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Posted on 08/24/2026 4:34:42 PM PDT by ebb tide
In his recent Angelus message, Leo XIV introduced a puzzling dichotomy to call into question “religious certainties”:
“Dear brothers and sisters, let us seek not to retreat into our own convictions and religious certainties, but to remain open to an authentic relationship with Christ.”
According to Leo, one must choose between our “convictions and religious certainties” on the one hand, and an “authentic relationship with Christ” on the other. Although it should be evident to Catholics that the Church has never seen a conflict between religious certainties and an authentic relationship with Christ, it is worthwhile to recall how St. Paul viewed this matter:
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so now I say again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:8-10)
St. Paul’s words tell us that we must absolutely adhere to the convictions and religious certainties handed down through the Church. Indeed, anyone telling us that we ought to do otherwise is anathema. Moreover, St. Paul tells us that choosing to adhere to the immutable Christian truth is the way to serve and please God, which necessarily means that it is the way to cultivate “an authentic relationship with Christ.”
Perhaps, though, Leo simply misspoke or was mistranslated? Unfortunately, he continued with an even more emphatic call to reject St. Paul’s admonition:
At times, when it comes to the Christian faith, we may be content with what we have merely ‘heard,’ with common assumptions or with what has been handed down to us, perhaps even with the best of intentions. Yet Jesus calls us to give a personal response, to know him more closely and to allow ourselves to be shaped by friendship with him through an ever-new encounter. This may also ask us to follow unfamiliar paths and to make choices different from those we had imagined. This is true both for our personal journey and for the journey of the Church, as well as for our pastoral choices, when we may sometimes think that it is enough simply to continue doing things as we have always done them.
It seems that the most astounding piece of this is the notion that the Church itself must be willing to “follow unfamiliar paths and to make choices different from those we had imagined.” As he said, neither individual Catholics nor the Church cannot simply “continue doing things as we have always done them.”
READ: SSPX is actually more faithful to Vatican II than the Vatican itself
As awful as this is, at least he is being honest. As LifeSite reported, Bishop Robert Mutsaerts recently published an open letter to Leo, which respectfully critiqued the Synod on Synodality. Bishop Mutsaerts’ criticism of the Synod includes a passage which essentially condemns what Leo said in his Angelus message:
Faith does not arise because the Church first inventories what people believe and then distills a common conviction from all those experiences. Faith is received. Paul constantly uses words such as receive, hand down, and preserve for this. The Church possesses Revelation not because she conceived it, but because she received it. This means that Christianity cannot, in essence, be democratic. Not because democracy as a form of government is bad, but because truth does not arise by a majority vote. If tomorrow 90 percent of Catholics were no longer to believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, Christ would not be any less truly present. If 80 percent reject a certain moral doctrine, that doctrine does not automatically become untrue. Truth is not produced by consensus. That constitutes the first major area of tension surrounding the synodal project.
All of the pre-Vatican II saints would surely agree with Bishop Mutsaerts on this, and indeed many of them chose martyrdom because they were convinced that this was necessarily true. But, as Leo has affirmed, the Synodal Church sees matters differently.
All of this also ties to the Vatican’s condemnation of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). Before the SSPX proceeded with the consecrations of four bishops without Rome’s approval, Leo explained that the Vatican’s real conflict with the SSPX was about religious convictions rather than permission to consecrate bishops:
Certainly, division among Christians is always a painful matter. But they refuse to accept certain fundamental elements of the Church, beginning with various points of the Second Vatican Council. And if they make those choices, I am sorry. But we must move forward.
As discussed in a previous article, Leo XIV rejects many of the portions of Vatican II that simply reaffirm Church teaching — so we cannot take his words at face value without concluding that he and his Vatican are guilty of the charges he levels at the SSPX. That said, the overall sentiment is entirely consistent with what Leo said in his recent Angelus: the Synodal Church wants to move forward, so it cannot accompany those like the SSPX and other Traditional Catholics who want to follow what St. Paul said.
So while Leo’s dichotomy is a false one that can lead souls to hell, there is a true dichotomy presented to us today. Do we accept the ideas of Leo or the ideas that the Church has always taught? With points 80 to 83 of its Profession of Catholic Faith (June 24, 2026), the SSPX reiterated the Church’s teaching on this all-important matter:
80. I believe that the Roman Pontiff enjoys infallibility when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when, fulfilling his office as pastor and doctor of all Christians, he defines, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, that a doctrine concerning faith or morals is to be held by the universal Church.
81. I further profess that the power of the Magisterium in the Church is essentially ordered to the safeguarding of the revealed Deposit and, through this means, to the salvation of souls. The Holy Ghost was not promised to the successors of Peter so that they might manifest new doctrine, but so that they might guard holily and expound faithfully the Deposit transmitted by the Apostles.
82. This is why the present Magisterium cannot substantially contradict the prior Magisterium. The living Magisterium is not current preaching set in opposition to past preaching; it is the continual and uninterrupted preaching of the same truth of Faith with the same meaning throughout the centuries. The Pope and the bishops are not the masters of Revelation; they are its guardians and are subject to it as a disciple is subject to his master. They can neither change the Faith, nor modify the divine constitution of the Church, nor declare good what is contrary to the law of God.
83. I therefore reject every evolutionist conception of dogma, according to which revealed truths would change their meaning over the course of history. There can be within the Church a homogeneous progress in understanding, which perceives better, in a more distinct and explicit manner, the meaning of revealed truth, but never a mutation in the meaning of that truth. What has already been taught by the living Magisterium of the Teaching Church, and believed in the profession of Faith of the Church Taught, cannot become false; what has been condemned as contrary to the Faith cannot become legitimate; what belongs to the divine constitution of the Church cannot be remodelled according to the categories of the modern world or the historico-cultural context.
Whether or not one agrees with the SSPX, Catholics really ought to ponder whether they agree with this clear statement of what the Church has always taught. If so, then they are in conflict with Leo and his Vatican. If not, they are in conflict with St. Paul and the constant teaching of the Church prior to Vatican II. In His loving Providence, God is permitting it to become increasingly clear that we cannot pretend to serve two masters — we can follow Catholic teaching or the teaching of today’s Vatican, but not both. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
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Pope Leo: "At times, when it comes to the Christian faith, we may be content with what we have merely ‘heard,’ with common assumptions or with what has been handed down to us, perhaps even with the best of intentions. Yet Jesus calls us to give a personal response, to know him more closely and to allow ourselves to be shaped by friendship with him through an ever-new encounter. This may also ask us to follow unfamiliar paths and to make choices different from those we had imagined. This is true both for our personal journey and for the journey of the Church, as well as for our pastoral choices, when we may sometimes think that it is enough simply to continue doing things as we have always done them.
To:
St. Paul: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so now I say again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:8-10)
Ping
So, in summary, the Pope sez: “Remember all that stuff we taught folks for millenia? Feggedabowdit!
Another spineless, post-modern pope.
Clearly, Pope Leo is paving the way for increased apostasy from traditional Catholic teaching. And let’s hear him castigate Muslims for sticking to their old ways!
“Truth is not produced by consensus.”
Sums it up nicely.
Is the Pope Catholic?
Pope Leo seems very conflicted and unsure about his job. He might want to follow Pope Benedict’s example.
The Islamocommie pope from Chicago needs to GO.
He’s a HERETIC.
I agree. Unfortunately, there are too many others just like him, especially in Europe, but also in the USA and South/Central America.
Leftist have ‘the living Constitution’. This pope has ‘the living bible’.
Today, Leo had a meeting with a guy from Chicago who was involved with the movie The Blues Brothers. But he couldn’t find time for the SSPX.
Exactly, Pope Leo. That's why the supposed 'consensus' about global warming doesn't supplant facts - as just one example. That's why instead of trying to appeal to the 'world community' you should instead try to do what God wants as he speaks to your heart. That's why you should search your soul, not rub elbows with 'politically correct' world 'leaders'.
I’m sincerely hoping that all of the cardinals Francis appointed will have aged out by the time of the next conclave. We need another John Paul.
CC
Embracing and proclaiming religious certainties is not retreating into them. It is nearly the opposite.
The whole “ever-new encounter” vs “rigidity” in doctrine is a false dichotomy and a favorite tool of modernists, to gradually destroy the permanence of Catholic moral teaching.
More and more, they appear to want to mainstream homosexual relations. Watch out, it’s coming.
I love the “ever-new encounter” phrase. That’s what promiscuous gays engage in. The whole synodality thing is a wicked program, to deconstruct perennial moral teaching.
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