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Posted on 02/01/2026 10:52:05 AM PST by ebb tide
As a convert to Catholicism, I still recall the way in which the Church’s teaching about sanctifying grace and mortal sin fundamentally changed the way I thought about life. Looking back at the copy of Baltimore Catechism No. 3 that I began studying in the mid 1990s, these two questions and answers still seem like some of the most important ones I can imagine in terms of convincing a person that they need to live and die as a good Catholic:
“Q. 280. What is mortal sin?
A. Mortal sin is a grievous offense against the law of God.
Q. 281. Why is this sin called mortal?
A. This sin is called mortal because it deprives us of spiritual life, which is sanctifying grace, and brings everlasting death and damnation on the soul.”
No matter how wonderful our lives are, if we die in a state of mortal sin we will face eternal damnation. And as the following question from Our Lord indicates, it would profit us nothing to gain the whole world if we lose our soul:
“For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?” (Mark 8:36)
If we believe these words of Jesus, and the Church’s corresponding teaching, then it is clear that we must do all we can to cooperate with God’s grace to avoid mortal sin and die in the state of sanctifying grace. As all practicing Catholics know, once we reach the age of reason, it would be extraordinarily difficult to die in the state of sanctifying grace without the graces of the Church’s sacraments, most especially the Sacrament of Penance. A very simple conclusion follows from this: if we love our neighbors, we must do all we can to help them become good Catholics.
A Catholic cleric who does the opposite, by leading souls to believe that they should not convert to the Catholic Faith, is more monster than shepherd.
As the title of this article suggests, it relates specifically to recent words from Leo XIV. However, if we truly want to understand the issues involved, we must recall what the Church taught prior to Vatican II; and what has, in the eyes of many, changed since the Council. For the pre-Vatican II teaching, we can consider two passages in Blessed Pius IX’s Quanto Conficiamur Moerore from 1863, the first of which might appear severe and unkind to those unfamiliar with Catholic teaching:
“Here, too, our beloved sons and venerable brothers, it is again necessary to mention and censure a very grave error entrapping some Catholics who believe that it is possible to arrive at eternal salvation although living in error and alienated from the true faith and Catholic unity. Such belief is certainly opposed to Catholic teaching. There are, of course, those who are struggling with invincible ignorance about our most holy religion. Sincerely observing the natural law and its precepts inscribed by God on all hearts and ready to obey God, they live honest lives and are able to attain eternal life by the efficacious virtue of divine light and grace. Because God knows, searches and clearly understands the minds, hearts, thoughts, and nature of all, His supreme kindness and clemency do not permit anyone at all who is not guilty of deliberate sin to suffer eternal punishments.”
Pius IX emphasized that it is a “very grave error” to believe “it is possible to arrive at eternal salvation although living in error and alienated from the true faith and Catholic unity.” Those who are truly invincibly ignorant can be saved only if they are also “not guilty of deliberate sin,” but who among us could live long without deliberate sin, especially if we were deprived of the graces from the Church’s sacraments? Deceiving someone into thinking they can be saved outside of the Catholic Church is therefore even worse than deceiving someone into thinking that they can safely drink lethal poison — yes, it is theoretically possible that some people may not suffer the ordinary consequences of these courses of action, but only a fool would bet on it.
It seems useful for Catholics to remind Leo XIV that his encouragement for souls to remain outside of the Catholic Church will almost certainly mean that souls will be damned for being deprived of the true teaching and sacraments that God wants us to have.
The second passage to consider from Quanto Conficiamur Moerore follows naturally from this, and helps us understand why the passage above is perfectly charitable:
“God forbid that the children of the Catholic Church should even in any way be unfriendly to those who are not at all united to us by the same bonds of faith and love. On the contrary, let them be eager always to attend to their needs with all the kind services of Christian charity, whether they are poor or sick or suffering any other kind of visitation. First of all, let them rescue them from the darkness of the errors into which they have unhappily fallen and strive to guide them back to Catholic truth and to their most loving Mother who is ever holding out her maternal arms to receive them lovingly back into her fold. Thus, firmly founded in faith, hope, and charity and fruitful in every good work, they will gain eternal salvation.”
This is what the Church has always taught, which makes sense. If we love others, we must do all we can to help them be good Catholics.
Here, though, is the discussion of the same topic (in a very different way) from Vatican II’s decree on ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio, published when Robert Prevost (Leo XIV) was around nine years old:
“Even in the beginnings of this one and only Church of God there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly condemned. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions made their appearance and quite large communities came to be separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame. The children who are born into these Communities and who grow up believing in Christ cannot be accused of the sin involved in the separation, and the Catholic Church embraces upon them as brothers, with respect and affection. For men who believe in Christ and have been truly baptized are in communion with the Catholic Church even though this communion is imperfect. The differences that exist in varying degrees between them and the Catholic Church — whether in doctrine and sometimes in discipline, or concerning the structure of the Church — do indeed create many obstacles, sometimes serious ones, to full ecclesiastical communion. The ecumenical movement is striving to overcome these obstacles. But even in spite of them it remains true that all who have been justified by faith in Baptism are members of Christ's body, and have a right to be called Christian, and so are correctly accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church. Moreover, some and even very many of the significant elements and endowments which together go to build up and give life to the Church itself, can exist outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church: the written word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, and visible elements too. All of these, which come from Christ and lead back to Christ, belong by right to the one Church of Christ. The brethren divided from us also use many liturgical actions of the Christian religion. These most certainly can truly engender a life of grace in ways that vary according to the condition of each Church or Community. These liturgical actions must be regarded as capable of giving access to the community of salvation. It follows that the separated Churches and Communities as such, though we believe them to be deficient in some respects, have been by no means deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation. For the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Church.”
One cannot honestly read this passage as compatible with those passages from Pius IX above — the entire point of this lengthy passage from the Council is that God uses other Christian religions as means of salvation even beyond Baptism. Moreover, we are all brothers in Christ’s body according to this passage, meaning that non-Catholics are not really separated even though the Council document retained the use of the term “separated brethren.”
For me, and presumably many other converts, the evil is obvious: if, by the grace of God, I manage to save my soul, it will be only because my godfather had the charity to introduce me to the true Catholic Faith as it is taught in the Baltimore Catechism.
Against this backdrop, we can consider Leo XIV’s words from his January 25, 2026 homily, in which he quoted his own words from a few months ago about the unity of all Christians:
“Yes, ‘we share the same faith in the one and only God, the Father of all people; we confess together the one Lord and true Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the one Holy Spirit, who inspires us and impels us towards full unity and the common witness to the Gospel’ (Apostolic Letter In Unitate Fidei, 23 November 2025, 12). We are one! We already are! Let us recognize it, experience it and make it visible.”
These last words are striking, both for their tone and their ecumenical substance. And yet when one compares these words to the passages above from Pius IX and Vatican II’s Unitatis Redintegratio, it is obvious that Leo XIV’s words are relatively close to the latter and radically opposed to the former. This recent statement of Leo XIV should definitely alarm us, but so should the passage from Vatican II that paved the way for the heretical ecumenical adventures we see today.
It could be a real blessing for serious Catholics to be alarmed by Leo XIV’s words, so long as that alarm translated into a return to what the Church has always taught, as seen in the words of Pius IX. Unfortunately, Leo XIV’s ecumenical confusion has been facilitated by the fact that it is shared by almost all bishops. So the answer is not so simple as denouncing Leo XIV as a heretic, even if he is. Rather, there must be a return to true Catholic teaching.
For a return to true Catholic teaching on a wide scale, Catholics ought to regain a sense of how unfathomably evil it is for the ostensible Catholic hierarchy to tell non-Catholics that their false religions are means of salvation. For me, and presumably many other converts, the evil is obvious: if, by the grace of God, I manage to save my soul, it will be only because my godfather had the charity to introduce me to the true Catholic Faith as it is taught in the Baltimore Catechism. I am thoroughly convinced that if I had learned the nonsense that Robert Prevost apparently learned as a young Catholic I would have stayed away from Catholicism and had no real hope of saving my soul. This, indeed, has been the fate of countless millions of souls who have been successfully inoculated against the true Catholic Faith by a dose of the same sickly false ecumenism that apparently poisoned the young Robert Prevost.
Is there a cure? God’s grace can cure this, so we must pray for it. Beyond that, it seems useful for Catholics to remind Leo XIV that his encouragement for souls to remain outside of the Catholic Church will almost certainly mean that souls will be damned for being deprived of the true teaching and sacraments that God wants us to have. As such, he is currently on the path of being able to repeat his phrase — “We are one! We already are! Let us recognize it, experience it . . .” — for all eternity, in the company of all those he will lead away from the Catholic Church. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
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