A very dense day in terms of content, which may seem repetitive but never is. If these confusing times have anything positive, it is that they are giving us wonderful studies on the «rerum novarum» we are living through. Today is a day with articles that make one want to reread them with serenity. Signatures that know what they are talking about and that enlighten us, bringing great clarity amid the darkness in which we move. We begin another interesting day, even though it is August; it seems the torrid summer leaves fresh, serene spaces for enlightening reflections.
The liturgical reform in continuity with tradition.
Starting from the declaration of Pope Leo XIV, according to which: «The liturgical reform promoted by the Second Vatican Council is situated, therefore, in consonance with the living tradition of the Church », Father Alcuni Reid has examined in depth the question of the «liturgical wars» in which this declaration—using the conjunction « therefore »—has been inserted clumsily and dangerously. According to a liturgy expert, the authors of yesterday’s Wednesday catechesis of Pope Leo XIV did him a disservice.
In recent months, numerous attempts have been made to reinforce the official position that the post–Second Vatican Council liturgical reform is in line with the Council’s wishes and is beyond reproach, and that the older liturgical rites have little or no relevance in the life of the Church. The latest episode occurred today during Pope Leo XIV’s general audience, in his final catechesis on the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium on the sacred liturgy of the Second Vatican Council.
«The popes are busy men and, rightly, employ editors to help them prepare their speeches. With regard to specific topics, these drafts usually come from the corresponding Dicastery or Department of the Roman Curia, and it is almost certain that the speeches of the general audiences in recent months on the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council originated in the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments . This is nothing exceptional, and in general, the general audience speeches have been a sensible liturgical catechesis that, at times, has raised valid questions».
«Today’s speech delved into the politically mined terrain of what in recent decades has been known as the ‘liturgical wars,’ whose central question is whether the post–Second Vatican Council liturgical reform has truly been faithful to the mandate given by that Council (and to the organic development of the liturgy, as required by number 23 of the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium ). If not, the rites promulgated later could legitimately be questioned and even discarded in favor of the unreformed rites, or subjected to a ‘reform of the reform’ intended to be faithful to the actual guidelines of the Second Vatican Council».
A speech during a general audience is not in itself binding and infallible teaching, but it is undoubtedly a significant event. And in his general audience today, the Holy Father—intentionally or not—has mobilized those who, in the ideological war surrounding the Second Vatican Council, align themselves with the fundamentalists: «Therefore, the liturgical reform promoted by the Second Vatican Council follows the living tradition of the Church». His «therefore» implies a deduction and a decision according to which the provisions of number 23 of the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium have been respected.
Whoever within the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments put these words into the mouth of the Holy Father made him utter the greatest liturgical incoherence of the last sixty years. This text abounds in examples of inadequate formulation: the Second Vatican Council advocated a renewal of the sacred liturgy (« instauratio »), not its «simplification», a term used a posteriori that clearly indicates what, in reality, the defenders of the more recent rites intend to believe. The Magisterium did not actively intervene in the history of the liturgy to adapt its forms to the needs of each era; it extended local developments to the universal Church or incorporated them into Roman use by way of example, which was then frequently imitated elsewhere.
As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , observed, what happened after the last Ecumenical Council was unprecedented in the history of the Church up to that time. Until the second half of the sixteenth century, there was no centralized liturgical dicastery (the Sacred Congregation of Rites ). Even then, it lacked a mandate to periodically reform the liturgy. Local Churches and religious orders preserved their traditional rites.
«In recent decades, a broad corpus of academic studies has examined all these questions, including, of course, the future Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Leo XIV is not a liturgy expert per se, and there is no reason why he should be. However, the Holy Father should have the help and support of those who can provide him with less compromising and, so to speak, more inclusive texts. Some will interpret today’s text as a political statement, and others as a disappointment. I am sure that the Holy Father neither intends nor desires either. His constant calls for unity and inclusion, respecting legitimate diversity, are above such political games. The same applies to rigorous scholarship and true liturgical history».
In the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
Interview with the nuncio in Kiev.
Gallagher’s visit to Moscow is raising eyebrows on the Ukrainian side, and the apostolic nuncio in Kiev, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, tries to calm the waters with a commissioned interview. He states that the visit to Moscow by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher , the Vatican secretary for Relations with States, is «a very positive and important initiative» to «seek peace, insist on peace, and foster peace». But «the Holy See cannot alone» bring an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine; a «working group with partner countries interested in resolving» the war is needed, namely «Europe, the United States, China, Japan, and India».
«It is part of the Holy See’s role to seek all possible avenues to rebuild peace. And this initiative must be included in an attempt to determine what is lacking for peace, what can be done, fostered, and insisted upon. If Gallagher’s mission can truly contribute to peace, I hope it will. We must place our hope in it; history will tell the rest». But «in my opinion, peace requires very demanding, meticulous, and careful work; in my opinion, the Holy See alone perhaps cannot achieve much . We need the cooperation of other partners». He makes no allusion to the coincidence of the CIA chief in Moscow but seems to refer to it: «I think we must work as united as possible among countries, among international organizations, among those who are not indifferent to this situation». «The more united we are in working for peace, the greater the chances of achieving it».
Pope Leo’s Nike sneakers.
It is, after all, a triviality, and we know that Pope Leo takes care of his appearance and makes an effort with it. Every priest who engages in various activities, no matter how prudent, has found himself in similar situations and has tried to carry them with dignity. The combination of sacred vestments with flashy Nike sneakers is not the most appropriate. Pope Leo XIV was included in Vanity Fair’s 2026 list of «The Most Stylish,» which usually includes actors, musicians, and figures from the world of fashion and entertainment. According to the famous fashion magazine, «even before his pontificate, Leo, previously known as Father Bob, elevated his modest cream-colored cassock to celestial heights by pairing it with Nike sneakers». It also praises that Robert Francis Prevost «maintained his informal and ironic style, occasionally wearing baseball caps». The magazine acknowledged that the first American pope in history elevated his style to unprecedented heights during his pontificate. A lifelong fan of the Chicago White Sox, last June the Pope made headlines by combining his traditional attire with a black baseball cap, thus showing his support for the team directly from the Vatican. The Pope’s liturgical vestments had already caught the attention of the prestigious fashion magazine Vogue, which last year included him on its list of the best-dressed celebrities.
What to do with Rupnik’s mosaics?
Remove them permanently or leave them temporarily hidden? Luis Badilla, whose reflections are always worth considering, reflects on this. The bishop of Lourdes emphasized that this concludes one case but opens another: what to do with these mosaics, which belong to the diocese, since it commissioned and financed the works. Therefore, for the Pope’s arrival, all the mosaics, even the smaller ones, will be hidden from the view of the faithful. The episcopal decision has a very strong symbolic meaning. It is a preview of what could one day be the permanent removal of these decorative religious works of art.
The underlying reason is profound: the work of the priest, expelled from the Society of Jesus on June 9, 2023 and now incardinated in the diocese of Koper, is inextricably linked to the sexual crimes committed over decades against at least 30 women, including some consecrated. According to some victims, the mosaic artist repeatedly associated his unusual sexual behavior with a kind of erotic mysticism. Several testimonies link the abuse of many victims to the same spiritual and artistic environment in which the mosaics were created. Monsignor Micas recounted that when some of Rupnik’s victims described the abuses that occurred during the creation of the mosaics, he radically changed his opinion about the Lourdes mosaics.
Bishop Micas explained his position with clarity and firmness: «The decision, announced on the eve of Pope Leo XIV’s visit, marks a new stage in a process that began in 2023 with the creation of a commission tasked with evaluating the future of the mosaics. In the summer of 2024, Bishop Micas decided to stop illuminating them with the light shows of the evening Marian procession. In March 2025, those located at the entrance doors of the basilica were covered». «The Holy Father’s visit to Lourdes represents an opportunity to take a further step in this direction». «All the works of art on the façade will be covered and decorated for the apostolic visit of Leo XIV. (…) The mosaics will remain covered even after the Holy Father’s pilgrimage, after which a new review will begin». «There are works by Rupnik all over the world, some of great scope, but here we are only talking about those in Lourdes. This underscores the symbolic dimension of the message of Lourdes in relation to victims of sexual violence. And, therefore, it confers upon us a unique responsibility». «My role is to ensure that the sanctuary welcomes everyone, especially those who suffer. Among them are victims of abuse and sexual violence, both children and adults. However, after the revelations of the serious accusations against Father Marko Rupnik, it has become difficult, if not impossible, for these victims to come here…»
To date, no other major sanctuary in the world, nor in Italy, has proceeded to cover or permanently remove the mosaics, but several major religious centers have adopted restrictive measures. Only with Pope Leo XIV was it possible to put an end to the display of reproductions of figures or scenes from these mosaics in Vatican media outlets, Vatican News and L’Osservatore Romano, as well as in some rooms of the Domus Santa Marta and other places in the Vatican. The Rupnik case is one of the most serious in the life of the Church in recent decades, as it directly involves Pope Francis. The most delicate issue, the lifting of the excommunication imposed on Rupnik by Pope Francis, has never been denied or documented. Everything has been kept secret, and the discovery of the case would never have been possible without the revelation of what was kept in the drawers.
Religious freedom and the right not to emigrate.
Classical natural law does not start from the will that attributes value, but from the reality recognized by reason. There is an intelligible human nature, there are goods that perfect it and evils that contradict it; therefore, there is a measure of justice that precedes both the legislator and the majority. Positive law does not create justice from nothing, which can be judged just or unjust. Truth is not a continuously redefinable catalog, but rather the logos , the rational nature of man, the common good, and that natural law which constitutes the prepolitical measure of power.
Handing on the deposit of faith and synodality.
The Catholic Church has always distinguished itself from other Christian confessions by its claim to possess, and be bound by, a deposit of faith handed down by the Apostles. The Church proceeds from Christ, and does not invent, revise, or vote on its Magisterium, its authoritative application of that deposit of faith . It receives, guards, and transmits that ancient faith. Doctrine can develop, as Saint John Henry Newman described it, growing in clarity and application, like an acorn becoming an oak. But it cannot be renegotiated—nor reversed!—by the sentiment of the majority or by contemporary enthusiasm. The claim to have received the Truth and to guard it constitutes the raison d’être of the Church and makes it more than a voluntary religious association.
Synodality, regardless of what its defenders claim, introduces a mechanism capable of dissolving that claim: a permanent, indefinite, and participatory process for generating contemporary and endless ecclesial consensuses that, increasingly, function as rival, parallel sources of authority to the established deposit of faith and, therefore, ahead of the Magisterium destined to guard it, and even, from the perspective of the innovators, ahead of it. After multiple synodal gatherings, the Church still lacks a precise definition of synodality; it only offers descriptions of a «style», a «process», or an «instinct».
Saint Thomas Aquinas and others, including the early Church Fathers and various councils, have given the Church a fixed point of reference and a sufficiently precise shared technical vocabulary to allow the resolution of all real disputes. Synodality has no equivalent. It relies on «individual discernment» and the «sense of the faithful», categories that are practically unfalsifiable : any conclusion reached by the assembled body is retrospectively interpreted through the scandalous claim that every new proposal is what the Holy Spirit has been saying from the beginning! Finally , they tell us, we are listening!
History shows us where this will lead us. The Church of England is the closest institutional analogue we have, and it demonstrates exactly how the process unfolds over time. The investiture of Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury has provoked a schism within Anglicanism. The German Synodal Way is pushing for a permanent Synodal Council that would grant laypeople shared authority with bishops in matters of doctrine and discipline. Rome has intervened directly to stop it, but several German bishops still openly resist the Vatican’s warnings. Who knows what the outcome will be? A «national» church attempting to institutionalize exactly the Anglican model within Catholic structures has so far been contained only by Rome’s direct intervention.
Pope Francis responded to concerns about the wording of Amoris Laetitia (2016), which allowed (with discernment) the reception of the Eucharist by divorced and civilly remarried couples. He told the bishops of Argentina, who were seeking clarity, that «there are no other interpretations». In doing so, he abrogated canon law and gave us a preview of the synodal process. Fiducia supplicans is an innovative and passive-aggressive pastoral mechanism for blessing same-sex couples, extending even when the immemorial definition of marriage is considered unchanged. What is at stake is not just this or that teaching, but what makes the Catholic Church the Catholic Church: an authoritative and non-negotiable deposit of faith, guarded by a Magisterium whose precepts bind all believers. A Church governed by synodal consensus is an institution distinct from the one that, for two millennia, has existed to transmit what it has received.
Bishops who speak clearly.
There are not many; courage is not the most visible virtue of the contemporary episcopate, but we always have glorious exceptions, and an article today points to two of them.
Marian Eleganti, a Benedictine monk and former auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Chur, recently wrote on the topic «The decline of the Petrine ministry «. Monsignor Eleganti was inspired by the private audience granted in July by Leo XIV to Patti Smith, the «godmother of punk,» to formulate a broader critique of the transformation of the image and exercise of the papacy in recent decades. «For some time now, I have personally been concerned that, starting with John Paul II, popes have begun to speak more and more informally on the most varied occasions (for example, on airplanes or by the roadside, as Pope Leo XIV recently did in Castel Gandolfo )». All this carries the risk that the Pope may appear to be « simply another member of the international establishment », whereas Peter and Paul did not seek prominence but proclaimed the Gospel. Eleganti recalls Francis’s relations with Emma Bonino and Eugenio Scalfari, as well as the audiences granted to the Jesuit James Martin. By publicly welcoming certain people without publicly correcting their errors, the Pope runs the risk of « blurring the Church’s position and, depending on the circumstances, even scandalizing the faithful ». The Pope should speak less and, when he does, express himself « with few words, unequivocal and clear ».
Another remembered is Bishop Rob Mutsaerts, auxiliary bishop of ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, who subjected the synodal process to a criterion above any other consideration: the salvation of souls. After years of consultations, meetings, and documents, we must ask ourselves, then: has faith been strengthened? Has Christ been proclaimed with greater clarity? Have conversions, priestly vocations, Mass attendance, and Eucharistic devotion increased? « It is not the Gospel that must change; it is man who must change ». The crisis of the Western Church is evident to all: empty churches, convents disappearing, few vocations, abandoned confessionals, ignorance of the truths of the faith. Faced with this situation, the Dutch bishop observes, the crucial question should be: « How can we win the world back for Christ ?». « A house on fire has different priorities than domestic administrative matters ».
«…you do not know on what day your Lord will come».
Happy reading.