Jean paul laurens le pape formose et etienne vi 1870 (cropped)

For sedevacantists, it is Katie bar the door at the next conclave. A stubborn refrain from a subset of Catholic traditionalists accompanied the press’s bedside vigil during Pope Francis’s hospitalization. The narrative was elementary: Francis is in error. He has signaled heretical attitudes. Moreover, the Saint Gallen Gang short-circuited divine guidance by lobbying the 2013 conclave for Francis’s benefit. Thus, he is not really the pope. The Chair of Peter stands empty. It follows, then, that all of Francis’s appointments to the cardinalate are invalid. Continue Reading
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America’s Catholics are facing a crisis of authority. The social and economic realities of mass migration contradict the Vatican’s facile theologizing on open borders. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), in accord with Pope Francis’ globalist conceits, opposes President Donald Trump’s resolve to curtail illegal migration. Catholics are caught between fidelity to ecclesial leadership and obedience to the just laws of our own country. Francis’ hostility to Trump is no secret. Damian Thompson, former editor of Britain’s Catholic Herald, wrote: “In 2016, Francis gave his blessing to the Hillary Clinton campaign’s Catholic front organizations, motivated not just by their shared obsession with anti-racism and climate change but contempt for Donald Trump.” Continue Reading
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Below is the flyer distributed by Catholic Charities via diocesan churches in February. It speaks for itself. My local parish ran it in the weekly bulletin early in the month. I asked the pastor whether he had included the flyer at his own initiative. Or was it a diktat from the New York archdiocese? I hoped it had been obligatory. But, no. It was the pastor’s own decision to broadcast it for the benefit of any parishioners who had reason to make use of it. Continue Reading
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Archbishop Fisichella, lead director of Jubilee 2025, chose not to launch Luce, the Vatican’s first-ever mascot, from the Vatican. Instead, he unveiled it at Lucca Comics & Games, an annual comic book convention in Lucca. Dedicated to comics, video games, animation, science fiction and fantasy novels, this is the largest comics festival in Italy, and the second largest in the world. A three-storey high inflatable Luce floated  over the exhibition space set aside for Luce and Friends.   Catholic media underplayed Fisichella’s move for good reason. Continue Reading
Luce: Mascot of Vatican Surrender to Pop Culture

Luce is the name of the official mascot/logo for Rome’s 2025 Jubilee. A kitschy cartoon pilgrim derived from the cult-of-cute in Japanese comic books and animation, it is the brainchild of the Dicastery for Evangelization. Artificially child-like, Luce signals Vatican surrender to the hegemony of Pop culture. Competing for ratings in an image-saturated culture—one that values spectacle over argument—Mother Church has to entertain the customers. She needs to lighten up, lift her hems a bit, and show a little ankle. That means renovating the Church’s traditional symbolic system. Continue Reading