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[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo XIV protects Francis’s legacy in key Vatican office overseeing appointment of bishopsBy retaining Francis-era prelates in the Dicastery for Bishops and elevating Sr. Simona Brambilla, Pope Leo is continuing the trajectory of his predecessor in shaping Church leadership.Pope Leo XIV has appointed Sr. Simona Brambilla as a member of the Dicastery for Bishops, and confirmed a very broad roster of cardinals and prelates elevated under Pope Francis.On February 14, the Pope appointed Sr. Simona Brambilla, M.C., who serves as prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, as a member...

[Catholic/Anglican Caucus] Fr. James Martin praises Pope Leo for celebrating Mass with altar girlsMartin’s claim that it is un-controversial to have female altar servers is contradicted by many arguments, including irrefutable theological principles and practical considerations.Dissident Jesuit priest James Martin has praised Pope Leo XIV for including two female altar servers at a Mass he celebrated at a parish in Rome this past weekend.“The use of female altar servers has proven controversial in some US dioceses, and among some bishops, but, apparently, not in the Diocese of Rome or for its bishop,” Martin said on social media Monday.Martin’s remarks come...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV Approves Beatification Process for Bishop who Allowed Indigenous Youths to Touch his Private PartsHis diary celebrates “blessed nudism,” recounts sleeping naked beside adolescents, and normalizes sexualized touching as “natural curiosity” — yet Leo still advances his cause.Venerable by decree, scandal by his own penOn 22 May 2025, Leo XIV authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree recognizing the “offering of life” of Alejandro Labaka Ugarte, Capuchin, Apostolic Vicar of Aguarico, killed in Ecuador in 1987. That authorization is exactly what moves a cause forward in the Church’s official machinery, placing the...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Eleganti urges Church leaders to ‘admit their own failures since Vatican II’Pope Leo XIV has already celebrated the very changes of Vatican II that Bishop Eleganti has lamented: those of the liturgy and of ecumenism.Bishop Marian Eleganti exhorted the Church and Pope Leo XIV to “finally admit their own failures since the Second Vatican Council,” including those of the Novus Ordo Mass, and of ecumenism.In an exclusive statement to LifeSiteNews, Eleganti returned to the last point of a recent statement in which he said that the faithful who “criticize the horizontalism and anthropocentrism in the Novus Ordo...

[Catholic Caucus] Letter to Pope Leo XIV: How Can You Embrace All Christians Except the Society of St. Pius X?As you know, one of the foundations of the Synodal Church is an inclusivity that embraces all Christians. But if the Synodal Church accepts all Christians, how can it also decide to cast off the SSPX if it consecrates bishops to continue its work?Your Holiness,God is in charge of His Church and will always provide for those who truly want to serve Him as faithful Catholics. As such, although we write with concern about the recent news from Cardinal Víctor Manuel...

[Catholic Caucus] The Long Shadow of Vatican II: Ambiguity as Ecclesial CancerOn February 8, Bishop Bernard Fellay of the Society of Saint Pius X delivered a sermon in which he spoke of the necessity for the Society to consecrate new bishops. The purpose of this piece is not to address the merits or challenges of that decision, but rather to focus on some of the problems he identified as plaguing the Church today and how these flow from a reading of the Second Vatican Council that has led to profound confusion—confusion that was aggravated by Pope Francis. The Second Vatican...

[Catholic Caucus] Since 1988, Who Changed—Rome or the SSPX?Have Rome or the SSPX actually changed since the 1988 episcopal consecrations—or has only one side moved? This in-depth analysis compares Archbishop Lefebvre’s unwavering view of immutable Tradition with Rome’s evolving theology on synodality, moral teaching, and “living tradition,” raising a question every serious Catholic must confront.Between now and the eventual consecration of bishops for the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), there will be various newsworthy developments, and even more speculation about possible developments, much of which will turn out to be incorrect. As interesting as all of that will surely...

Guest Article: The Crisis of Modern EcumenismThe modern ecumenical movement, particularly in its post-conciliar manifestation, has adopted a dangerous illusion: that the various Christian denominations represent equally valid paths to God, differing merely in accidental rather than essential characteristics. This irenic approach, pursued with increasing fervour since the Second Vatican Council, fundamentally misunderstands the nature of the Church established by Christ; the Catholic Church, built sub Petro et cum Petro. Pope Pius XI, in his 1928 encyclical Mortalium Animos, provided a prophetic critique of this very tendency, warning against a false irenicism that would compromise the integrity of Catholic...

[Catholic Caucus] How the Church CHANGED overnight: controversy of Vatican IIFr. Charles Murr opens up about the spiritual and institutional unraveling that followed the Second Vatican Council, recalling how ambiguity, failed leadership, and compromises with modern ideologies destabilized the Church from within. He argues the true crisis came not from the Council’s texts but from their misinterpretation and misuse by poorly formed clergy. The aftermath of Humanae Vitae, he says, marked a collapse in episcopal authority, as public dissent went unpunished and relativism infiltrated moral theology. Liturgical experimentation and the loss of sacred discipline further unmoored Catholics from tradition. Fr....

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Sarah’s upcoming book ‘2050’ offers insights on the future of the ChurchThe defender of tradition and reverence will discuss his concerns over signs of ‘the loss of faith’ as well as his 'reasons for hope’ for the Church.Cardinal Robert Sarah announced he will be releasing on March 4 a book on the future of the Church titled 2050.Co-written with French journalist Nicolas Diat, the work will discuss Cardinal Sarah’s concerns over signs of “the loss of faith” as well as his “reasons for hope,” the cardinal shared Tuesday on X.“In 25 years, will the Church still be...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo XIV appoints bishop who rejects Catholic teaching on sexualityFr. Cyril Villareal has proposed a ‘new way’ of evaluating marriage and sexuality, departing from natural law principles reaffirmed in Humanae Vitae and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIV appointed Father Cyril Buhayan Villareal as the new bishop of Kalibo in the Philippines, drawing renewed attention to unorthodox theological positions he defended in an academic thesis on marriage and sexuality.On January 24, Pope Leo XIV appointed Villareal as bishop of the Diocese of Kalibo, located in the central Philippines. The decision has drawn attention over...

Vatican official praises Lutheran text as model for Christian unity ahead of 2030 commemorationThe 'Confessio Augustana,' written by the Protestant theologian Philip Melanchthon and presented in 1530 to Emperor Charles V, is one of the founding texts of Lutheranism.Statue of Martin LutherShutterstockThe secretary of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity has said one of the founding texts of Lutheranism offers a model for rediscovering common ground among Christians ahead of a planned ecumenical commemoration in 2030.On January 22, Archbishop Flavio Pace made the remarks in an interview with Vatican News published on the occasion of the Week of...

Francis-Collapse of Catholicism in Latin AmericaCatholicism has been in collapse in Latin America since the aftermath of Vatican II -- but it went into vertiginous tailspin in the pontificate of the Pope from Argentina.We have often covered this in Rorate.For instance, right after the election of Francis, in 2014, in the long post "THE COLLAPSE OF CATHOLICISM IN LATIN AMERICA:New Poll, Statistics, Tables and Graphs - Extensive Analysis", as well as in "The Latin American Exodus: Catholics become Protestants in Droves".Now, the most credible research institute on religious trends, the Pew Research Center, has released a new study specifically dealing...

[Catholic Caucus] Germany’s “slime Mass” apology exposes deeper fault lines in the ChurchA Catholic diocese in Germany has issued a formal apology after a televised Christmas Eve Mass from Stuttgart provoked a storm of criticism over an unconventional Nativity scene broadcast nationwide on public television.The Mass, aired on ARD from St Mary’s Church in Stuttgart, featured an artistic portrayal of the newborn Christ by an adult female performance artist curled in a foetal position and covered with sticky rice paper, intended to evoke the vernix of a newborn child. It was quickly dubbed “slime Jesus”. The broadcast was produced by...

[Catholic Caucus] German Diocese Regrets "Slime Jesus" – But No One Is PunishedThe diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Germany, allegedly regrets its televised Christmas Eve Eucharist, which featured an adult woman covered in sticky rice paper who resembled a slimy alien in a manger.The Eucharist was broadcast Germanwide from the parish of St Mary’s in Stuttgart.The officiating priest, Thomas Steiger, said during the service: "The nativity scene shows a real human being, lying there miserable, naked and exposed."Next to him, the female actor breathed heavily and slowly writhed in the paper, which was apparently meant to represent the vernix covering a newborn...

Conciliar Catechesis Watch: IntroductionOn Wednesday, Leo launched a new initiative with an Introduction to his planned General Audience series consisting of catechesis on the documents of Vatican II. For how long this weekly series will go on is anyone’s guess, but it seems likely to go on up to and perhaps beyond Lent.In any case, beginning today, the akaCatholic Podcast will respond to each of Leo’s weekly catechetic sessions with a closer look at what he had to say and how it compares and contrasts with what the Church has always taught.Beneath the video, a transcript will be provided for...

Pope Leo calls Second Vatican Council the ‘guiding star’ of the Church’s pathLeo’s description of the Second Vatican Council as the ‘guiding star’ of the Church’s path suggests he sees this council as surpassing in importance every other council of the Church.Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday said the Second Vatican Council is the “guiding star” of the Church’s path in his strongest statement to date in support of the controversial council.“It is the Magisterium (of the Second Vatican Council) that still constitutes the guiding star of the Church’s journey,” Pope Leo said during his Wednesday general audience, Vatican News reported....

Pope Leo begins a new catechism series dedicated to Vatican IIPope Leo on Wednesday praised the ‘liturgical reform’ launched by Vatican II that laid the groundwork for the revolutionary Novus Ordo Missae, the new Mass.Sculpture on St Peter's basilica door: Vatican IIVATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV announced Wednesday that he is beginning a catechesis series to “closely” study the Second Vatican Council, which many priests and scholars have affirmed to be in need of correction.“We are beginning a new catechesis series dedicated to the Second Vatican Council and to a fresh reading of its Documents,” Leo wrote in...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope at Audience: Second Vatican Council still guiding star of Church’s journeyPope Leo XIV begins a new catechesis series on the Second Vatican Council and its documents, emphasizing that the Council's teaching still serves as the guiding star of the Church’s journey."It is the Magisterium [of the Second Vatican Council] that still constitutes the guiding star of the Church’s journey today."Pope Leo XIV expressed this during his Wednesday General Audience, on January 7, in the Vatican, as he began a new catechesis series, which is dedicated to Vatican Council II and a rereading of its Documents, following the...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo opens first consistory with strong emphasis on synodality, Vatican IISources told LifeSiteNews that key roles in the opening phases of the consistory were assigned to figures closely aligned with the approach of Pope Francis.Pope Leo XIV opened his first extraordinary consistory with an agenda centered on synodality, liturgy and the legacy of the Second Vatican Council.On Wednesday, January 7, Pope Leo began the first extraordinary consistory of his pontificate at the Vatican, convening cardinals from around the world in the Paul VI Hall and the New Synod Hall to reflect together, advise the Pope, and discuss...