, even if we have some reason to fear that he may follow the heterodox path of Francis. But we can hope and pray that he will adhere to the holy wisdom of his namesake. If he does, we can applaud him; if he does not, we can charitably resist him by insisting that any deviation from this wisdom of Leo XIII will bring disasters for the Church and world. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in praelio!

1 posted on 05/11/2025 1:49:04 PM PDT by ebb tide

Looks like the late Leo the 13th will provide many clues...I imagine there’s a divine purpose for why this generation of ours is meant to rediscover his writings and legacy.

2 posted on 05/11/2025 1:59:13 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege

Bookmark

3 posted on 05/11/2025 2:21:55 PM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (God save the United States!)

Leo XIII is my favorite Pope.

4 posted on 05/11/2025 2:27:40 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (People who receive less results for effort will naturally put in less effort when the game is rigged)

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