BOMBSHELL! POPE LEO COMPLETELY SUPPRESSES A MOTU PROPRIO OF POPE FRANCIS ISSUED IN 2023!

 NO! IT’S NOT TRADITIONIS CUSTODIS, BUT CERTAINLY IT COULD BE NEXT, NO???

This is the last part of Pope Leo’s Motu Proprio suppressing Pope Francis’ one. It only has to do with the Vicariate of Rome, but the suppression of Pope Francis’ 2023 Motu Proprio speaks well for the suppression on TC, in my most humble opinion. So, so, so many of Pope Francis’ administrative decisions were and are so flawed that poor Pope Leo has a huge job of reversing the previous but most venerable pope:

Now, having carefully weighed the indications received, I deem it appropriate to make certain amendments to the Apostolic Constitution *In Ecclesiarum communione*, so that the Vicariate of Rome may respond with ever-increasing effectiveness to the needs of the evangelizing mission, foster more intense ecclesial communion, and support the pastoral service of the Church in Rome.

Therefore, having carefully examined the work accomplished and following mature reflection, by means of this Apostolic Letter issued *Motu Proprio*, I establish and decree that the Apostolic Constitution *In Ecclesiarum communione* of 6 January 2023—which entered into force on 31 January 2023—be entirely replaced by the text attached to this Apostolic Letter, which forms an integral part thereof

I order that what has been decreed in this Apostolic Letter shall have firm and stable force, notwithstanding anything to the contrary—even if worthy of special mention—and that it be promulgated through publication in *L’Osservatore Romano*, entering into force on the day of its publication, and subsequently inserted into the official commentary of the *Acta Apostolicae Sedis*.

Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s, on the 24th day of June in the year 2026, the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, in the second year of the Pontificate.

POPE LEO FIRM FINAL APPEAL TO FSSPX

 Copied from Vatican News:

Pope’s final appeal to Society of Saint Pius X: Do not tear the seamless tunic of Christ

The letter sent by Pope Leo XIV to the Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X is dated 29 June, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, two days before the Lefebvrists’ announced episcopal consecrations without a pontifical mandate, which would constitute a new schismatic act.

Vatican News

“With a father’s heart, I wish to address you,” Pope Leo XIV writes, “and, through you, the bishops, priests, seminarians, and faithful attached to the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, mindful of the responsibility that the Lord has entrusted to me as Successor of the Apostle Peter. The Church recognises the attachment to the liturgical life, the commitment to priestly formation, the apostolic zeal, and the desire for fidelity to Tradition that characterise many persons and communities associated with your Society. This has inspired the attitude of attention and benevolence that my Predecessors have consistently shown towards you.”

“With this spirit, and filled with Christian affection,” the Pope continues, “I implore you and ask you with all my heart: turn back from this course! I urge you to consider the spiritual good of the faithful carefully, because the schismatic act that you would commit would deprive them of the lawful reception, and in some cases even the valid reception, of the Sacraments that they cherish and seek for their sanctification.”

“The Church,” the papal letter continues, “remains open to a path of dialogue and understanding that the Holy Spirit can make possible and fruitful. I pray for you, because tearing the seamless Tunic of Christ is a sin of the utmost gravity. May the Lord enlighten your consciences and awaken your hearts. By the authority I have received from Christ, with a sorrowful heart yet still full of hope, I feel bound to ask you to desist from your intention, and I entrust these intentions to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Good Counsel.”

The letter, written in French and addressed to the Society’s Superior General, Fr. Davide Pagliarani, thus constitutes a further appeal by the Pope to refrain from carrying out the schismatic act of episcopal consecrations without a pontifical mandate. Significantly, the central argument advanced in the letter concerns the spiritual welfare of the faithful attached to the Society, since such an act would render the sacraments they receive illicit and, in certain cases—namely sacramental confession and marriage—even invalid.

Here is the actual letter:

LETTER OF POPE LEO XIV
TO THE REVEREND DAVIDE PAGLIARANI
SUPERIOR GENERAL
OF THE PRIESTLY FRATERNITY OF SAINT PIUS X

[Multimedia]

___________________________________

With a paternal heart, and aware of the responsibility entrusted to me by the Lord as the Successor of the Apostle Peter, I address you and, through you, the bishops, priests, seminarians and faithful connected to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X.

The Church recognizes the devotion to liturgical life, commitment to priestly formation, apostolic zeal and desire for fidelity to Tradition that characterize many people and communities connected to your Fraternity. This has motivated the attentive and generous attitude that my Predecessors have consistently shown to you.

In this spirit, and filled with Christian affection, I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back! I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit and, in some cases, even valid reception of the Sacraments, which they love and seek for their sanctification.

The Church is open to a path of dialogue and understanding that the Holy Spirit can make possible and fruitful.

I pray for you, because to tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity. May the Lord enlighten your consciences and awaken your hearts. With a sorrowful yet hopeful heart, I feel it is my duty, through the authority received from Christ, to ask you to desist from your intended act. I entrust these intentions to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Good Counsel.

 

From the Vatican, 29 June 2026

Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

 

LEO PP. XIV

ONE OF THE FIRST PERSONNEL CHANGES POPE LEO MADE WAS TO “SACK” ARCHBISHOP PAGLIA (AKA, SEND INTO RETIREMENT) A PROTEGE OF POPE FRANCIS ASSISTING HIM USING SYNODALITY TO CHANGE THE MORALS AND DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH

Thank God that Archbishop Paglia is honest in his retirement. He lets the cat out of the bag, something that all of us saw and complained about but were labeled anti-Pope Francis for doing so, rigid and out of touch with the “surprises” of the Holy Spirit.

But in his “sacking” by Pope Leo, Archbishop Paglia received the Holy Spirit’s surprise too!

Thank God for Pope Leo who values canon law, natural law and clarity of doctrine. His Holiness also sees synodality not as surprising God or the Church but as bringing the Church into the truth of the Deposit of Faith and morals not changing them to please modernistic thoughts on changing the Church and making it a different Church as Pope Francis desired and Archbishop Paglia understood.

The Paglia interview also sheds light on how emboldened Fr. James Martin, SJ became about changing the Church’s moral teachings to accommodate each and every aspect of the LGBTQ+++ ideologies. And for him and Paglia and other post-Catholics, its not just about illicit and immoral sex and sexual partnerships that they want to become moral, but worse, changing the Church’s teaching on Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders. Paglia and Martin and even Pope Francis who confirmed Fr. Martin’s heterodoxy with handwritten notes that Martin then made public, with photos of the notes! You can’t make this stuff up, but it happened at the encouragement of Pope Francis. 

Press the title of Larry Chapp’s commentary for the full article. I have money-bytes from it below the title:

Archbishop Paglia’s ‘Paradigm Shift’ in Moral Theology Comes Into Focus

In this latest interview, he is brutally honest about his ultimate aims. And he has elicited a profound and important responsefrom the Institute’s former president, Msgr. Livio Melina, who was also among the professors Archbishop Paglia fired.

“He … made clear that these interventions were intended to bring about a profound paradigm shift, which — for the first time — he explicitly acknowledged as affecting not only the pastoral sphere but the doctrinal one as well,” Msgr. Melina stated.

“According to Paglia, this ‘very profound’ reform entailed, above all, a rethinking of the very concept of natural law. Paglia accused the John Paul II Institute of advancing a conception of natural law understood as a set of immutable principles from which moral norms are deduced. He proposed, instead, that natural law must be grounded in an ongoing historical discernment of subjective and cultural experience. In this perspective, a ‘theology within history and within people’s lives’ must replace what he characterized as the late Institute’s ‘armchair theology.’”

Nothing in this “new” debate surprises me. In 2022, I published an article in the Register making the point that the key to understanding the Francis pontificate was to focus on proposed changes in moral theology. In particular, my claim was that Pope Francis seemed to show a clear preference for a kind of moral theology that many refer to as “proportionalism.” 

As evidence for this, I cited his praise in 2017 for the proportionalist moral theologian Bernard Häring, whom the Pope held up as a “model” for the development of moral theology. He also made a series of appointments to high offices of priests and prelates who were public dissenters from Church teaching in the area of human sexuality in particular, and who argued for a “paradigm shift” in moral theology.

And you can read a commentary from the heretical and schism fomenting National catholic Reporter by Mr. Michael Sean Winters by pressing his title—of course he is unhappy about Pope Leo’s orthodoxy in changing the trajectory of Pope Francis in his desire to create a different church when it comes to moral theology and doctrines associated with it, especially rejecting natural law:

Fighting over the foundations of moral theology

CARDINAL MUELLER MAKES SENSE WHEN IT COMES TO THE FSSPX….HIS FULL ADDRESS TO THE CONSISTORY!

 

INTERVENTION AT EXTRAORDINARY CONSISTORY OF CARDINALS 

Cardinal Gerhard Müller

Rome, 26 June 2026

1. I thank the Holy Father for reaffirming the fundamental role of the College of Cardinals for the universal Church. From Irenaeus of Lyons to the First Vatican Council, the primacy of the Pope was not spoken of as though it belonged to an isolated individual, but rather as the primacy of the Church of Rome, whose Bishop is at the same time the visible head of the entire Catholic Church. This served to avoid isolating him from the Church. As Bishop of Rome, he is always the head of the college of the suburbicarian bishops, as well as of the Roman presbyters and deacons. There exists, indeed, a broad external collegiality of the Pope with the bishops of the other Churches; but there also exists an internal collegiality, insofar as every bishop is always in communion with his own presbyterate, as Ignatius of Antioch affirms. A portion of the Roman clergy was institutionalized in the College of Cardinals, not for the pastoral care of the Diocese of Rome, but as an instrument which the Pope employs in the governance of the universal Church.

From this perspective should one likewise reflect on the manner in which a consistory is conducted. In every depiction and photograph of the councils, the plenary discussion is shown. Accordingly, the free exchange of views, preceded by carefully prepared interventions, ought to precede group work and should be accorded greater space than is presently the case. In any event, further reflection should be given to the new method, taking into account the nature of an ecclesial assembly of cardinals and bishops with the Pope, as well as that of the bishop with his presbyterate and the lay councils.

2. The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X has sent an open letter to all the cardinals. It is our duty by virtue of our office, both individually and as a college, to reject the scandalous accusation that the Roman Church has departed from the Catholic faith. In the face of the schismatic act of episcopal consecration carried out without the prior grant of communio with the Pope, there must be no ambiguity. In pastoral and liturgical matters, one may proceed with pastoral sensitivity. 

I propose the establishment of a commission, along the lines of the former Ecclesia Dei, to enable those who have embraced this schismatic position to return to full communion with the Pope. 

But the boundary into schism is definitively crossed when the ministry of the Bishop of Rome, as the visible principle and enduring foundation of the Church’s unity in revealed truth, is violated. During the Council of Trent, the distinguished Polish Cardinal Stanislaus Hosius said to the Protestants of his own day—and his words apply equally to the Lefebvrists of our own time:

Catholicus non est, qui a Romana ecclesia in fidei doctrina discordat.
He is not a Catholic who is at variance with the Roman Church in the doctrine of the faith.

THE SOLEMNITY OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, VIDEO AND HOMILY…

Pope Leo celebrates a beautiful Traditional Latin Mass in the Bugnini Rite showing forth that when one reads the black and does the red, this novel form of the Mass can have solemnity, tradition and beauty, not to mention reverence. Now, if Pope Leo would only recover Pope Benedict’s recovery of kneeling for Holy Communion, everything in the Bugnini Rite would be copasetic! No? 

 HOLY MASS AND BLESSING OF THE SACRED PALLIUM FOR THE NEW METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOPS 

ON THE SOLEMNITY OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL

PAPAL MASS

HOMILY OF POPE LEO XIV

St Peter's Basilica
Monday, 29 June 2026

[Multimedia]

________________________________________

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today, in a single Solemnity, we commemorate Saints Peter and Paul, the patron saints of the city and Diocese of Rome. One was chosen by Jesus as shepherd of his flock, and the other as apostle to the Gentiles. In them, we venerate two pillars of the Church.

Peter, guardian of the People of God, is often portrayed in the New Testament as striving to preserve communion among the brothers. It is he who, after a night of seemingly fruitless labor on the Sea of Galilee, says to the Master, “we caught nothing. But on your word, I will release the net” (Lk 5:5). He then sets sail, taking the others with him. Again, while many are turning away from the Lord after the difficult discourse on the Bread of Life, it is he who says to the Messiah, “To whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68), and remains together with the other eleven. It is he who, at Caesarea, recognizes Jesus as the Son of God and, as we heard in the Gospel (cf. Mt 16:13–19), speaks for all in professing the one faith. Even after the Resurrection, on the shore of the lake, Peter is the first to reach Christ, jumping into the water and swimming ahead of the others to humbly renew his love and receive confirmation of his mission (cf. Jn 21:1-17).

Peter remains faithful to this mission even when, for example, in Jerusalem, the question of admitting uncircumcised Gentiles to Baptism threatens to divide the community. He gathers the brothers together, listens to them and in the end, guided by the Holy Spirit, makes a decision that preserves communion and ushers in a new era for the entire People of God. Indeed, he declares, “We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will” (Acts 15:11).

This magnanimity does not mean that Peter is perfect. During the Passion, he denies the Master, only later to shed sincere tears of repentance (cf. Lk 22:54–62); and Paul himself, in different circumstances, rebukes him for the inconsistency of some of his actions (cf. Gal 2:11–14). Yet Peter knows how to acknowledge his mistakes and repent, without becoming discouraged and without failing in his mission to proclaim the Gospel and gather Christ’s flock, even unto martyrdom — a fate which he suffered here in Rome, not far from where we are gathered.

This faithful and patient concern for unity is well expressed by the symbol of the keys, with which we often identify Peter (cf. Mt 16:19). A key does not break down doors; rather, it opens and closes them by finding the proper levers within and guiding their movements, so that locks may release, bolts withdraw, and doors turn freely on their hinges, thereby joining rooms together and transforming many isolated spaces into one welcoming home. In the same way, communion within the Church is not built by clinging rigidly to one’s own position, but by seeking, in all hearts, points of encounter in the Truth, in whose light alone each person becomes a means of growth for another.

In this light, we can interpret the mission entrusted by the Lord to Peter and his Successors for the benefit of the entire holy People of God. It is a mission to listen, with his help, to the voice of each person; to discern inspirations; to guide the way; to correct errors; to instruct, encourage, exhort and accompany our brothers and sisters so that, docile to the action of the same Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 12:1–11), they may cooperate in the salvation of one another and of all humanity. Moreover, Peter’s example is an invitation to every Christian to become a builder of unity, placing God at the center of one’s life and drawing close to one’s brothers and sisters, attentive to their circumstances and needs (cf. Francis, Catechesis, 9 October 2024). In this way, we learn to live with one another in charity, so that the message might be fully proclaimed (cf. 2 Tim 4:17).

This is also the teaching of Paul, the other great apostle we celebrate today and the tireless herald of the Good News. He, too, has distinctive symbols: the book and the sword, which are closely linked to one another. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews explains this well when he writes that, “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,” capable of penetrating “until it divides soul from spirit” and of discerning “the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12).

This is what God accomplished in the heart of the young Saul, winning him over (cf. Phil 3:12), bringing him first to conversion to the Gospel and giving him a new name, and then sending him to proclaim it throughout the world. Finally, like Peter, he was to bear witness to the Gospel even to the point of giving his life in this very city. The apostle to the Gentiles allowed himself to be transformed by the power of God’s word, which rescued him from the way of violence and led him onto the path of love.

Saint Augustine, commenting on Paul’s conversion and mission, said, “As he was traveling [to Damascus] with a heart filled with threats and murder, he was called by name and thrown to the ground by the heavenly voice (cf. Acts 9:1–7), that is, by the Word who was calling him” (Sermon299/A augm., 6). And he added: “God took the persecutor of the Church and made him a messenger of peace. He forgave him all his sins and placed him in a ministry where he could forgive the sins of others” (ibid.).

Dear friends, it is important for us today to look to these two Saints — Peter and Paul — to understand how we, in turn, can be apostles and builders of unity, and generous servants of the truth in charity. In this spirit, we are about to celebrate the ancient and moving rite of the conferral of the pallia on the Metropolitan Archbishops. These bands of white wool adorned with crosses indeed express the commitment of every Shepherd — and also of every Christian — to take upon their shoulders the brothers and sisters entrusted to them, like so many lambs of the Lord’s flock, and to sacrifice their energy, time, effort and even their lives for them. They do so in order that the Gospel may reach everyone, and the whole world may find in it harmony and concord (cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 38).

With these sentiments, I joyfully extend cordial greetings to the members of the Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, sent by my dear brother His All Holiness Bartholomew and led by His Eminence Emmanuel, Metropolitan of Chalcedon.

Let us pray to Saints Peter and Paul that they may sustain us on our journey of communion in the footsteps of the Savior. This is the path he has laid out for us, the very thing for which he prayed to the Father at the Last Supper (cf. Jn 17:21–23), and the goal toward which he has taught us to aspire with confident hope (cf. Benedict XVI, Homily at the Mass for the Imposition of the Sacred Pallium on Metropolitan Archbishops, 29 June 2012).

IN THE PROGRESSIVE/LIBERAL PROTESTANT ANGLICAN COMMUNION, THE SMALL MINORITY WHO REMAIN LOVE IT, BUT THE MAJORITY WHO HAVE LEFT HATE IT OR SIMPLY DON’T CARE ANYMORE ABOUT IT…

 The liberalizing forces in the Catholic Church mirror almost perfectly the liberalizing voices in the Anglican Communion. Thus far, the liberalizing forces in the Catholic Church have only succeeded in being divisive and a pain in the neck but with little success unlike the Anglican Communion where liberalizing forces have won the day and destroyed their sect. 

For example, the Anglican branch in the USA, known as the Protestant Episcopal Church is winding down to nothing. In the 1970’s they had a small number of members, about 3.5 million, a very influential 3.5 million members but really, really small, but really,, really rich and comfortable. 

Today they are a little over 1 million adherents. 

How did all of this decline happen? How could it happen? They did everything possible to be a just, inclusive and open communion, todas, todas, todas! And now they have no one, no one, none one. 

And they did all the worldly right things to promote todas, todas, todas. They embraced fully every ideology of the LGBTQ+++ political lobby. They ordain anyone and of whatever gender or state of marriage. Everyone can go to their communion, everyone, no need to be Anglican or in any kind of state of grace.

And they are social justice warriors too, from support of the LGBTQ+++ ideology crusades and parades to helping the poor, disenfranchised and preaching love and peace. How could all of this go wrong?

And there is Episcopal Church-envy by many Catholics who want what the Episcopal Church has gotten and does. 

Interesting, no?

But the small heterodox group who remain are on fire for their way of doing things and are quite content. So don’t disturb them by saying that more than half your members have left to become something else on nones. 

Let’s remain self-referential and comfortable in what we are doing and ignore those who say no to it. 

THANKS BE TO GOD THAT POPE LEO IS VERY CLEAR WHEN HE SPEAKS; NO SCRATCHING OF ONE’S HEAD!

 My astute comments embedded in RED:

EXTRAORDINARY CONCISTORY
(26-27 JUNE 2026)

OPENING ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV

Audience Hall
Friday, 26 June 2026

[Multimedia]

_________________________________

Dear brother Cardinals,

I welcome you and thank you most sincerely for having once again accepted my invitation.  Your presence demonstrates the concern for the whole Church that we all share in our service to the People of God and to the mission entrusted to us by the Lord.

At the Consistory last January, I expressed a simple wish: that these meetings might help us to learn ever more to “work together in the service of the Church” and to continue “a dialogue that assists me in serving the mission of the whole Church.” These were not merely introductory words. I continue to believe that this is one of the most important responsibilities entrusted to the College of Cardinals. We too, like the whole Church, learn as we walk forward. Communion is never a result that is achieved once and for all: it remains a daily conversion, which takes shape in prayer, and through concrete actions, relationships of trust, and a willingness to listen to one another.

In recent months, I have had the opportunity to recall on several occasions that we are called to be builders of Christ’s communion, a communion that takes shape in a synodal Church in which everyone cooperates in the same mission, each according to their own charism and ministry. (Pope Leo gives us the true meaning of synodality, not dividing people but uniting us in the mission of the Church which Christ has defined.)

As I said to the Roman Curia, this communion “is built not so much through words and documents as through concrete gestures and attitudes that ought to appear in our daily lives, including in our work” (Address to the Roman Curia for the Exchange of Christmas Greetings, 22 December 2025). We are not guardians of particular interests, but “disciples and witnesses of the Kingdom of God, called in Christ to be leaven of universal fraternity” (ibid.). (In the past, it seem to many and yours truly too, that particular interests were at the fore of synodality, creating processes that lead to redefining marriage and Holy Orders, a worldly sexual amorality by embracing LGBTQ+++ ideologies promoted by worldly ideologues, etc)

For this reason, I desired that our work together here focus on four themes that are deeply interconnected.

First of all, we are invited to contemplate the world in which the Church is called to proclaim the Gospel. Before asking ourselves what to do, we must pause to consider reality, looking at it through the eyes of faith and allowing ourselves to be challenged by listening to our brothers and sisters. As I recalled a few weeks ago: “Jesus travels the streets, crosses the squares and visits our neighborhoods, dwelling in the settings of our daily lives. He is a God who is close to us, who walks with his people, the Lord of history” (Homily in “Plaza de Cibeles,” Madrid, 7 June 2026). Today, the Lord continues to go before us in history, and the Church is called first and foremost to recognize his presence. (Yes, indeed, Incarnational is the Catholic Church and she always has been!)

Next, we shall reflect together on the culture of power and the civilization of love. Many of you come from lands marked by war, violence, and social or religious polarization. Yet none of us are immune to the many forms of conflict, oppression, and division that afflict our societies today. For this reason, the discernment that we are called to undertake concerns us all and challenges the Church’s mission in every context. The Encyclical Magnifica Humanitas offers us some valuable insights for understanding our times. I am particularly keen to hear how these pages resonate within your particular Churches, what questions they raise, what perspectives they open up, and what steps they suggest. An encyclical, in fact, continues its journey when it is received, interpreted, and embodied in the concrete life of the Churches.

The third session will then explore Magnifica Humanitas in greater depth, examining the contribution that the Church can make to building up the common good. We live in an age in which the temptation towards fragmentation is growing and particular interests all too easily prevail. The Church’s social teaching reminds us that the common good does not arise spontaneously, but requires shared responsibility. For the Church, this takes on a very specific form: a synodal style at the service of the mission of the Kingdom. The Encyclical Magnifica Humanitas recalls this in paragraph 86, adding that this requires attention to the way in which decisions are made and responsibilities exercised, through transparency, evaluation, and shared responsibility. 

Finally, we will devote a session to the process of implementing the Synod. This final session will not introduce a new theme, but bring together and connect what we have shared in the previous sessions. In the face of the wounds of the world, the building up of the common good, and the mission of the Church, synodality points to a way forward: listening, discerning, and taking responsibility together for the choices that the Lord entrusts to us. Synodality is not, first and foremost, a set of procedures; as I have said on several occasions, synodality is an attitude, an openness, a willingness to understand. At times it has been interpreted as a diminishment of authority. In reality, it helps us to understand more deeply the meaning of authority itself, which exists to safeguard communion, to foster the participation of all, and to guide the Church’s common journey. (Pope Leo once again defines synodality as understanding the Deposit of Faith, not changing it, understanding what diminishes the Deposit of Faith in people’s lives, and allowing the authority of the Church to foster the common good with adherence to the Deposit of Faith and Morals but understood within the challenges of modern life.)

These four sessions find their unity in the missionary perspective, which we shared at the last Consistory and which I referred to in my letter this past April. We are not here, first and foremost, to reflect on the internal life of the Church. (No navel (or is it naval) gazing. Yes, I would like TC overturned, Fiduccia Supplicans suppressed and more attention give to cleaning up the horrible liturgical abuse of the Bugnini Mass and a reform of the reform of that, but that is not what Pope Leo wants to do now—but I hope it will happen eventually.)

All the themes we will address — our view of the world, peace, the common good, and synodality — converge on a single question: how can we help our Churches today to proclaim the Gospel with greater fidelity, freedom, and credibility? Mission is not merely one of the Church’s many tasks. It is her very reason for existing and thus, it also becomes the criterion that guides our discernment. When we learn to listen to one another, to share responsibilities, and to recognize the action of the Spirit in the various Churches, we are not merely improving the way we work: we are becoming a Church that is better able to engage with the men and women of our time and to bear witness to them of the joy of the Gospel. (Fidelity! Fidelity! Fidelity! We’re off to a great start!)

For this reason, I wish to ask you for your help. The ministry which the Lord has entrusted to me cannot be carried out alone. It requires your experience, your pastoral wisdom, and your knowledge of the Churches and of the peoples entrusted to you. I am counting on you to help me discern what the Spirit is saying to the Church today. I need your support: strong, explicit, and public. I need to feel sustained by you, as by brothers. (God bless Pope Leo, but the way to accomplish this is not to politicize how the Church teaches or changes her teachings through pressure groups, political jockeying and ideologies controlling agendas. The agenda has to be the Deposit of Faith and Morals highlighted in the CCC. When political lobbies in the Church try to manipulate the pope and bishops and subvert their authority and turn the pyramid of the Church upside down, even bishops are at each others’ throats and at the pope’s throat too!)

I therefore ask you to accompany me not only during these days of work, but also in the daily service to the communion of the universal Church. Help me to listen to what is emerging in the Churches, to recognize the signs of hope that often grow in silence, but also to not ignore the struggles, misunderstandings, and resistance that can slow down our journey. I need your freedom, your frankness, and your loyalty. Sincere advice is always an act of communion. (When one listens to what is happening in the local dioceses/churches, and one hears that there are those promoting a worldly sexual amorality, a desire to ordain women or whatever so-called gender to Holy Orders, that the Mass should be casual and made-up on the spot and music should be secular with questionable theology and doctrinal content, then one takes action to correct it and to use an apologetic that is convincing and leads people to the truth to save them and their souls not to confirm them in their worldliness.)

I also ask you to uphold, each within your own Church and in your own ministry, this style of ecclesial discernment. I know that it requires patience and sometimes raises questions. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the Lord is teaching us a more evangelical way of living out together the responsibility he has entrusted to us. The credibility of our witness and the fruitfulness of our mission depend on this.

I therefore wish to encourage you to engage wholeheartedly in the group work we are undertaking. I am well aware that, for many of us, this is not the usual way of conducting a Consistory. Yet this too is part of the journey along which the Lord is leading us. Naturally, there will still be space for personal contributions and, as always, everyone is free to send me their observations or confidential reflections. But I ask you to enter into this ecclesial exercise with trust. We too learn synodality by practicing it; we learn together to grow in communion. I thank you in advance for your willingness, for your interior freedom, and for your love for the Church.

Let us entrust these days to the Holy Spirit, that he may make us docile to his voice and grant us the grace to seek together what best serves the Gospel and the good of the People of God.

Thank you.