POPE LEO, WHILE AFFIRMING POPE FRANCIS, REVERSES POPE FRANCIS’ FINANCIAL MESS—IS IT A SIGN AND WAY FOR POPE LEO TO AFFIRM POPE FRANCIS BUT REVERSE HIS TRADITIONIS CUSTODIS? TIME WILL TELL, BUT THIS IS A GOOD SIGN, NO?

 

Leo XIV reverse Pope Francis and reforms Vatican finances. Ideological decisions of the past abolished.

With the new Apostolic Letter, Leo XIV abolishes the Rescriptum ex Audientia SS.mi of August 23, 2022, signed by Pope Francis and titled Instruction on the Administration and Management of the Financial Activities and Liquidity of the Holy See and the Institutions Connected with the Holy See. That document had assigned a centralized control role to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), requiring all dicasteries and institutions to transfer their funds into accounts managed by that office.

A Signal of Revision

While remaining within the framework established by Praedicate Evangelium, Leo XIV’s document introduces a change of direction from the heavily centralized model of 2022. “It was a request also raised by the College of Cardinals, and we presented it to the Pope, pointing out the distortions of certain ideologically driven decisions made in recent years,” a Curial prelate noted. The Pope aims to foster “shared responsibility”, avoiding both dispersion and concentration of economic power, restoring clarity of roles and greater internal transparency. The Apostolic Letter, published today in L’Osservatore Romano and destined for the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, takes effect immediately. It is the first Motu Proprio of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate and addresses a crucial issue: the Vatican’s finances. “The Pope acknowledged that certain matters indeed needed to be corrected,” a prelate familiar with the economic dossier recently confided, suggesting that the Pontiff intends to restore order and coherence to the complex administrative system of the Holy See. Through this legislative act, Leo XIV marks the beginning of a new season of governance, in which the Church’s economy is called to rediscover its true vocation: to be an instrument of communion, not of power.

p.F.A.
Silere non possum

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

SHOULD POPE LEO XIV GIVE PRESIDENT TRUMP A NON-CATHOLIC PAPAL AWARD FOR HIS HEROIC EFFORTS TO NAME PRO-LIFE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES AND THE PROMOTION OF PEACE IN WAR TORN AREAS OF THE WORLD?

At October 5th’s Angelus, this is what Pope Leo XIV said in part:

In recent hours, in the dramatic situation in the Middle East, some significant steps forward have been taken in peace negotiations, which I hope will achieve the desired results as soon as possible.  I ask all those in positions of responsibility to commit themselves to this path, to bring about a ceasefire and to release the hostages.  At the same time, I urge everyone to remain united in prayer, so that the ongoing efforts may put an end to the war and lead us towards a just and lasting peace.

Let us join ourselves spiritually with those gathered at the Shrine in Pompeii for the Supplication to the Virgin of the Holy Rosary.  In this month of October, as we contemplate with Mary the mysteries of Christ our Savior, let us deepen our prayer for peace: a prayer that becomes concrete solidarity with those people tormented by war.  Thank you to the many children around the world who have committed themselves to praying the Rosary for this intention.  You have our heartfelt thanks!

In what His Eminence called an effort at synodal dialogue, Cardinal Cupich desire to honor Senator Durbin for his work on immigration and migrant rights, although he is rabidly pro-choice and worked hard to keep abortion legal, was to point to other pro-life causes outside of abortion prevention, so too, using the same logic,  Pope Leo XIV should honor President Trump with a Papal Non-Catholic Award.

So, with Cardinal Cupich’s logic is mind, wouldn’t it be special if Pope Leo XIV gave President Trump a papal non-Catholic award not just for enabling the overturning of Roe v. Wade by appointing pro-life justices to the Supreme Court, but most especially if his brokered peace agreement between Israel and Hamas is successful, all the more should President Trump receive a papal award.

Just as Cardinal Cupich could look the other way concerning Durbin’s record of pro-abortion politics to point to his promotion of other pro-life realities , so too the Holy Father could overlook President Trump’s way of dealing with migrants and the death penalty and how rottenly he treats perceived enemies. It’s logical to me!

Here are the kinds of papal awards Pope Leo could offer to President Trump:

Key Orders that Can Be Bestowed Upon Non-Catholics

• Order of St. Gregory the Great: 

  This is one of the Holy See's five orders of knighthood and is awarded for outstanding service to the Church. It recognizes exceptional personal service, support for the Holy See, and the excellent examples non-Catholics set in their communities and countries. 
• Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice: 

  Also known as the Cross of Honour, this medal can be awarded to both men and women, including non-Catholics, as a public token of gratitude from the Pope for their distinguished service to the Church and the papacy. 

Reasons for Bestowal

• Interchurch Relations: 

  Non-Catholics may receive honors for efforts to improve relations between different Christian denominations, as exemplified by Dr. Sheilagh Kesting, a Church of Scotland minister who received the Order of St. Gregory for her work to improve ecumenical ties. 
• Collaboration and Support: 

  These awards can recognize outstanding collaboration with or support for the work of the Catholic Archdiocese or its parishes. 
• Public Service and Exemplary Conduct: 

  Recognition is for exceptional service and support to the Church and for giving an excellent personal example in their communities and countries. 

Process for Awarding Papal Honors

• Recommendations: 

  Recommendations for non-Catholics are typically made by bishops or Papal Nuncios based on the specific services rendered to the Roman Catholic Church. 
• Personal Recognition: 

  The awards are a personal expression of esteem from the Holy See and the Pope to acknowledge the recipient's extraordinary service and support, according to the BBC. 

MISSING THE POINT ABOUT THE BROUHAHA CONCERNING RABIDLY PRO-CHOICE LEGISLATION BY SENATOR DURBIN AND GIVING HIM A CATHOLIC AWARD FOR SOME GOOD THINGS HE HAS DONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PROFOUNDLY EVIL…

John Allen has an interesting commentary on the Cardinal Cupich debacle in wanting to give a Catholic award to Senator Durbin for his immigration efforts which are laudable despite his rabidly pro-abortion advocacy in the senate. You can read his commentary at Crux HERE. 

The scandal was about the award to be given to a Catholic who ignores the foundation of the seamless garment of pro-life teachings of the Church, the foundation of what it means to be pro-life. 

It is like giving an architect who designed a stunningly beautiful skyscraper from the ground-up, but left out the foundation for it, only to have the whole thing collapse. Well, he designed a pretty building, let’s give an award for it anyway. 

I don’t think that we can make a caricature of pro-life Catholics whose only passion is the protection of the unborn. They have the foundation of the seamless garment of Catholic pro-life teachings, but haven’t yet built the rest of the building, but the foundation is in place!

I think most who advocate for saving the life of unborn babies are flabbergasted at the police-state tactics directed to immigrants to this country, who were allowed by governmental authorities to break the law to enter into this country and then enabled to find jobs that others didn’t want and in the long time they have been here have been assets in quiet ways to the communities in which they live as well as to their faith communities. 

In the USA, the death penalty is no longer needed to keep society safe and many who champion the right to life of the unborn are also seeking to find alternatives to the death penalty. 

Are there Catholics who are rabidly anti-abortion but are lauding indiscriminately deporting all illegal immigrants, regardless of their contributions to their communities? Yes, just as there are those passionate about immigration reform and protection of illegal immigrants but are rabidly pro-choice.

What many, like John Allen, are missing in all of this is that Cardinal Cupich wanted to give an award to a Catholic politician whose pro-life record has no foundation and therefore is quite dangerous to the seamless garment of the Church’s Pro-life teachings and agenda. 

And in case anyone has a short memory about how bishops shuffled priests from parish to parish but accused and guilty of grotesque child and teenage sexual abuse as well as abuse of vulnerable adults, the reason given was they did other good things in their ministries, especially helping the poor and downtrodden. And supposedly, they were rehabilitated. 

Was that a debacle? No, that is too kind of a description to give to that kind of horror that destroyed lives, led many to suicide and has diminished the moral authority of the Church!

POPE LEO XIV AND THE SWISS GUARD—A CLEAR REVERSAL FROM POPE FRANCIS…

When I watched a bit of the spectacular and colorful Swearing In Ceremony of the Swiss Guard at the Vatican, I thought to myself, Self, I don’t think I have seen a pope at attending a Swiss Guard Swearing-In Ceremony before. And now I know that my communication with myself is correct.

Read the Silere non possum commentary by pressing the title:

Leo XIV brings the Swiss Guard back to the center

Sound byte from the article:

The Francis years brought a drastic reduction in the role of the Swiss Guard, which for centuries had been the only corps allowed access to the Apostolic Palace and charged with ensuring the Pope’s personal protection. The Argentine Pontiff chose instead to favor the Vatican Gendarmerie, a body that includes figures excluded from Italian police forces, often admitted thanks to recommendations from prelates or powerful intermediaries. A reality, therefore, far removed from the seriousness and discipline that have always distinguished the Pontifical Swiss Guard. Indeed, there is no public competition to join the Gendarmerie, and selection follows opaque and personalistic logics, more bound to favoritism than to merit.

AS A CITIZEN OF HILTON HEAD ISLAND I REJOICE THAT CLIMATE CHANGE KEPT HURRICANES COMPLETELY AWAY FROM THE EAST COAST IN SEPTEMBER, THE FIRST TIME IN TEN YEARS!

 Sad to say that climate change advocates are sad about this!

BREAKING: For the first time in 10 years, no hurricane made landfall in the United States in the month of September 🤯

HOLY TOUPEES BATMAN! MEN WEARING HATS IN WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL, NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL AND ITS THEME SONG!

 This morning, Cardinal Nichols celebrated the Red Mass, marking the start of the new legal year. 

'It is a Mass steeped in history. Mass has been celebrated in this country to mark the start of the legal year for more than 800 years, and in Europe still longer. It is right that we, in our turn, do this: we pray that the Holy Spirit will not only guide our minds, but the work of all those entrusted with the administration of law and justice, so essential to the good of society.'

Read his homily in full: https://rcdow.org.uk/cardinal/homilies/cardinals-homily-for-the-red-mass-2025/

Cardinal Nichols preaching ad orientem:

Evidently someone did not get the toupee memo:

Nice Benedictine altar arrangement:

Nice head gear:

Processional hymn: Elvis Presley’s “I Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog!”:

Holy Roman Chasuble, Batman!:

IT’S A SAD SPECTACLE TO SEE THE HETERODOX RIGHT DECRYING POPE LEO XIV AS POPE FRANCIS II AND THE HETERODOX LEFT GLOATING OVER POPE LEO XIV AS POPE FRANCIS II—BUT WHAT DO I SAY TO THE HETERODOX? GROW UP AND BECOME ORTHODOX LIKE ME!

As I have said, over and over and over again, Pope Leo is:

Pope Leo XIV—in continuity with all the Leo popes there have been!

Pope Francis II—in continuity with his immediate predecessor

Pope Benedict XVII—in continuity with Benedict XVI and all other Benedicts, except Arnold

Pope John Paul III—in continuity with the two other John Pauls

Pope Paul VII—in continuity with him and all Pauls 

Pope Pius XIII—in continuity with Pius XII and all other Piuses

Pope Peter II—in continuity with every valid pope since Peter I!

How’s that, you heterodox!?!

THE HIERARCHY OF FORMAL TEACHINGS FROM THE POPE

Today, especially with Pope Francis’ off-the-cuff papacy, creeping papal infallibility has been on a never-before-seen accelerant! 

Of course, orthodox Catholics know there is a hierarchy of importance in papal teachings. Let me name some starting with the lesser to the greater in importance:

(Keep in mind, even in a casual conversation, a pope, any pope, can enunciate teachings that are already defined and infallibly so by an ecumenical council or a pope alone, but the casual conversation is not a part of any papal magisterium.)

1. Homily—important but not necessarily infallible

2. Letter—more important, very authoritative, but not necessarily infallible

3. Apostolic Exhortation—more authoritative, but not necessarily infallible 

4. Encyclical—very authoritative, using infallible teachings, but not necessarily completely infallible

5. Infallible Bull or Decree—from the chair, most formal and thus infallible and binding on all Catholics

Papal Interviews, while giving us a perspective on the pope’s thinking, are not to be seen as formal teachings, unless what the pope says in the interview is a formal teaching. Capice? 

Pope Leo XIV, in a formal signing, wearing his mozzetta and papal stole, signs his first Apostolic Exhortation on October 4th to be released next Thursday, October 9th as reported and copied from Silere non possum:

Vatican City – As anticipated by Silere non possum, this morning, October 4, 2025, the day the Church celebrates Saint Francis of Assisi, Pope Leo XIV signed his first Apostolic Exhortation, entitled Dilexi te (“I have loved you”).

The signing took place at 8:30 in the Private Library of the Apostolic Palace, in the presence of His Excellency Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State. The document will be officially presented on October 9, 2025, at 11:30 in the Holy See Press Office.

The title, Dilexi te, captures the essence of the message the Pontiff wishes to convey to the Church: a reflection on care for the poor, rooted in the words of the Gospel of Matthew (25:35-44): "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me."

By signing the text on the very day of the Saint of Assisi, Leo XIV wanted to emphasize that Christian love is not measured by words, but by concrete gestures of mercy and closeness. "Dilexi te" will therefore be a text intended to outline the first pastoral line of this pontificate, entirely centered on love that becomes service.

F.A.

Silere non possum

ONLY GOD CAN BRING UNITY OUT OF THE WRONG AND DIVISIVE INTERPRETATIONS OF VATICAN II WHICH HAS CAUSED ALL THE DIVISIONS AND DISUNITY IN THE CHURCH—DOES POPE LEO KNOW WHAT THE CAUSE OF DIVISION IS IN THE CHURCH OR IS HE AND MILLIONS OF OTHERS IN DENIAL ABOUT IT?

How can Pope Leo bring unity out of diversity in the Catholic Church? And that diversity is not just crazy liturgical diversity that is allowed, but that of an 1,800 years tradition  that is scolded, denigrated and being brought to an end by papal edict and local bishops gone wild canceling the TLM, one in my own province. 

But beyond that, there is morality or immorality diversity, from wanting to allow women to have legal protection for an abortion, a different anthropology for sexual and gender biology, a different view of what marriage is.

Already, Catholics are pro-death penalty, although Pope Francis sewed up that tear in the Church’s pro-life teaching. There are Catholics who want the borders closed and all illegal aliens, and yes, they use the word alien, to be deported or imprisoned. 

And yes, there are Catholics who think the ecological movement of today is not just about stewardship of God’s creation, but a leftist, socialist political movement using religion to do away with fossil fuels and make the world electric, promote birth control, abortion and euthanasia as the way to reduce the world’s population, the greatest threat in their minds to protecting the earth and stopping climate change. 

And of course, there are those obese people, who love gluttony, who feel the Church should change her teachings on gluttony. Others want suicide on demand, euthanasia and the ability to sell their body parts for money. 

Daniel Horan, who writes for the NcR, and you can read it HERE, has a commentary there about how bad LGTBTQ+++ Catholics felt when Pope Leo said doctrine would not change in terms of what constitutes a sacramental marriage, that fornicating couples of whatever gender can’t have their relationship blessed but as individuals, of course they can be blessed. Horan, a now inactive priest, so far by choice, says people are hurt by Catholic teaching and if you are hurt by it, meaning it makes you feel bad and excluded, because your sin needs to be repented and forgiven, then the Church has to change not the person. But Pope Leo said, the person has to change first, not the Church!

I recommend reading Horan’s complete commentary HERE, because he’s very honest about what the goals of syndolity are all about, which of course, too, has contributed to the divisions in the Church. 

And of course, there are those whose feelings are hurt that women or whatever gender you call yourself, if not male, can’t be ordained. 

So, Holy Father, you have a mess. God willing you’ll live well into your 80’s, but that is not a guarantee, to clean it up in an orthodox way and please God, not in a heterodox way.

All of this and a heck of a lot more is a result of the wrong interpretation of Vatican II, an interpretation in rupture with nearly 2,000 years of Church history.

Will you, Holy Father, address the core of the reasons for the disunity in the Church today, or be in denial about it? 

Will you make us more Anglican than Catholic and thus accelerate the disunity, just like in the Anglican Communion, and will we one day see this, in the remnant left in the Catholic Church?:

I HOPE POPE LEO IS READING COMMENTARIES LIKE THIS!

 Below, I link a commentary from Italian Catholic online news The Daily Compass, concerning Pope Leo’s recent interview debacle . As Pope Leo has asked, to be patient with him as he’s new to this, we all should. 

Never having been on the world’s stage and seen as a world leader and in a twinkle of an eye, he is shoved onto the loggia of St. Peter’s into international view, it has to be a daunting experience for him. 

And he’s a baby boomer Catholic from Chicago. That explains a lot!

Give him time to embrace what has been foisted upon him. 

The Daily Compass:

 is an Italian-based, online Catholic news outlet known for its conservative stance. Its reporting is guided by the social doctrine of the Catholic faith, which influences its coverage of politics, international relations, and social issues. 

VATICAN COMMUNICATION (press title for full commentary):

On the run interviews obscure Pope's role

Pope Francis's impromptu meetings with journalists are becoming more frequent: a mechanism that feeds on direct questions and ambiguous or problematic answers. However, if the papacy debases itself in the marketplace of ideas, it is confusion rather than faith that is nourished.

BEFORE AND AFTER IN MISSOURI—WELL DONE! BUT STOP PUTTING FLOWERS IN FRONT OF THE ALTAR!!!!!! SHEESH!

 This is extremely well done. If I am not mistaken, the new reredos does not contain a second altar behind the actual altar! Kudos! And it appears to me that the Mass can be celebrated facing either way, except those doggone flowers would have to be removed for ad orientem. Please! No flowers in front of the altar! What are you trying to hide?

Before and After: St. Andrew’s Church in Tipton, Missouri

by Shawn Tribe

DRUM ROLL PLEASE….INTRODUCING THE NEW ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY—YAWN!

 King Charles III approves the nomination of the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, as the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

Perhaps the time has come to abolish the English Monarchy and the Church of England?

On another note, progressive Catholics are horrified, I mean, horrified, by the Archbishop’s tall and ornate miter calling it something Pope Benedict XVI wore! But my inquiring mind wants to know how the heck she keeps her zuchetta on under that miter with her boofy hair???? And how does the zuchetta look on top of all that hair without that tall, Pope Benedict miter??????

POPE LEO XIV: “OH! SOUTHERN ORDERS!”

 At Pope Leo’s Wednesday General Audience on October 1st, Bishop Stephen Parkes, Bishop of Savannah (my bishop), who is on his Jubilee Year pilgrimage to Rome, greets Pope Leo XIV.

When Bishop Parkes introduced himself as the Bishop of Savannah, it was then that Pope Leo exclaimed, “Oh! Southern Orders!” And of course, why wouldn’t His Holiness?

CATHOLICS ACTING BADLY ON SOCIAL MEDIA—JUST STOP IT…

I am old enough to remember the backlash from Catholics over St. Paul VI’s encyclical, Humanae Vitae. Catholics around the world, to include bishops, priests and religious, some of the bishops were cardinals, dissented from this teaching and bent over backwards to help Catholics not feel guilty about birth control pills, some of which prevented pregnancy through spontaneous abortion. 

I knew family members who really had a hard time with this teaching and simply ignored it. But they didn’t have social media then to glory in their dissent.

Fast forward to today and all the social media platforms there are. Pope Francis and now Pope Leo promote respect and stewardship of our planet and Pope Francis even wrote an encyclical on it. 

What’s the problem with respecting creation as a “sacramental” of God’s creating omnipotence and our need to respect it.

Pope Leo blessed, without a formal blessing, a kind of Fiducia Supplicans kind of blessing, a chunk of a glazier, a big junk of ice. You’d think that the end of the Catholic Church had occurred.

I hate to tell you, I’ve blessed all kinds of things, from human ashes, to homemade rosaries made of chunks of rock or dried rose pedals to automobiles, rvs, and all terrain vehicles. I blessed a cabbage patch doll and a little doll some little girl brought with her to the Communion Rail at a EF Mass!

Stop the silly dissent by the silly heterodox left and right and let the pope be the pope, even when you in your most gnostic way think you know something that the pope doesn’t.

Catholics have always believed that we are to respect creation, to include people, and to be charitable in all things. 

The heterodox right seem to me to be the greatest sinners, mortal sinners at that, against charity. That is serious and could get the unrepentant mortal sinners the fires of hell. 

I don’t recall the heterodox right complaining about this:

Two priests from Connecticut and New Jersey recently led Eucharistic processions via airplane, petitioning Our Lord for deliverance and healing from COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.

Both priests said an Italian priest inspired them to lead the processions.

Pastor Fr. Brian P. Gannon of St. Theresa Church in Trumbull, Conn. led the procession over the Diocese of Bridgeport with associate pastor Rev. Flavian Bejan. The church’s website explains the Knights of Columbus “underwrote the whole voyage” on Mar. 24, with the help of Coast Guard pilot John DeCastra.

“Fr. Flavian and I are eternally grateful to be instruments of Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lord in the Eucharist to bring His supernatural grace and hope of healing to as many people as possible. God is always victorious!”

PAPAL MAGISTERIUM BY WAY OF INTERVIEW—IS IT TIME TO RETIRE IT?

 Shortly after this interview, Senator Durbin declined Cardinal Cupich’s desire to honor him with a Catholic award. I think that after these comments by Pope Leo, Cardinal Cupich knew he was in deep do-do and had to save face on the international level where even the pope was weighing in on a damn award! So he talked Durbin into withdrawing. That’s my most humble opinion with no evidence other than the evidence at hand to prove it. 

My astute comments, of course, always most humble:

Just so you know, I fully embrace the “seamless garment” which in my mind includes not giving Catholic honors to politicians who do not hold this position. If a politician is a rabid pro-execution politician, but very much aligned with the Church’s teachings on abortion, he should not receive an honor. 

If I am responsible for creating the General Intercessions for Mass, I always include a pro-life petition that  all people respect human life from conception through natural death. 

Now, if I were a reporter, I would have had to ask Pope Leo to clarify his interview answer that if someone if in favor of the death penalty, that that isn’t pro-life. And what about just war, defending yourself with lethal force, if necessary, and other “exceptions” to this, that or the other in terms of life-issues?

If I am not mistaken, there are no exceptions in Catholic moral law/teachings when it comes to ending the life of an innocent unborn child. If you want to call it an exception, one could make a case for “indirect” abortion being allowable, but not dogmatically taught. It’s a pastoral solution to a difficult physical situation for the mother. 

As far as I know, there has only been talk of developing the moral teaching concerning the death penalty to exclude any exceptions. St. John Paul II began that ball to roll, but there is no definitive teaching, as far as I know, in this regard.

As it concerns using lethal force that kills, in a just war, in self defense and even suicide to save others in an extreme situation, such as placing one’s body over a bomb device to save others, that is still permitted no?

And when it comes to immigration, governments have a right to create laws to manage it and can deport those who break laws, either by illegally entering a country, or committing crimes once in the country, even if legally entering. Government laws and respect for just laws is a part of the 4th Commandment, btw. Look it up in the CCC!

But the bottom line is to develop the doctrine of NO CATHOLIC AWARDS TO POLITICIANS, UNLESS THEY UPHOLD ALL THE “IDEALS” OF OUR PRO-LIFE TEACHINGS. JUST DO AWAY WITH AWARDS. WHY GIVE THEM?

Holy Father, please use the casual synodality of first consulting with your theological experts to answer questions which are well thought out, not a form of babel, and then placed into writing, with your theological experts reading over and endorsing what is written. 

Please, Holy Father, no more magisterium by interviews. It is embarrassing to say the least!