IF MISSION AND SYNODALITY ARE THE MAIN TOPICS OF THE CONSISTORY, THERE IS EVIDENTLY A REALIZATION THAT SYNODALITY NEEDS SOME REFINEMENT AS DOES THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

Despite Pope Francis’ protesting that synodality is not a parliament to lobby for this, that and the other in terms of changing the teachings and practices of the Catholic Faith, to most people, and I include myself in this category, it was precisely to change the doctrines, dogmas and morals of the Church. And political lobbies, one led by Fr. James Martin, SJ, was and is the political lobby in the Church and in secular society, the LGBQ+++ ideology, which if successful by manipulating synodality for their heterodox purposes, would have given progressive heterodox Catholics everything they want, a post-Catholic Church where every sexual sin becomes a virtue, where anyone gender or no gender secular category can get married in the Church, become a clergy or a religious and any type of creative liturgy is applauded. The only things to be condemned is the Catholic Church prior to Vatican II and prior to synodality after Vatican II, 

It seems to me that a correct synodality, is to discern how to follow the teachings of the Church, canon law and other aspects that require obedience rather than changing teachings to suit political ideologies. 

Why discuss things that can’t be changed? Why not discuss how to enable Catholics to embrace all that God wants to give us including the eternal salvation of our souls? 

The other thing that Pope Francis put on steroids, but which began in the 1970’s is pastoral theology. Pastoral theology is theology and can never become a doctrine or dogma. 

The problem, though, is when pastorally ministering to individuals, ideological groups become the focus. How do we please the world and worldly ideologies, rather than saving souls from the fires of hell.

Prior to Vatican II, when in the USA nearly 90% of all Catholics attended Mass every Sunday, bet your bottom dollar that a huge number of those Catholics were sinners, some discreetly so and others more in your face. But no one dragged their sins into the Mass and demanded that they and their sins be accepted. 

Everyone was accepted but flaunting one’s sin at Mass was not accepted. And in pre-Vatican II times we had more todas, todas, todas than we have today! 

Pastoral theology that ministers to ideological groups rather than to individuals in need of conversion, repentance and a holiness of life needs to be condemned in a synodal way! 

The mission of the Church is to promote the faith and morals of the Catholic Faith, the Deposit of Faith and to carry out as best as possible the Spiritual and Corporal works of Mercy.

Synodality should foster that and not be distracted from that by ideoogical concerns of secular and religious lobbies! 

The liturgies of the Church, old or novel, should be done by the book and without the personality excesses of the clergy or laity. Read the black and do the red and have great cantors and choirs to facilitate the patrimony of Chant of the Catholic Church.

To do what Sacrosanctum Concilium said to do, preserve some Latin and Gregorian Chant, require that the Introit, Offertory and Communion antiphons never be eliminated and in sung Masses that these are chanted in Latin using the variety of Gregorian Chants allowed. That preserves both Latin and Gregorian Chants, killing two birds with one stone. 

The Papal Consistory Mass on Thursday morning is a great model of what the Modern Mass can and should be!

POPE LEO’S NEW FERULA COINCIDING WITH THE NEW BEGINNING OF HIS HOLINESS’ PAPACY, HAVING CONCLUDED POPE FRANCIS’ PAPACY FOR THE HOLY YEAR, IS BETTER THAN THE PAUL VI FERULA BUT NOWHERE CLOSE TO THE BEAUTY OF BENEDICT XVI FERULA…

 Pope Leo has introduced a new Ferula. That is the staff the Pope carries. He previously used the one belonging first to Paul VI…

UGH!

LESS UGH…

BETTER THAN UGH…

DITTO…

DITTO

AWE AND WONDER, NO UGH….

GLORIOUS MASS OF THE CONSISTORY OF CARDINALS AND POPE…

Central Cross this time:

HOMILY OF POPE LEO XIV

St Peter's Basilica
Thursday, 8 January 2026

[Multimedia]

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“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God” (1 Jn 4:7). The liturgy sets this exhortation before us as we celebrate the Extraordinary Consistory, a moment of grace wherein our unity in the service of the Church finds its expression.

As we know, the word Consistory (Consistorium, or “assembly”) can be understood through the root of the verb consistere, meaning “to stand still.” Indeed, all of us have “paused” in order to be here. We have set aside our activities for a time, and even cancelled important commitments, so as to discern together what the Lord is asking of us for the good of his people. This itself is already a highly significant and prophetic gesture, particularly in the context of the frenetic society in which we live. It reminds us of the importance, in every aspect of life, of stopping to pray, listen and reflect. In doing so, we refocus our attention ever more clearly on our goal, directing every effort and resource towards it, lest we risk running blindly or “beating the air” in vain, as the Apostle Paul warns (cf. 1 Cor 9:26). We gather not to promote personal or group “agendas,” but to entrust our plans and inspirations to a discernment that transcends us – “as the heavens are higher than the earth” (Is 55:9) – and which comes only from the Lord.

For this reason, it is important that during this Eucharist, we place each of our hopes and ideas upon the altar. Together with the gift of our lives, we offer them to the Father in union with the Sacrifice of Christ, so that we may receive them back purified, enlightened, united and transformed by grace into one Bread. Indeed, only in this way will we truly know how to listen to his voice, and to welcome it through the gift that we are to one another – which is the very reason we have gathered.

Our College, while rich in many skills and remarkable gifts, is not called primarily to be a mere group of experts, but a community of faith. Only when the gifts that each person brings are offered to the Lord and returned by him, will they bear the greatest fruit according to his providence.

Moreover, God’s love, of which we are disciples and apostles, is a “Trinitarian” and “relational” love. It is the very source of that spirituality of communion, by which the Bride of Christ lives and desires to be a home and a school (cf. Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, 6 January 2001, 43). Expressing the hope that this spirituality would flourish at the dawn of the third millennium, Saint John Paul II described it as “the heart’s contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity dwelling in us, and whose light we must also be able to see shining on the face of the brothers and sisters around us” (ibid.).

Our “pausing,” then, is first and foremost a profound act of love for God, for the Church and for the men and women of the whole world. Through this, we allow ourselves to be formed by the Spirit: primarily in prayer and silence, but also by facing one another and listening to one another. In our sharing, we become a voice for all those whom the Lord has entrusted to our pastoral care in many different parts of the world. We must live this act with humble and generous hearts, aware that it is by grace that we are here. Moreover, we bring nothing that we have not first received as a gift or talent, which are not to be squandered, but invested with prudence and courage (cf. Mt 25:14–30).

Saint Leo the Great taught that “it is a great and very precious thing in the sight of the Lord when the whole people of Christ apply themselves together to the same duties, and all ranks and orders… cooperate with one and the same Spirit.” In this way, “the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick visited, and no one seeks his or her own interests, but those of others” (Sermon 88, 4). This is the spirit in which we wish to work together: the spirit of those who desire that every member of the Mystical Body of Christ will cooperate in an orderly way for the good of all (cf. Eph 4:11–13). May we fully carry out our ministry with dignity under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, happy to offer our own labor and to see it its fruits mature. May we likewise welcome the labors of others and rejoice in seeing them flourish (cf. Saint Leo the Great, Sermon 88, 5).

For two millennia, the Church has embodied this mystery in its multifaceted beauty (cf. Francis, Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti, 280). This very assembly bears witness to it through the variety of our origins and ages, and in the unity of grace and faith that gathers us together and makes us brothers.

Certainly, we stand before a “great crowd” of humanity hungry for goodness and peace. In a world where satisfaction and hunger, abundance and suffering, and the struggle for survival together with a desperate existential emptiness continue to divide and wound individuals, communities and nations, we may feel inadequate. Faced with the words of the Master, “You give them something to eat” (Mk 6:37), we too might feel, like the disciples, that we lack the necessary means. Yet Jesus repeats to us once more, “How many loaves have you? Go and see” (Mk 6:38). This is something we can do together. We may not always find immediate solutions to the problems we face, yet in every place and circumstance, we will be able to help one another – and in particular, to help the Pope – to find the “five loaves and two fish” that providence never fails to provide wherever his children ask for help. When we welcome these gifts, hand them over, receive and distribute them, they are enriched by God’s blessing and by the faith and love of all, ensuring that no one lacks what is necessary (cf. Mk 6:42).

Beloved brothers, what you offer to the Church through your service, at every level, is something profound and very personal, unique to each of you and precious to all. The responsibility you share with the Successor of Peter is indeed weighty and demanding.

For this reason, I offer you my heartfelt thanks, and I wish to conclude by entrusting our work and our mission to the Lord with the words of Saint Augustine: “You give us many things when we pray, and whatever good we received before we prayed for it, we have received from you. We have also received from you the grace that later we came to realize this... Remember, Lord ‘that we are but dust.’ You have made man of the dust” (Confessions, 10, xxxi, 45).  Therefore, we say to you: “Grant what you command, and command what you will” (ibid.).

AND SO IT BEGINS…

The cardinals are led by Pope Leo, His Holiness opening talk at the consistory:

Dear Brothers,

I am very pleased to welcome all of you. Thank you for your presence! May the Holy Spirit, whom we have invoked, guide us during these two days of reflection and dialogue.

I consider it highly significant that we have gathered in Consistory on the day after the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, and I would like to introduce our work by proposing something drawn precisely from this mystery.

The liturgy echoed the ever-moving appeal of the prophet Isaiah: “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Is60:1-3).

These words call to mind the beginning of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Church. I will read the first paragraph in its entirety: “Christ is the light of the nations and consequently this holy Synod, gathered together in the Holy Spirit, ardently desires to bring all humanity that light of Christ which is resplendent on the face of the Church, by proclaiming his Gospel to every creature (cf.Mk16:15). Since the Church, in Christ, is a sacrament — a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of the unity of the entire human race — it here proposes, for the benefit of the faithful and of the entire world, to describe more clearly, and in the tradition laid down by earlier councils, its own nature and universal mission. The present situation lends greater urgency to this duty of the Church, so that all people, who nowadays are drawn ever more closely together by social, technical and cultural bonds, may achieve full unity in Christ” (Lumen Gentium, 1).

While centuries apart, we can say that the Holy Spirit inspired the same vision in the prophet and in the Council Fathers, namely the vision of the light of the Lord illuminating the holy city — first Jerusalem, then the Church. The guidance of this light enables all peoples to walk in the midst of the darkness of the world. What Isaiah announced figuratively, the Council recognizes in the fully revealed reality of Christ, the light of the nations.

We can understand the overall pontificates of Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II within this conciliar perspective, which sees the mystery of the Church as entirely held within the mystery of Christ, and thus understands the evangelizing mission as a radiation of the inexhaustible energy released by the central event of salvation history.

Popes Benedict XVI and Francis, in turn, summarized this vision in one word: “attraction.” Pope Benedict referred to this in his homily for the opening of the Aparecida Conference in 2007, when he said: “The Church does not engage in proselytism. Instead, she grows by ‘attraction’: just as Christ ‘draws all to himself’ by the power of his love, culminating in the sacrifice of the Cross, so the Church fulfils her mission to the extent that, in union with Christ, she accomplishes every one of her works in spiritual and practical imitation of the love of her Lord.” Pope Francis was in perfect agreement with this, and repeated it several times in different contexts.

Today, I joyfully revisit this theme and share it with you. I invite us to pay close attention to what Pope Benedict signaled as the “power” that drives this movement of attraction. Indeed, this power isCharis, it isAgape, it is the love of God that became incarnate in Jesus Christ and that, in the Holy Spirit, is given to the Church, sanctifying all her actions. Furthermore, it is not the Church that attracts, but Christ; and if a Christian or an ecclesial community attracts, it is because through that “channel” flows the lifeblood of Charity that cascades from the Heart of the Savior. Moreover, it is significant that Pope Francis began withEvangelii Gaudium“on the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world,” and concluded withDilexit Nos“on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ.”

Saint Paul writes, “the love of Christ urges us on” (2 Cor5:14). The verbsunecheisignifies that the love of Christ urges us on because it possesses us, envelops us and captivates us. This is the power that attracts everyone to Christ, as he himself foretold: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (Jn12:32). To the extent that we love one anotheras Christ has loved us, we belong to him, we are his community, and he can continue to draw others to himself through us. In fact, only love is credible; only love is trustworthy.^[1]

While unity attracts, division scatters. It seems to me that physics also confirms this, both on the microscopic and macroscopic levels. Therefore, in order to be a truly missionary Church, one that is capable of witnessing to the attractive power of Christ’s love, we must first of all put into practice his commandment, the only one he gave us after washing his disciples’ feet: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” He then adds: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn13:34-35). Saint Augustine observes: “This is why he loved us, so that we too might love one another. By loving us, he gave us the help we need to bind ourselves together in mutual love, and, bound together by such a pleasing bond, we are the body of such a mighty Head” (Homily 65 on the Gospel of John,2).

Dear Brothers, I would like to begin here, with these words of the Lord, for our first Consistory and especially for the collegial journey that, with God’s grace, we are called to undertake. We are a very diverse group, enriched by a wide range of backgrounds, cultures, ecclesial and social traditions, formative and academic paths, pastoral experiences, not to mention personal characteristics and traits. We are called first to get to know one another and to dialogue, so that we may work together in serving the Church. I hope that we can grow in communion and thus offer a model of collegiality.

Today, in a certain sense, we will continue that memorable meeting, which I was able to share with many of you immediately after the Conclave, in “a moment of communion and fraternity, of reflection and sharing, aimed at supporting and advising the Pope in the demanding responsibility of governing the universal Church” (Letter Convoking the Extraordinary Consistory, 12 December 2025).

In the coming days, we will have the opportunity to engage in a communal reflection on four themes:Evangelii Gaudium, that is, the mission of the Church in today’s world;Praedicate Evangelium, namely the service of the Holy See, especially to the particular Churches; the Synod and synodality as both an instrument and a style of cooperation; and the liturgy, the source and summit of the Christian life. Due to time constraints, and in order to encourage a genuinely in-depth analysis, only two of them will be discussed specifically.

While each of the twenty-one groups will contribute to the choice that we will make, the groups that will be reporting will be those nine coming from the local Churches, since it is naturally easier for me to seek counsel from those who work in the Curia and live in Rome.

I am here to listen. As we learned during the two Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops of 2023 and 2024, the synodal dynamic implies a listeningpar excellance. Every moment of this kind is an opportunity to deepen our shared appreciation for synodality. “The world in which we live, and which we are called to love and serve, even with its contradictions, demands that the Church strengthen cooperation in all areas of her mission. It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium” (Francis,Address on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops, 17 October 2015).

This day and a half together will point the way for our path ahead. We must not arrive at a text, but continue a conversation that will help me in serving the mission of the entire Church.

Tomorrow, we will discuss the two chosen themes, with the following question as a guide:

Looking at the path of the next one or two years, what considerations and priorities could guide the action of the Holy Father and of the Curia regarding each theme?

This will be our way of proceeding: being attentive to the heart, mind and spirit of each; listening to one other; expressing only the main point and in a succinct manner, so that all can speak. The ancient Romans in their wisdom used to say:Non multa sed multum! In future, this way of listening to each other, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit and walking together, will continue to be a great help for the Petrine ministry entrusted to me. Even the way in which we learn to work together, with fraternity and sincere friendship, can give rise to something new, something that brings both the present and the future into focus.

May the Holy Spirit always guide us, and may the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, assist us.

TRUE CONFESSIONS: PROGRESSIVE PRIEST-CARDINAL TIMOTHY RADCLIFFE TELLS THE TRUTH ABOUT POPE FRANCIS AND THE CARDINALS AND MOST FAITHFUL CATHOLICS ALSO…

Anyone could learn well from Cardinal Radcliffe’s critique of Bishop of Rome or any bishop, i.e, Bishop Martin in my Province: 

“A Church which is miserable, can’t preach the Gospel.”

In a Jan. 6 interview in The Daily Telegraph, Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe said that regarding such extraordinary consistories, “many cardinals think that there should be at least one a year.” He also expressed hope that this week’s meeting would bring those estranged by the late Pope’s approach back into the fold. It is vital, he told the newspaper, that the cardinals are happy: 

“A Church which is miserable,” he contended, “can’t preach the Gospel.”  

BOMBSHELL: IT IS CLEAR TO MANY, THAT POPE LEO'S HERMENEUTIC CONCERNING VATICAN II IS THAT OF POPE BENEDICT XVI AND POPE BENEDICT'S CLEAR DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE COUNCIL OF THE MEDIA (WHICH CORRUPTED VATICAN II BUT EMBRACED BY SO MANY) AND THE COUNCIL OF THE FATHERS, YET TO BE IMPLEMENTED!

Silere non possum has this to say about Pope Leo's catechesis on Vatican II and it is good news:

Vatican City - "After the Jubilee Year ... we begin a new cycle of catechesis that will be dedicated to the Second Vatican Council and the re-reading of its Documents". With this choice, Leo XIV inaugurates today his first Wednesday catechesis after the closing of the Holy Door, marking a precise passage: as long as the horizon of the Jubilee Year lasted, the Pope has remained within an already started path; now he opens a new path, which he intends to structure in a cycle and which touches a point that is particularly close to his heart. It is a decisive choice to read the pontificate of Leo XIV: it says of its desire for unity for the whole Church and confirms that continuity that many observe with increasing evidence between the Augustinian Pope and the pontiff who loved Augustine most, Benedict XVI.

 Benedict XVI described a “Council unto himself”, perceived by the world through categories external to the faith, with a political reading: power struggle, oppositions, reduction of the Council to partisan dynamics. From there derive, in its analysis, translations and trivializations: the liturgy read as an activity of the community and not as an act of faith; the idea of participation understood as external activism; the intelligibility transformed into banality; the Scripture treated as a historical book only; a reception in which the “Virtual Council” ends up being stronger than the real Council. And Benedict lists concrete consequences: closed seminars, closed convents, trivialized liturgy. Leo, today, seems to tell us that the task of the Church is to work so that the real Council, with its spiritual strength, is really realized.

 The point, then, is that Leo XIV chooses to start right now - after the closing of the Jubilee - a cycle on Vatican II because he considers it decisive for the orientation of the Church. Pope Leo's catechesis is not a commemoration: it is a method. Returning to the Documents, taking the Council as a criterion of discernment, accepting tradition and at the same time questioning the present, “reaching the world” bringing the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, the kingdom of love, justice and peace. It is also a call to dismantle misunderstandings that have become, over time, almost automatic reflections.  

Leo XIV means that the Council has not “closed the closets”, has not denied a liturgical tradition, has not asked to abolish the previous Missal, has not established that Latin can no longer be used. None of this. Vatican II has delivered precise indications, and those indications are found in the texts, not in the “hearsay.” Only in this way - returning to the Council of Documents - can a real path of communion be reconstructed in the Church: not to uniform everyone, but to put everyone in a position to walk together, with a shared and finally verifiable basis. In this sense, the first catechesis of Wednesday after the closure of the Jubilee is not only the beginning of a series. It is the choice to reopen an essential construction site: to put the Church back before the texts, because from the comparison with those texts passes a truer understanding of the present and a clearer responsibility towards the future.

Silere non Possum reminded me of the fantastic "off-the-cuff" but quite coherent talk Pope Benedict gave the priests of Rome prior to His Holiness leaving the papal office. It is very long and you can read it in full at the Vatican website by pressing its title. But below the title is what Pope Benedict decried as the misinterpretation of Vatican II by going with the Council of the Media rather than the Council of the Fathers. The entire talk, while long, gives a brilliant real history of the Council!

I believe that Pope Leo accepts Pope Benedict's assessment and wants to steer the Barque of Peter back to the Council of the Fathers, not the council of the media!

MEETING WITH THE PARISH PRIESTS AND THE CLERGY OF ROME

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI

Paul VI Audience Hall
Thursday, 14 February 2013

[Video]

 The last part of that marvelous long elocution:

Pope Benedict: I  would now like to add yet a third point: there was the Council of the Fathers – the real Council – but there was also the Council of the media. It was almost a Council apart, and the world perceived the Council through the latter, through the media. Thus, the Council that reached the people with immediate effect was that of the media, not that of the Fathers. And while the Council of the Fathers was conducted within the faith – it was a Council of faith seeking intellectus, seeking to understand itself and seeking to understand the signs of God at that time, seeking to respond to the challenge of God at that time and to find in the word of God a word for today and tomorrow – while all the Council, as I said, moved within the faith, as fides quaerens intellectum, the Council of the journalists, naturally, was not conducted within the faith, but within the categories of today's media, namely apart from faith, with a different hermeneutic. It was a political hermeneutic: for the media, the Council was a political struggle, a power struggle between different trends in the Church. 

It was obvious that the media would take the side of those who seemed to them more closely allied with their world. There were those who sought the decentralization of the Church, power for the bishops and then, through the expression "People of God", power for the people, the laity. There was this threefold question: the power of the Pope, which was then transferred to the power of the bishops and the power of all – popular sovereignty. Naturally, for them, this was the part to be approved, to be promulgated, to be favoured. 

So too with the liturgy: there was no interest in liturgy as an act of faith, but as something where comprehensible things are done, a matter of community activity, something profane. And we know that there was a tendency, not without a certain historical basis, to say: sacrality is a pagan thing, perhaps also a thing of the Old Testament. In the New Testament it matters only that Christ died outside: that is, outside the gates, in the profane world. Sacrality must therefore be abolished, and profanity now spreads to worship: worship is no longer worship, but a community act, with communal participation: participation understood as activity. These translations, trivializations of the idea of the Council, were virulent in the process of putting the liturgical reform into practice; they were born from a vision of the Council detached from its proper key, that of faith. And the same applies to the question of Scripture: Scripture is a book, it is historical, to be treated historically and only historically, and so on.

We know that this Council of the media was accessible to everyone. Therefore, this was the dominant one, the more effective one, and it created so many disasters, so many problems, so much suffering: seminaries closed, convents closed, banal liturgy … and the real Council had difficulty establishing itself and taking shape; the virtual Council was stronger than the real Council. But the real force of the Council was present and, slowly but surely, established itself more and more and became the true force which is also the true reform, the true renewal of the Church. It seems to me that, 50 years after the Council, we see that this virtual Council is broken, is lost, and there now appears the true Council with all its spiritual force. And it is our task, especially in this Year of Faith, on the basis of this Year of Faith, to work so that the true Council, with its power of the Holy Spirit, be accomplished and the Church be truly renewed. Let us hope that that the Lord will assist us. I myself, secluded in prayer, will always be with you and together let us go forward with the Lord in the certainty that the Lord will conquer.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’S SUMMARY OF SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM, A KIND OF “CLIFF NOTES” FOR THE POPE AND CARDINALS MEETING IN THE EXTRAORDINARY CONSISTORY OF CARDINALS!

 PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT NOWHERE IN THE DOCUMENT OF SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM IS THERE A DEMAND THAT THE MASS BE CELEBRATED FACING THE NAVE, THAT OLD ALTARS BE RIPPED OUT, THAT COMMUNION RAILS BE ELIMINATED AS WELL AS KNEELING FOR HOLY COMMUNION AND THAT THE ALTAR ARRANGEMENT AND SANCTUARY ARRANGEMENT MADE EXPLICIT IN THE 1962 ROMAN MISSAL BE CHANGED IN ANY FASHION WHATSOEVER! 

(MY HUMBLE BRILLIANT COMMENTARY EMBEDDED IN RED IN THE AI TEXT)

(ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY:)

Sacrosanctum Concilium

 (The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) was the first document promulgated by the Second Vatican Council on December 4, 1963. It established the framework for a major reform of the Catholic Church’s public worship, aiming to make the liturgy more accessible and meaningful for the modern world. 

Core Objectives

The document outlines four primary goals for the Church: 

• Vigor: To impart an increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful.
• Adaptation: To adapt changeable institutions to the needs of modern times.
• Unity: To foster union among all who believe in Christ.
• Evangelization: To strengthen the Church's mission to call all of humanity into its household. 

Key Principles and Reforms

The Constitution introduced several fundamental shifts in how liturgy is understood and celebrated: 

1. Full, Conscious, and Active Participation: This is the document’s central theme. It asserts that the faithful have a right and duty to participate fully in liturgical celebrations, rather than being passive observers. (THIS WAS HAPPENING PRIOR TO THE COUNCIL BUT NOT CONSISTENTLY EVERYWHERE, BUT WHERE THERE WAS THIS ALREADY OCCURING IN THE VETUS ORDO, POPE BENEDICT SAID THESE CLERGY AND LAITY LAMENTED THE FABRICATED LITURGY OF BUGNINI MORE THAN THOSE WHO HAD NOT EXPERIENCE IT IN THE VETUS ORDO!)
2. Liturgy as Source and Summit: It defines the liturgy as the "source" from which all the Church's power flows and the "summit" toward which all its activity is directed. (DITTO TO MY COMMENTARY IN RED ABOVE!)
3. Vernacular vs. Latin: While stating that the use of the Latin language is to be preserved, it opened the door for the wider use of the mother tongue (vernacular), especially in readings and directives to the people, to ensure better understanding. (AND YET IN 2025, SOME BISHOPS WANT TO BAN LATIN ALTOGETHER. BUT IN PRACTICE, MOST PARISHES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD HAVE NOT PRESERVED LATIN OR GREEK IN ANY WAY AT ALL! AND IT ISN’T NECESSARILY THEIR FAULT. BUGNINI’S MODERN MISSAL DOES NOT FACILITATE PRESERVING LATIN OR AT LEAST DEMANDING THAT CERTAIN PARTS OF THE MASS REQUIRE LATIN AND NOT THE VERNACULAR. THE 1965 MISSAL DID THIS! BUT THEN AGAIN, THE REFORMED 1965 MISSAL ISN’T BUGNINI’S FABRICATION!)
4. Biblical Enrichment: The Council called for a "richer share" of the Bible to be read at Mass, leading to the creation of the multi-year lectionary cycle used today. (THE EXPANDED LECTIONARY IS VERY GOOD. IF I COULD HAVE DIRECTED THAT, THOUGH, I WOULD HAVE USED THE LECTIONARY OF THE 1962 MISSAL AS YEAR “A” AND THEN CREATED YEARS “B AND C” BUT MODELED ON “A”. AND THEN, HOW CAN WE EXPLAIN THAT THE SCRIPTURE ALREADY IN THE BOTH THE ANCIENT AND MODERN MASSES BECAME OPTIONAL IN BUGNINI’S FABRICATED MASS, THE INTROIT, OFFERTY AND COMMUNION ANTIPHONS BECOME OPTIONAL AND CAN BE SUBSTITUTED BY SOMETHING ELSE, MAYBE NOT EVEN SCRIPTURE!)
5. Simplification of Rites: Rites were to be revised to exhibit "noble simplicity," making them easier for the modern mind to grasp without losing their sacred character. (NOBLE SIMPLICITY IS ONE THING, WHICH MEANS ROYAL, REGAL, BEAUTIFUL, BUT IGNOBLE SIMPLICITY OF BUGNINI’S FABRICATED MASS IS QUITE ANOTHER. WHY IN THE NAME OF GOD AND ALL THAT IS HOLY WOULD THE PRIVATE PRAYERS OF THE PRIEST IN THE ANCIENT MISSAL BE DELETED ALTOGETHER IN THE MODERN MASS? WHY WOULD ADDITIONAL OPTIONS FOR THE PENITENTIAL ACT, EUCHARISTIC PRAYERS, WHICH COMPLICATES THE MISSAL, DOESN’T NOBLY SIMPLIFY IT BE INCLUDED LEADING TO A CLERICALISM OF CHOICES BASED ON THE PRIEST’S OR BISHOP’S LIKES OR DISLIKES? WHY WOULD THE ORDER OF THE MASS BE CHANGED IN THE NAME OF NOBLE SIMPLICITY WHICH IN FACT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT?)
6. Sacred Music and Art: It emphasized that sacred music is an integral part of the liturgy. While Gregorian chant was given "pride of place," other forms of music and local cultural artistic expressions were also encouraged if they were dignified and fostered prayer. (GREGORIAN CHANT DOES NOT HAVE A “PRIDE OF PLACE” IN BUGNINI’S FABRICATED MASS, BUT THE MODERN CELEBRATION OF THE 1962 SUNG MASS CONTINUES TO BE FAITHFUL TO WHAT VATICAN II DEMANDED IN THIS REGARD!. AND JUST WHO DECIDES WHAT MUSIC IS DIGNIFIED AND FOSTER PRAYER WHEN IN FACT SO MUCH OF THE MODERN MUSIC AND PROTESTANT MUSIC DRAGGED INTO THE MASS OF BUGNINI’S FABRICATION ARE HORRIBLE, BANAL AND DO THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT VATICAN II ACTUALLY REQUESTED?!? AND SHALL WE TALK ABOUT THE WRECOVATIONS OF CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS IN THE SPIRIT OF BUGNINI’S FABRICATED MASS, THE MOST NOTORIOUS BEING CHICAGO’S CATHEDRAL AND MILWAUKEE’S CATHEDRAL BUT THOUSANDS OF OTHERS THAT RIPPED OUT ART AND PUT IN KTSCH!)
7. Decentralization: It granted territorial bodies of bishops (National Bishops' Conferences) greater authority to regulate the liturgy in their own regions. (BUT UNDER POPE FRANCIS’ TC, THE DICASTERY FOR DIVINE WORSHIP NOT ONLY CRUSHED POPE BENEDICT’S SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM IN THE MOST AUTHORITARIAN AND CENTRALIZED WAY, BUT ALSO TOLD LOCAL PASTORS NOT TO ADVERTISE THE TLM IN THEIR BULLETINS!!!!)
8. Theological Vision: The document views the liturgy as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ, where the "Mystical Body" (the Head and its members) offers public worship to God. It emphasizes that through the liturgy, especially the Eucharist, the work of human redemption is accomplished and the faithful are drawn into the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection. (WHY THEN WAS VATICAN II AND SYNODALITY DEIFIED?)

POPE LEO’S WEDNESDAY AUDIENCE IS ON REREADING THE DOCUMENTS OF VATICAN II AND INTERPRETING IT BY THE BOOK AND HIS HOLINESS ALSO QUOTES POPE BENEDICT XVI ON THE PROPER INTERPRETATION OF VATICAN II! AND THIS IS SAID ON THE VERY DAY THAT POPE LEO MEETS WITH THE CARDINALS FOR AN EXTRAORDINARY CONSISTORY ON THE LITURGY, ETC…

 

Pope Leo must read my most humble blog, Southern Orders, as last week I recommended that the Pope encourage the cardinals at the Extraordinary Consistory to reread the documents of Vatican II and in particular Sacrosanctum Concilium, so that the liturgy might be revised in the conservative and traditional way that Sacrosanctum Concilium explicitly asked, not Bugnini’s wild reinterpretation of the the Council Fathers!

Pope Leo: Rereading Council's documents as Pope Benedict XVI urged!

"Therefore, while we hear the call not to let (Vatican II’s) prophecy fade, and to continue to seek ways and means to implement its insights, it will be important to get to know it again closely, and to do so not through 'hearsay' or interpretations that have been given, but by rereading its documents and reflecting on their content."

My most humble, brilliant comments embedded in red with Pope Leo’s text:

Brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

After the Jubilee Year, during which we focused on the mysteries of Jesus' life, we begin a new series of catecheses dedicated to the Second Vatican Council and a rereading of its documents. (Yes, Holy Father, I have pleaded that the actual documents of Vatican II be reread with Pope Benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity!) This is a precious opportunity to rediscover the beauty and importance of this ecclesial event. Saint John Paul II, at the end of the Jubilee of 2000, stated: "I feel more than ever the duty to point to the Council as the great grace from which the Church benefited in the twentieth century" (Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, 57).

Along with the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, in 2025 we commemorated the sixtieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Although the time separating us from this event is not so great, it is equally true that the generation of bishops, theologians, and believers of Vatican II is no longer with us today. (This is why Pope Benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity is so important—he played an important role at Vatican II and knew it up close and personal!) Therefore, while we feel the call not to extinguish its prophecy and to continue seeking ways and means to implement its insights, it will be important to re-acquaint ourselves with it, and to do so not through hearsay or the interpretations that have been given, but by rereading its Documents and reflecting on their content. Indeed, it is the Magisterium that remains the guiding light of the Church's journey today. As Benedict XVI taught, "with the passing of the years, the documents have not lost their relevance; their teachings prove particularly pertinent in relation to the new needs of the Church and of today's globalized society" (First message after the Mass with the Cardinal electors, April 20, 2005).

When Pope Saint John XXIII opened the Council on October 11, 1962, he spoke of it as the dawn of a day of light for the entire Church. The work of the numerous Fathers convened, drawn from Churches on every continent, effectively paved the way for a new ecclesial era. After a rich biblical, theological, and liturgical reflection that spanned the twentieth century, the Second Vatican Council rediscovered the face of God as a Father who, in Christ, calls us to be his children. It looked at the Church in the light of Christ, the light of the people, as a mystery of communion and a sacrament of unity between God and his people. He initiated a major liturgical reform, placing the mystery of salvation and the active and conscious participation of all the People of God at its center. At the same time, he helped us open ourselves to the world and embrace the changes and challenges of the modern era through dialogue and co-responsibility, as a Church that desires to open its arms to humanity, echo the hopes and anxieties of peoples, and collaborate in building a more just and fraternal society. (Hopefully, the Holy Father and the Bishops in union with him will also take stock of how the malicious interpretations of Vatican II have so damaged the actual vision of Vatican II and of Pope John XXIII himself!)

Thanks to the Second Vatican Council, "the Church becomes word; the Church becomes message; the Church becomes conversation" (St. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Ecclesiam Suam, 67), committing itself to seeking the truth through ecumenism, interreligious dialogue, and dialogue with people of good will.

This spirit, this interior attitude, must characterize our spiritual life and the pastoral action of the Church, for we must still more fully implement ecclesial reform in a ministerial manner and, faced with today's challenges, we are called to remain attentive interpreters of the signs of the times, joyful heralds of the Gospel, courageous witnesses of justice and peace. Bishop Albino Luciani, the future Pope John Paul I, as Bishop of Vittorio Veneto, wrote prophetically at the beginning of the Council: "As always, there is a need to create not so much organisms or methods or structures, but a deeper and more widespread holiness. […] (While Pope Leo will quote next something Pope Francis said, the fact is that Pope Francis did not use existing structures to lead the Church, but rather sidelined the College of Cardinals, only spoke to his hand selected G-9 and then created a new synodal structure that became a nightmare of political lobbying to change Catholic faith and morals, immutable doctrines and dogmas.) It may be that the excellent and abundant fruits of a Council will be seen centuries later and will mature by laboriously overcoming conflicts and adverse situations." [1] Rediscovering the Council, therefore, as Pope Francis stated, helps us to "restore the primacy to God and to a Church that is crazy with love for her Lord and for all men, loved by him" (Homily on the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, 11 October 2022).

Brothers and sisters, what Saint Paul VI said to the Council Fathers at the conclusion of their work remains a guiding principle for us today. He stated that the time had come to depart, to leave the Council assembly to go out to meet humanity and bring it the good news of the Gospel, in the knowledge that he had lived through a time of grace in which past, present, and future were condensed: "The past: because the Church of Christ is gathered here, with its tradition, its history, its Councils, its Doctors, its Saints. [...] The present: because we leave each other to go out into the world of today, with its miseries, its pains, its sins, but also with its prodigious achievements, its values, its virtues. [...] The future, finally, is there, in the peoples' imperious appeal for greater justice, in their desire for peace, in their conscious or unconscious thirst for a higher life: precisely that which the Church of Christ can and wishes to give them" (St. Paul VI, Message to the Council Fathers, December 8, 1965). (It seems to me that St. Pope Paul VI was saying the same thing that Pope Benedict would say much later, but Paul VI says it in a different way: the council must be interpreted with the hermeneutic of continuity with the Church of the Past!)

It is the same for us. By approaching the Documents of the Second Vatican Council and rediscovering their prophecy and timeliness, we welcome the rich tradition of the Church's life and, at the same time, we question ourselves about the present and renew the joy of running out to meet the world to bring it the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of love, justice, and peace. (It remains to be seen if the Pope, the College of Cardinals and the other Bishops in union with the Pope can adequately critique the deleterious “spirit of Vatican II” interpretations that have led to so many Catholics abandoning the practice of the faith, for example in some European countries where less that 5% of Catholics attend Mass! And also the loss of  religious orders due to the lack of religious order vocations and the leaving of religious life as well as the decline in the number of priests and fewer vocations to the priesthood. And then the mess that the Modern, fabricated (as Pope Benedict described it) Mass of Bugnini that has opened the door to very serious liturgical abuses which are not only illicit but in many cases renders the Modern Mass invalid! And bishops who do not correct liturgical abuses but also are responsible for them in their own celebrations, but when it comes to the TLM they act like Nazis to prevent its celebration. And in the Modern Rite they act like nazis to crush Latin, the traditional altar arrangement, kneeling for Holy Communion at a kneeler or altar railing and the use of Latin, Roman vestments and private prayers of the priest before and after Mass and intinction! It is indeed the upside down Church!)