Vatican City, Sep 18, 2025 / 10:08 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV, in his first interview since his election, signaled he may be open to future changes to the Vatican’s controversial deal with China, saying that he is in dialogue with persecuted Chinese Catholics as he weighs the future of Vatican policy toward Beijing.
The interview, conducted in English in July and published Thursday in a new Spanish-language biography, provides the clearest view yet of the 70-year-old American pope’s priorities in global politics and Vatican diplomacy, including how he sees the Church engaging with the Trump administration, the war in Gaza, and the defense of human dignity.
On China, Pope Leo said he is listening to “a significant group of Chinese Catholics who for many years have lived some kind of oppression or difficulty in living their faith freely” as he tries to get “a clearer understanding of how the Church can continue the Church’s mission.”
“I would say that in the short term, I will continue the policy that the Holy See has followed for some years now … I’m also in ongoing dialogue with a number of people, Chinese, on both sides of some of the issues that are there,” he said.
As the first pope ever to have visited mainland China, Leo, who traveled there years before his election, said he draws on his experiences with “government as well as religious leaders and laypeople.”
Leo’s comments indicate openness to a possible shift from the status quo on China since 2018, when the Holy See signed a power-sharing agreement with Beijing on the appointment of bishops. The agreement was renewed under Francis three times in the past seven years despite objections from human rights activists and reports of increased persecution of the so-called underground Church in China, which rejects government control.
“It’s a very difficult situation. In the long term, I don’t pretend to say this is what I will and will not do,” he said.
American pope on U.S. politics
Pope Leo XIV also spoke about President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Elon Musk, while insisting that he does not want to take part in political battles.
“I don’t plan to get involved in partisan politics. That’s not what the Church is about. But I’m not afraid to raise issues that I think are real Gospel issues, that hopefully people on both sides of the aisle, as we say, will be able to listen to,” he said.
The Chicago-born pope suggested that his background gives him an advantage in dealing with other Americans, including members of the Church. Referring to relations between the Vatican and U.S. Catholic bishops, he said: “The fact that I am American means, among other things, people can’t say, like they did about Francis, ‘He doesn’t understand the United States.’” Under his predecessor Pope Francis, the U.S. bishops’ conference clashed with the Vatican over the bishops’ designation of abortion as the “preeminent priority” of their public policy agenda.
Leo said he would not hesitate to meet with Trump if the opportunity arose and said he has already spoken with Vance “about human dignity and how important that is for all people, wherever you’re born, and hopefully to find ways to respect human beings and the way we treat them in the policies and choices we make.”
“Obviously, there’s some things going on in the States that are of concern,” Leo added.
Applauding Pope Francis’ letter to U.S. bishops earlier this year criticizing the Trump administration’s policy on deportation of immigrants, he said: “I was very happy to see how the American bishops picked that up, and some of them were courageous enough to go with that. I think that approach, in general, is a better approach, that I would engage with the bishops primarily.”
“The United States is a power player on the world level, we have to recognize that, and sometimes decisions are made more based on economics than on human dignity and human support,” Leo said. “But [we have to] continue to challenge and to raise some questions and to see the best way to do that.”
“Especially about questions of human dignity, of promoting peace in the world, which [Trump] at times has made clear he wants to do, in those efforts I would want to support him,” he said.
Elon Musk, inequality, and artificial intelligence
Pope Leo XIV also mentioned Elon Musk, reserving some of his sharpest words for economic disparities and the potential “crisis” that could result from the rise of artificial intelligence.
“One … very significant [factor] is the continuously wider gap between the income levels of the working class and the money that the wealthiest receive,” he said. CEOs once earned a few times more than workers, but today “the last figure I saw, it’s 600 times more.”
He pointed to reports that “Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world,” warning: “If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble.”
Leo also cautioned that artificial intelligence could cause a “crisis” because of its potential to accelerate shifts in the labor force. “If we automate the whole world and only a few people have the means with which to more than just survive, but to live well, have meaningful life, there’s a big problem, a huge problem coming down the line.”
Wars in Gaza and Ukraine
Pope Leo weighed in on the debate over whether Israel’s campaign in Gaza constitutes genocide, with the pope noting that “the word genocide is being thrown around more and more.”
“Officially, the Holy See does not believe that we can make any declaration at this time about that,” he said. “There’s a very technical definition about what genocide might be, but more and more people are raising the issue, including two human rights groups in Israel have made that statement.”
Leo emphasized the importance of getting humanitarian aid, medical assistance, and food to people in Gaza, noting that the U.S. is “obviously the most significant third party that can place pressure on Israel.”
On Ukraine, Leo confirmed the Vatican had offered to host peace talks, though the offer was not accepted. “The Holy See, since the war began, has made great efforts to maintain a position that, as difficult as it might be, [is not] one side or the other, but truly neutral,” he said.
He also suggested that the Vatican might be able to help end a schism within the Orthodox world, between the patriarchs of Moscow and Constantinople, arising from disagreements over Orthodox Church leadership in Ukraine.
“If the bishop of Rome can help build bridges … I think there is certainly challenges in that, but a great service to be offered because ultimately, we do all believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and Our Savior.”
A weakened U.N. and a polarized world
Leo acknowledged the declining role of the United Nations and the shift to bilateral dialogue in international relations. “It seems to be generally recognized that the United Nations, at least at this moment in time, has lost its ability to bring people together on multilateral kinds of issues,” he said.
He also pointed to polarization worldwide, citing a “loss of a higher sense of what human life is about.”
“The value of human life, the value of society, of the family … if we lose the sense of those values, what matters anymore?” he asked. “You oftentimes find people questioning: What is this all about and what is the meaning of life, and why should we be doing this?”
The pope is not a ‘solver of the world’s problems’
The interview appears in the Spanish-language book “León XIV: ciudadano del mundo, misionero del siglo XXI” (“Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the XXI Century”), a biography by Crux correspondent Elise Ann Allen, published on Sept. 18 in Spanish by Penguin Peru. English and Portuguese editions are expected in 2026.
In the book, Pope Leo, a longtime missionary in Peru before he was pope, underlines that the Church’s primary mission remains spiritual, not political.
“My role is announcing the good news, preaching the Gospel,” he said. “I don’t see my primary role as trying to be the solver of the world’s problems. I don’t see my role as that at all, really, although I think that the Church has a voice, a message that needs to continue to be preached, to be spoken and spoken loudly.”
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Regarding the comments of the Pontiff Leo on illegal immigration, as a head of state, as well as the leading hierarch in the Catholic Church, and an American who is intimately familiar with the network of Bishops in the United States, the Pontiff might keep in mind that given the “unusual” circumstances pervading the US Catholic Church establishment’s role in enabling the gargantuan illegal immigration operation, that wrt to that particular topic, turn-about is “fair play.” as an NGO-agency of the Biden Administration, the newly-elected US government might feel it a duty to investigate the USCCB/diocesan participation in the Biden-Catholic-Bishops illegal importation of millions of illegal immigrants.
Just a thought in passing, as all good American Catholics are concerned about the separation of church and state, isn’t that right?
Chris in Maryland. “ Illegal IMPORTATION Millions of illegal immagrants.” Please substantiate this statement with facts. There is a vast difference between importing and giving aide to migrants. As a Church we are called to help immigrants. Its possible and perhaps even likely that some well intentioned lay Catholics were aiding people in crossing the boarder, and this is wrong and they should be held accountable, but to state that the Bishops and the US church hierarchy are smuggling people across the boarder is a serious statement and must be backed up with evidence. Please supply this evidence if you know of any.
Again, more dishonesty from JC. You are well aware of the data regarding the millions of illegal aliens who have crossed the borders under the progressive Democrat administrations you support. We are not obligated to help illegal immigrants, since they are violating federal law. Helping them makes us complicit in their crime.
My dear sir, Athanasius, I am neither a liberal, nor a democrat, and I am in no way a supporter of their ideology and I very much take offense of your labeling me as such. I may also add that I do not support the ideology of the present Republican Party as I find their drift to the extreme right very much at odds with Catholic teaching and practice. I doubt if you can substantiate the fact that the Church aided millions of illegal immagrants to enter this country. I would like to be shown that the Bishops conference aided even one to come in illegally. Once they are here is a different matter. Giving Charity to anyone in need is not a sin, while withholding could well be. In my above statement to Chris, I’m merely asking him to substantiate his claim that the Bishops confers has aided millions of illegals to enter this country. He made the statement and I want to know more about his sources. If it is true, it is a very disturbing matter and we should know more about it.
Athanasius. I’m not disputing the fact that millions of illegals entered this country during the last administration. What I’m asking is -what evidence do we have that the Church establishment was helping illegals to get INTO the country illegally. We can very well disagree as to what we should do after they are here, that is a very difficult matter.
To intentionally maintain a porous border policy, which Biden openly acknowledged was his administration’s policy, is clearly a policy of importing illegals.
Mr. Connor:
Everyone on earth, including our Bishops and the lste and current Pontiffs, knows perfectly well, just as you and I and every US citizen knows, that Dem and Rep congressional leaders, and the entire news media establishment, spent all 4 years of the Biden Administration talking about the fact that the Biden Administration refused to enforce immigration laws, and orchestrated a staggering invasion of illegal immigrants.
Everyone, therefore, including our Bishops and the various diocesan chapters of Catholic “Charities,” who were taking huge federal revenue to pay thousands of employees of Catholic “Charities” to resettle the millions of illegal immigrants, understands that the diocesan Bishops and Catholic “Charities” were having their employees’ payroll funded in exchange for NGO services rendered to the Buden Administration by executing the resettlement of people who unlawfully entered the United States under the deliberate outlaw policy.
And our bishops who did this, all of whom we can aver are of average or above average intelligence, thus understand that we understand that they know full well that they were enabling the outlaw government’s illegal immigration strategy.
And thus, since neither you nor anyone would insult the intelligence of the Bishops, we grant them that they apprehended exactly what their NGOs were being paid to do.
And citizens of all persuasions freely admit the universal knowledge of this outlaw illegal immigration campaign. And out of mere respect for the agency of Bishops, and the millionaire executives of the various municipally based Catholic “Charities,” all citizens likewise understand that like everyone else watching from the sidelines, the men and women who were actually doing the illegal immigration operation were aware that they were aiding a gargantuan illegal enterprise, in exchange for federal revenues from the Biden Administration.
And this awareness of what was done is best freely acknowledged, in the spirit of candor once suggested by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, when addressing an audience in the UK, discussing other grave matters left morally unaccounted, in an address he entitled: “If One Doesn’t Wish to be Blind.”
I don’t for a moment believe that the Church, specifically the USCCB, has been involved in the importation of illegal immigrants. However Catholics Charities, for whom I currently volunteer in a non-food bank related capacity, has certainly incentivized illegal immigration through its food bank system and immigration services offices. During my service at Catholic Charities, which pre-dates the Biden administration, I have also worked in the food bank operation. During the Biden Administration, the clientele here in Greenville, SC completely changed from poor blacks and whites to almost completely illegal immigrants from South America and Russia. How do I know they were illegal? The only form of identification they could produce were driver licenses for Russia, Belarus, Columbia, Guatemala, Honduras, China, etc.
Mr. Hight:
The US Church was actively involved, because it played the incentivizing role you commented about. It was serving as a mechanism in the reception and resettlement process.
And the USCCB of course isn’t an operational arm, it is simply a PR outlet and policy clearing house to run cover for the operational NGO apparatus of Catholic “Charities.”
In sum, with good will in appreciation of your comment, I would respond that the USCCB and Catholic Charities and diocesan Bishops are acting in the realm of consequential reality. The “Who us?” and “That hurts our feelings” posture and public statements of the president of the USCCB, and other prominent Bishops like Cardinal Dolan, is beyond pretentious, not merely refusing to acknowledge their culpable behavior, but pushing the PR way past that, akin to appealing to Catholic citizens to pretend we are all living inside the proverbial Japanese Paper House, where “well-mannered” family all must keep to their own rooms and politely pretend that they do not know what is going on in any other room in the house, because everyone in the house knows, but it is too shameful to acknowledge what is really happening.
They are lying to others, because they first lie to themselves.
They know that they are pretending to be innocent. They cannot bring themselves to tell the truth. They will not answer the warning call given by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: “Live Not By Lies.”
The Administration ought to sue EVERY diocese that was involved in the illegal importation of foreign nationals. Any money received by the Church from the Federal government to participate as an accomplice in this felonious activity should be returned. Since the Church received hundreds of millions of dollars in this illegal activity, that same amount must be returned to the Treasury
Diogenes, I’m trying to get to the bottom of this allegation that the Church establishment was directly involved with the illegal importation of foreigners into this country. Please, if you have facts-share them. Thanks
You are on target, Chris. Moreover, see how the Vatican approaches illegal aliens entering ITS own domain:
Vatican Promises Stiff Penalties for Illegal Aliens Crossing its Border
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2025/01/16/vatican-promises-stiff-penalties-for-illegal-aliens-crossing-its-border/
Yes…pretty cheeky bunch over there, aren’t they?
“Submission for all of you, but not for us.”
Either he is the ultimate deceiver, or he suffers cognitive impairment. I couldn’t sleep. After taking in Cardinal Raymond Burke’s interview by Raymond Arroyo on his meeting with Pope Leo XIV I was vexed.
It was a tutorial on double talk. When Cdl Burke humbly requested having the TLM restored the Pope answered, You can always say the Mass in Latin referring to the Novus Ordo. Next, the issue of LGBT. The Pontiff said adamantly that he will not change doctrine. Conditionally, adding not in the foreseeable future. Astounding. That he would ever consider changing revelation.
Next he revealed what I hoped I would not hear. Leo XIV added, They are always welcome, which means that he approved the LGBT Rome parade and entry into St Peter’s Basilica for Mass. His having stated that he will not change doctrine on marriage but that practicing homosexuals can attend Mass, in consequence receive the Holy Eucharist means that their behavior is not a detriment in receiving Our Lord. In effect Leo XIV has embraced homosexuality in the name of Christ. What can I say as a priest loyal to Christ? I will not submit to this abomination. I will pray for Christ’s intervention however it becomes fit.
The human element in the Church has, throughout history, been a source of scandal and confusion. But remember, the Church is not merely an institution; it is the Mystical Body of Christ. As such, it is far greater than any individual who, for a time, holds the keys of Peter. The Chair of Peter is a sacred trust, but it is ultimately Christ who holds the Church in His hands and it is to Him that we direct our eternal gaze.
We must remain anchored to the rock of Tradition and the eternal truths of the Gospel. In times of confusion, pray that we each will cling ever more tightly to the Sacred Scriptures, the Catechism, and the saints who have shown us the way. Let us pray for all those in authority, that they may be granted the grace to be true shepherds and not merely worldly administrators.
May God bless you, and may each of us be protected from the snares of the Evil One, who seeks to sow discord and despair. Let us place our trust in Our Lady, the Mother of the Church, who will always lead us to her Son.
Thank you for your kind and meaningful words of support. I am not above advice. My vexation is not with the Chair of Peter, rather with the occupant. It relates to the message conveyed by Pope Leo’s ‘openness’ to the gay community and those who struggle with loneliness and confusion in a world that dilutes the truth. Especially the young who may easily assume that homosexual behavior is acceptable.
As to the Chair and our Church instituted by Christ I love and am committed, although as you suggest not necessarily in those granted authority. My faith assures that error will never be formally pronounced by a Roman pontiff. As such I remain a Roman Catholic. Although evil can have its sway through suggestion.
With all due respect father, did he SAY that a practicing homosexual CAN receive communion?
And does “they are always welcome” mean that he approves of the LGBT parade at the Vatican? It seems that these are inference s rather than facts.
The meaning is quite clear for those of us with eyes to see and ears to hear. That also involves not making excuses for sin.
By clear inference, he emphatically did. What should stop those dedicated to their sins from presenting themselves, when Leo bent over backwards to declare the sinlessness of sexual perversion and condemned attitudes that would fail to do so.
No Br Jaques. I doubt he would dare. Nevertheless his tacit permission [tacit with his requirement for approval according to protocol] to Fr Martin SJ’s Jubilee parade through Rome, entry through the Holy Doors and Mass at St Peter’s with adamant homosexuals who received our Lord, sets a monumental example for the entire gay community and those who struggle and are on the verge of disordered sexual behavior.
Pope Leo’s invitation to all gays voiced during his interview with Cardinal Burke may be easily construed as an endorsement of their disordered behavior.
Are you aware of any time during his pontificate that Pope Leo has mentioned repentance to the gay community?
I sympathize with you Father. My sleepless night was punctuated with severe cardiac palpitations.
The tone of the complete interview describes a papal mindset that blatantly rejects immutable truth and downplays acknowledgement of sin and the need for repentance, a complete capitulation to the spirit of the age, to which he even confidently admits.
Be healthy dear friend. Although I wasn’t the only one.
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/18/1220077102/pope-francis-blessings-same-sex-couples
Pope Francis APPROVES CATHOLIC BLESSINGS FOR SAME SEX COUPLES, but not for marriage
DECEMBER 18, 20232:09 PM ET
The excellent site Catholic Answers has posted numerous examples of the early Christian thinkers on the subject of homosexual relations, in answer to the moder Catholic Church claim that “loving” homosexual relations, and not just “lustful” relations are OK and can be blessed by priests. Here are a few, which today’s popes and cardinals and bishops and priests act against and probably would label as “hate speech”: https://www.catholic.com/tract/early-teachings-on-homosexuality
SAINT EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA
“[H]aving forbidden all unlawful marriage, and all unseemly practice, and the union of women with women and men with men, he [God] adds: ‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for in all these things the nations were defiled, which I will drive out before you. And the land was polluted, and I have recompensed [their] iniquity upon it, and the land is grieved with them that dwell upon it’ [Lev. 18:24–25]” (Proof of the Gospel 4:10 [A.D. 319]).
SAINT CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
“All honor to that king of the Scythians, whoever Anacharsis was, who shot with an arrow one of his subjects who imitated among the Scythians the mystery of the mother of the gods . . . condemning him as having become effeminate among the Greeks, and a teacher of the disease of effeminacy to the rest of the Scythians” (Exhortation to the Greeks 2 [A.D. 190]).
SAINT BASI THE GREAT
“He who is guilty of unseemliness with males will be under discipline for the same time as adulterers” (Letters 217:62 [A.D. 367]).
SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
“[Certain men in church] come in gazing about at the beauty of women; others curious about the blooming youth of boys. After this, do you not marvel that [lightning] bolts are not launched [from heaven], and all these things are not plucked up from their foundations? For worthy both of thunderbolts and hell are the things that are done; but God, who is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forbears awhile his wrath, calling you to repentance and amendment” (Homilies on Matthew 3:3 [A.D. 391]).
“All of these affections [in Rom. 1:26–27] . . . were vile, but chiefly the mad lust after males; for the soul is more the sufferer in sins, and more dishonored than the body in diseases” (Homilies on Romans 4 [A.D. 391]).
“[The men] have done an insult to nature itself. And a yet more disgraceful thing than these is it, when even the women seek after these intercourses, who ought to have more shame than men” (ibid.).
SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
“[T]hose shameful acts against nature, such as were committed in Sodom, ought everywhere and always to be detested and punished. If all nations were to do such things, they would be held guilty of the same crime by the law of God, which has not made men so that they should use one another in this way” (Confessions 3:8:15 [A.D. 400]).
TERTULLIAN
“[A]ll other frenzies of the lusts which exceed the laws of nature, and are impious toward both [human] bodies and the sexes, we banish, not only from the threshold but also from all shelter of the Church, for they are not sins so much as monstrosities” (Modesty 4 [A.D. 220]).
SAINT JUSTIN MARTYR (the first recognized philosopher of the Christian era)
“[W]e have been taught that to expose newly-born children is the part of wicked men; and this we have been taught lest we should do anyone harm and lest we should sin against God, first, because we see that almost all so exposed (not only the girls, but also the males) are brought up to prostitution. And for this pollution a multitude of females and hermaphrodites, and those who commit unmentionable iniquities, are found in every nation. And you receive the hire of these, and duty and taxes from them, whom you ought to exterminate from your realm. . . . And there are some who prostitute even their own children and wives, and some are openly mutilated for the purpose of sodomy; and they refer these mysteries to the mother of the gods” (First Apology 27 [A.D. 151]).
________________________________________
THE DIDACHE
“You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit pederasty, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal, you shall not practice magic, you shall not practice witchcraft, you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill one that has been born” (Didache 2:2 [A.D. 70]).
Very interesting list, Oscar, but we needn’t go beyond Scripture: it says it all.
Thank you, Father. Aside from our necessary prayers, you might ease your angst a little and enjoy a post I made recently for an old article, “Opinion: Thou shalt have no dogs before me,” (2/11/21) where you shared your remembrance of your dog Tasha. My post follows yours.
Fr Peter,
You are experiencing the typical consequences of being caught in so-called “double bind. A double bind, in psychology, is defined as “an emotionally distressing dilemma in which an individual (or group) receives two or more conflicting messages, and one message negates another”. For example, parading in mozzetta and blessing the “gay parade” at St Peter’s Basilica. Or a response to a question re: TLM “It is a very difficult and dividing question” (What is “difficult” there? How “TLM question is “difficult and dividing” while “gay parade” and Fr Martin are not?)
However, in Pope Leo’s case the believers are dealing not just with a double bind made with mutually cancelling messages (like it was with Pope Francis), they are dealing with someone WHO IS HIMSELF A DOUBLE BIND. His psyche is a perfect double bind. This is why so many struggle now with a question: “Who is he?”.
That very question, “Who is He?”, people had about Christ but it was caused by a contrary phenomenon, of an utmost clarity and a sense of liberation the truth and clarity bring.
Unlike Christ who cut through with the sword of truth, Pope Leo speaks in loops, each of his statements cancels another. Takes this, from his big interview (‘Crux’):
“(re: LGBT]) At some point, when specific questions will come up… People want the church doctrine to change, want attitudes to change. I think we have to change attitudes before we even think about changing what the Church says about any given question. I find it highly unlikely, certainly in the near future, that the church’s doctrine in terms of what the church teaches about sexuality, what the Church teaches about marriage, will change.”
Here PL allows, in a foggy way, a possibility of a change of the doctrine and then proposes, also in a foggy way, the method to do that: “I think we have to change attitudes before we even think about changing what the Church says about any given question”. This can sound like a course of action (“we have to change attitudes”) yet it can be easily denied. And he does cancel it soon after: “I think that the Church’s teaching will continue as it is, and that’s what I have to say about that for right now.” However, there is no sense of a relief here, of setting on SOMETHING DEFINATE, for a reader.
PL cancels – but in a way that a question about change is left open, via employing “I think” and “that’s what I have to say about that for right now.”. It may sound reassuring if not one problem: Church’s teaching cannot be changed and so to use words “I think” and “now” is to undermine that fact – in the same sentence. Everything remains fluid. There is nothing absolute = God’s Truth = Christ Who is the same. In a sense, PL’s fluidity is a perfect anthesis to Christ’s solidity – and security that latter gives to his follower.
While I was reading PL’s interview, my mind was spinning. For a person of integrity/for one who follows Christ, it is impossible to be a subject to those endless cancellations of what was said before without sustaining negative consequence to the psyche. To relate to what PL is saying, a psyche must fragment and eventually to break into pieces or to halt. This is a typical consequence of a double bind.
I will add here that the words of PF who was also creating fog to push various agendas were less damaging. The reason for this, as I see it, is that the person of PF was quite palpable, thus a reader/observer had at least something to relate to, something definite. In the case of PL there appears to be nothing definite, no palpable person but an endless self-cancelling loop of meanings.
Terrific commentary Anna. I read the interview and was thinking similar thoughts. Rather than write them down, I had a drink. Shame on me.
I cannot grasp a mind, holding a place of sacred responsibility, that cannot understand that alterations of received truth are made from a rejection of truth and implies the fallibility not of man but of God.
Here is the quote from PL’s interview:
“People want the church doctrine to change, want attitudes to change. I think we have to change attitudes before we even think about changing what the Church says about any given question.”
Why does the above sound maddening? Because it clashes with the fact that doctrines, being a product of the divine revelation, cannot change. Establish this truth, that Church’s doctrines cannot be changed and the whole discourse immediately becomes meaningless and totally unnecessary. All questions are answered with a simple “we have a doctrine.”
Noteworthy, if PL said “yes, the doctrine is mistaken and we are reworking it” it would be far less maddening, a relief in fact, because it would be clear. All right, PL rejects Church’s doctrine hence he and those who are in line with him are clearly heretical.
And so, “the maddening aspect” of PL’s discourses lies in his retaining a possibility of what is a heresy and the usage of “Church’s doctrines”. He, so to speak, processes the Church’s clear teaching (Christ is always clear) and then produces something in harmony with himself – something blurry, something whose meaning depends on a reference and hyperlinks. This is what I call “the last heresy, of a human psyche”. It is not a theological heresy (like “Christ is only a human or only divine”) but a psychological heresy. If the Church’s teaching is a product of the divine revelation given in the Person of Christ, here we have a different “revelation”, given in a person of a mere man, opposite to Christ in his modus operandi (blur instead of clarity, ever-fluid instead of solid, flatly of this world instead of “not from this world”, a sense of fragmentation of a psyche instead of a sense of wholeness, and so on).
And, if via Church’s teaching we come to a communion with Christ Who is perfect man and God thus we experience healing, wholeness and deification, via “the heresy of a human psyche” (whoever channels it) we are risking to come in communion with Christ’s antithesis – hence confusion, blur, pain and despair created by a double bund I mentioned in my previous comment.
Convincingly illustrated Anna. Neither Leo XIV, to date nor Francis I would unquestionably affirm revealed doctrine. However, what Francis often said in general as Todos, Todos, Leo asserts more definitively, that “The individuals will be accepted and received, reiterating the importance of respecting and accepting people who make different choices in their lives”.
Anna:
I am so grateful to read your comments, which, as usual, are penetrating to bedrock morality and Truth.
God bless you and fill you with His power.
Thank you Father Morello for having the courage to make this post!
“I’m also in ongoing dialogue with a number of people, Chinese, on both sides of some of the issues that are there”…
BOTH SIDES? The atheist Communist government gets to decide what a diocese is, who the bishops are, whose picture hangs in the church, whether children can go to Mass…
There is a famous line from “The Wire” that may have originated elsewhere — something like “A lie isn’t a side of the story – it’s just a lie.”
And the Bible says, “do not be unevenly yoked with unbelievers.”
Is there hope? As long as we’re able to appeal with prayer and sacrifice there’s hope. Intercession by Our Blessed Mother has averted disaster in the past as at Lepanto. Cdl Burke spoke continuously during Arroyo’s interview on intercessionary Marian prayers.
Leo XIV mentioned possible change in the China Church agreement offering a ray of hope, although we shouldn’t be naive regarding the gist of the interview on welcoming homosexuals without any mention of repentance and change of manners.
Perhaps we all need to keep in mind that Pope Leo is from the South Side of Chicago (as was Mrs. Obama!). It’s a different world there–Go White Sox! (I’m from Northern Illinois, but not Chicago!).
I agree with bringing more immigrants into the U.S. legally, but I do not agree in allowing people to enter the U.S. illegally. We have the right to control our borders and keep people who have the potential to harm us to not enter our land.
But–with the declining population in the U.S., we are in desperate need of people willing to work who can replace all the dying Greatest Generation (most of who have already passed away R.I.P.) and the dying Boomers (my generation, and I am in the middle of it, but as we are pretty healthy, and thanks to Robert Kennedy’s despised vaccines along with the sensible diets that our parents fed us as we were growing up instead of the artificial junk and massive servings that are making our Americans tired and fat, and the bans on smoking in public places, and of course, the volunteer military instead of the draft, we will hopefully be around a little longer than our parents and grandparents!).
Our Millennial generation is pretty healthy, too, although many of their children are having all kinds of “issues,” in part due to the horrors of 9/11 which we are still recovering from, and also “safely” living online on their phones most of their lives instead of outdoors playing in the dirty mud and running around the neighborhood with all their pals and possibly getting hit by a truck or kidnapped by Mr. Stranger Danger.
I see all kinds of media campaigns and speeches about the need for workers in the skilled trades, and that is certainly very true (my brother retired from his welding career a few years ago, and so far, the company has had no luck hiring anyone to replace him). In spite of all the dirt and grease, these are all high-paying jobs that usually keep the worker in pretty good physical shape.
And of course, many (too many) young people are attempting to enter the IT industry–bless them if they are truly good at it, but it’s a lot harder than just starting up the gaming device and sitting in front of a screen until 3 in the morning.
But one industry that is seems to be getting NO MEDIA ATTENTION is absolutely bleeding employees due to the retirements of the massive Baby Boomer generation, and also from those Millennials who burn out and switch to the higher-paying IT careers which allow them to work from home–is the HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY!
When was the last time you saw or read a media story about the crisis of underemployment of the health care industry in the U.S.?! I would say, “never.” (Maybe they’re afraid of starting a nationwide panic!).
I worked in the hospital lab (microbiology department) for 42 years and until the COVID year (when I was working 13-hour days with no breaks as well as 3 out of 4 weekends a month–all due to short staffing), I loved working in the lab.
Since I and many others of my generation have retired only a few years ago, emergency rooms and all other departments in hospitals and clinics are now so short-staffed–no wonder our doctor’s appointments are scheduled weeks from when we call to request one!
I can’t say I blame the healthcare workers for quitting, because many face rudeness and unreasonable demands from patients who are often “in the house” because they ate or drank themselves into heart disease, diabetes, and strokes, and also from people on government aid who nevertheless feel and act entitled.
Along with that are the long hours, double shifts, and weekends that they are required to work. At least the pay is still decent–but often by the time they actually get off work, because they have done the work that several people SHOULD be doing, they have little energy left to play with their children (who have been in daycare, or school and after-school care) all day, or enjoy their spouse’s company or do much of anything except flop down in front of the TV.
Meanwhile, every medical show on TV is about doctors (handsome), nurses (beautiful), and hospital administrators (rich and often the portrayed as the “villains”), and no mention is ever made of all the OTHER careers available in hospitals and clinics! I’ve actually seen shows in which the DOCTOR does the lab testing, which is definitely a violation of the law in the U.S.!
I do wish that our Health Secretary, Robert Kennedy, would drop all the vaccine issues and start up a campaign to interest more young people (and adults who are ready to find a more rewarding job than “IT”) in health care careers!
And I also wish that more hospitals would pay their CEOs much less and use that cash to give scholarships to high school students who have decided to become nurses and nurse practitioners (and let them know that they don’t have to be beautiful or handsome!), physical therapists, respiratory therapists, laboratory technologists, etc., which are all desperately needed to care for patients.
There are also careers for those who work creating and maintaining all the advanced technology (analyzers in the lab, various surgical instruments and automation, etc.) for those interested in designing and/or maintaining these instruments.
Many of these health care careers can be accessed with a two-year college degree (often this includes online colleges), and some hospitals actually pay the tuition for those interested in working and at the same time, pursuing their four-year degree! How many other well-paying and personally-rewarding careers can you access with no “student loans’ hovering over you for decades?!
If we don’t have more people working in healthcare, I fear we Americans will find it more difficult to get adequate healthcare, which may lead to some rather terrifying consequences for the U.S.A. I just hope I can stay healthy to avoid this crisis. And it’s my hope that many of our immigrants will decide to enter health care careers!
With all due respect, what exactly is all this? Why do you think it necessary to write these long posts? Surely, you can make your point concisely and directly.
We have declining enrollment in some US school districts today.
I read that 766 schools (over 5% of the national total) have been closed in Greece. The number of Greece’s primary school age students has fallen by almost 20%. Greece has a fertility rate now of only 1.35.
Demographics & its effects on future workforces isn’t a problem for the USA alone. It’s becoming global.
All social problems are repercussions of personal sin. The pervailing opinion of all post war generations is that it is “selfish” to have children. The first of many Orwellian stupidities.
The second Orwellian stupidity has been a recurring theme among many Catholic prelates and “theologians” that “following your conscience” is all that is necessary to be good.
Actually, NO, we dont need more immigrants, legal or illegal. They take jobs from American workers, and overwhelm our schools and healthcare systems. Lately, my older friends and I find its not uncommon to have a 3 month wait to see a specialist. That never used to happen. Too many people, not enough doctors. Right now there are parts of the country where they are taking farmland and building housing developments on it, while lacking sufficient water for the population they already have. Greed for more property tax revenue keeps them building. My 93 year old mother who lives in California got a $700 water bill for the last two months. She lives alone. Its because the rates are punitive exactly so you DON’T use the water. But here’s a newsflash, California. All humans require water.
I personally would like to see us STABALIZE the population where we are, before we reach a point of no return. We DO recall the forced abortions carried out in China not so long ago, dont we?? Lets not find ourselves going down the road of having the govt tell us how many babies we can or cannot have.
Couldn’t agree more, my dear.
The Holy Father’s endorsement of the American episcopate’s perspective on unvetted and illegal immigration manifests the naive simplistic protracted adolescent “reasoning” flourishing in the Church in America, and it seems globally as well. It diminishes the gravitas and wisdom of the Gospel and consigns it to fantasy.
The episcopate presently displays its lack of sound economic and political expertise as well as their naive adoption of the Marxist zeitgeist presently held in esteem by our “intellectual” elite. The import of an underclass into the United States is a deliberate calculation to undermine American democracy and establish an atheistic communist state. Those entering the country illegally to avail themselves of the prosperity capitalism provides its citizens are robbing not the economically secure, but those disadvantaged citizens who legally draw from the supports our economic system provides. The United States is required to provide for its citizens. It is not the world’s poor house. Illegal aliens are literally robbing the American poor of their security net. Its termed stealing. That the Holy Father appears unaware of this crystal clear reality is deeply concerning.
If you can’t deal with such how can you treasure the mysteries of the Faith under assault from without and within?
James, in my town there’s hardly a store without a HELP WANTED Sign in the window! 🫢