It is Sunday, the Consistory is coming to an end, somewhat enlivened by Müller’s intervention. The Pope has appointed as members of the Dicastery for Evangelization, in the Section for Fundamental Questions of Evangelization in the World, Monsignors Filippo Iannone, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Peter Andrew Comensoli, Metropolitan Archbishop of Melbourne, and Èric de Moulins-Beaufort, Metropolitan Archbishop of Reims. The Pope also expresses his desire to visit Mexico during the meeting with Ceprome at the Vatican. We continue with another day very focused on the Consistory.
The fourth session of the Consistory.
After the opening prayer, Cardinal Tobin, moderator of the session, introduced its proceedings, focusing on the path toward implementing the Synod, and gave the floor to Cardinal Grech for his presentation. At the end, several cardinals spoke on the topic. “There was consensus on the need to continue exploring and putting into practice the ascetic and historical dimensions of synodality, and on the need to offer the clergy an image of the priesthood that is beautiful, creative, evangelical, and at the same time non-clerical.” “The risk that the complexity of the consultation might become a burden for the Church at a time when it is called to bear witness was discussed. Likewise, the way in which the hierarchical Church and the People of God participate, in different ways, in discerning the voice of the Holy Spirit was analyzed, as well as the contribution and participation of Eastern-rite Catholic communities, with their synodal experience, in the journey the whole Church is undertaking.”
The Synod of Mario Grech.
Mario Grech, opening the fourth session of the Extraordinary Consistory: “The Synod has awakened in the Church a widespread desire for participation, mutual listening, and communal discernment. In other words, it has highlighted the need for a Church capable of walking together, valuing the gifts and responsibilities of all.” “Many of the faithful have experienced that the Mother Church to which they belong is also a community for which they are called to feel co-responsible according to their own vocation.” “Many pastors have rediscovered that listening to the People of God does not weaken their ministry, but strengthens and enriches it.” “Synodality is increasingly emerging as a missionary resource.” “The Synod becomes, for the history of humanity, a sign of the times of a style and posture of governance and participation in keeping with the evangelical virtue of meekness.”
The Magnifica Humanitas and Cardinal Fernandez.
In his introduction to the second session of the Extraordinary Consistory: “The great innovation of Magnifica Humanitas is the invitation to transcend the theory of just war.” Our doctrine of just war “is invoked too often to justify any war,” “In this way a paradox is created: the Church’s social doctrine is manipulated to provide a theoretical foundation for the most unjust wars; instead of stopping wars, it contributes to justifying them.” Moreover, according to the encyclical, legitimate defense can only be invoked “in the strictest sense,” that is, not in the broad and overly open sense of so-called “preventive wars.” In other words, the criteria for legitimate defense set out in the Catechism of the Catholic Church remain in force: among them, that “a war cannot be prolonged indefinitely simply to avoid an injustice, if this entails serious and incessant harm to the population, in particular the constant killing of people.”
Müller stirs up the consistory.
“Il Giornale” reveals the content of a speech by a cardinal who requested a response from Saint Pius X after accusations of deviations from tradition. The issue of welcoming those returning to Rome after illicit consecrations will also be addressed. Müller’s speech was received without comment, but at the end of the meeting several cardinals of different convictions expressed their agreement and appreciated the frankness of the cardinal, one of the most authoritative in terms of studies and ecclesiastical career.
Leo XIV had asked the cardinals for frankness, and some took him at his word. In fact, as we can reveal, although the imminent Lefebvrian schism was not on the agenda, a cardinal took it upon himself to raise the taboo subject on the first day of work: the open challenge of Saint Pius X in Rome. On the eve of the Consistory, the Society founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre launched a new challenge to the Pope and the cardinals, sending them a profession of faith in which they accused Rome of having deviated from tradition and the perpetual magisterium.
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, urged them to reject this accusation. Hence the suggestion to draft a response to the Lefebvrians, affirming that Rome has never abandoned the path of tradition, contrary to what they claim. This stance is all the more relevant given that the German cardinal presided over the dicastery that will deal precisely with this division.
The speech also addressed the consequences of one of the scenarios we had foreseen in recent days: the declaration of schism following the consecrations of the new bishops of Saint Pius X without papal mandate will lead many Lefebvrians to seek a return to Rome. The cardinal stressed the need to prepare for their welcome, proposing a structure inspired by the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” established in 1988 by John Paul II to welcome those who wished to return to full communion with Rome after the illicit consecrations carried out by Archbishop Lefebvre. At present there is no certainty about the reaction of the Doctrine of the Faith, but several priests, religious, and nuns are expected to leave the Society of Saint Pius X and wish to return to full communion with Rome.
Today, thanks to the work carried out at the time by the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” there exist in the Church, in full communion with Rome, institutions that celebrate the ancient liturgy and accept the Second Vatican Council. Ecclesia Dei was suppressed in 2019 by Francis. Restrictions on these celebrations were introduced in 2021 with the apostolic letter Traditionis Custodes, but today a more tolerant stance seems to prevail in the College of Cardinals.
Discontent over the method of the Consistory.
At the opening of the session of the College of Cardinals, the Pope confirmed the approach adopted by the synods, while disregarding the discontent expressed by some. He asked the cardinals to “work together in the service of the Church” and revitalized them after the stagnation of the previous pontificate. The working methods of the consistory are now “synodal,” as recognized by Leo XIV himself in his introductory remarks. In the Paul VI Hall, he encouraged the cardinals to “live group work with conviction,” admitting that “for many of us, it is not the usual way of conducting a consistory,” but adding that “in this ecclesial exercise, we also learn synodality by practicing it; we learn together to grow in communion.” He also assured them that they would have the opportunity to intervene personally or submit confidential observations.
“Leo in Rome”
This is the title of the new documentary by Vatican Radio – Vatican News that recounts the years Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, spent in the Eternal City. A period of approximately twenty years, from his arrival in Italy from the United States in 1981, through his two terms as superior of the Order of Saint Augustine, to his appointment as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and his creation as cardinal in 2023. Years of studies, friendships, travels, excursions, encounters, reunions, pilgrimages, and work. All of this told through unpublished images and recordings and the voices of fellow friars, fellow students, old friends, and members of the Augustinian Order and the Dicastery for Bishops. It completes the exploration that Vatican media have carried out of the figure and life of the Pontiff, which began with the documentary “Leo of Peru,” and continued with “Leo from Chicago.”
Pope Leo in Lampedusa.
Lampedusa is preparing to welcome Pope Leo XIV on July 4. Among the most notable moments of the day is the presence of the statue of Our Lady of Porto Salvo on the altar set up in the sports field, where the Holy Father will celebrate Mass. Pope Leo XIV’s arrival will take place thirteen years after the visit of Pope Francis, who on July 8, 2013 chose Lampedusa as the destination of his first apostolic journey, launching his appeal against the “globalization of indifference” in the face of the tragedy of migration. In the days leading up to the celebration, the statue of the island’s patron saint will be moved from the sanctuary. The papal delegation will receive a collection of Marian writings by Don Giuseppe Policardi (1925-1998), the Lampedusan priest who founded the sanctuary of the Madonna di Porto Salvo and promoted the coronation of her image in 1967.
Parolin with integral ecology.
Parolin will preside over the Mass for Peace to be held on Sunday, July 5 at the Cathedral of Santa Margherita di Montefiascone. This celebration will be one of the central events of the sixth edition of the Festival of Integral Ecology, promoted by the Associazione Rocca dei Papi. The celebration takes on special meaning in the current international context: through prayer, the Church implores the gift of peace, the cessation of conflicts, and the strengthening of a culture based on dialogue, reconciliation, and encounter among peoples. Cardinal Parolin participated in the first edition of the Festival, in 2021, with the keynote address “In creation, everything is connected: rediscovering the connections.”
An Italian Catholic writes to his bishops.
He focuses on the National March for Life held in Rome on June 13, 2026. The main protagonist and the only bishop of the Mother Catholic Church was Bishop Antonio Suetta of Ventimiglia-Sanremo. During the event, he expressed his support and participated actively, singing “Yes to life forever” along with the other attendees. We, millions of Catholic faithful in Italy, ask ourselves: how is it possible that you, Your Eminences and Excellencies, and your priests, are present at the celebrations that take place, both in the streets and in our churches, for the inclusion and non-discrimination of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, but no one saw you at the National March for Life?
We hope—at least let us hope—that in your sermons during the so-called LGBTQ celebrations you reminded them that, according to the Law of God, they are in grave sin, that the sin of sodomy cries out to God for vengeance! And let us hope that in your sermons to these people you reminded them of the third point of the Spiritual Works of Mercy: “ADMONISH THE SINNERS,” or do you omit it? Why do you, successors of the Holy Apostles, not imitate one of your brothers, such as the late Cardinal Camillo Ruini, who led the Italian Catholic world in defense of the “non-negotiable principles”? Why not follow the example of the bishops and cardinals who signed the joint document of the International Network “Priests against Genocide”? More than 2,200 priests, 25 bishops, and 2 cardinals, in 58 countries. If you no longer speak of the “non-negotiable principles” in defense of human life and the family, if you celebrate sin, if you do not proclaim the Law of God to the four winds, I ask myself: what is the point of your ministry? What have you become?
Interview with Müller on lay homilies.
Following the intervention of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, offered Kath.net his comments. The Second Vatican Council emphasized that, in the Holy Mass, the Liturgy of the Word (liturgia verbi) and the Eucharistic celebration (liturgia eucharistica) “are so closely united that they form one single act of worship” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 56), and therefore constitute the unity of the worship of the Triune God, made flesh in Jesus Christ, the divine Person of the Word. For this reason, Christ is present in the Church in the proclamation of the Word and in the celebration of the holy Sacraments. The sacramental sign, or action of the sacramental sign, consists of audible words and visible gestures. Priestly power concerns not only the part of the Holy Mass that culminates in the offering of Christ’s sacrifice and the transformation of the bread and wine into the sacramentally present Body and Blood of Christ, but the entire Sacrament of the Eucharist.
Certainly, devotions, catechesis, and celebrations of the Word may be celebrated as autonomous acts of worship, under the guidance of a layperson designated by the bishop. However, it is not permitted to separate the Liturgy of the Word from the Eucharistic part of the Holy Mass, entrusting the former, together with the homily, to a layperson and leaving the latter to be celebrated by an ordained priest. Luther already considered this an abuse and reproached the Church for having ceased to be primarily a servant of the Word, becoming instead ritualistic and a mere priest of the Mass. The Council of Trent, on the contrary, affirmed that sacramentally ordained priests are instituted by Christ as ministers both of the Word and of the Sacraments. Saint Justin Martyr had already expressed this in his Apology: the one who presides explains in the homily the letters of the Apostles and the Gospels, then continues with thanksgiving, the Eucharist, while the deacons assist him in the distribution of Holy Communion. Therefore, the Second Vatican Council emphasized the unity of priestly ministry in the Word of God, in the Sacraments, and in the governance of the Church. By virtue of the Sacrament of Orders, bishops and priests are configured “to Christ, the eternal high priest, to proclaim the Gospel, to shepherd the faithful, and to celebrate divine worship” (Lumen gentium).
Priestly powers cannot be arbitrarily divided or entrusted externally in a functionalist manner, unless one denies, in a Protestant manner, sacramental priesthood, reducing it entirely to the common priesthood of all the faithful and allowing it to subsist only as a function entrusted by the community. Those who so enjoy protesting in Germany should not only reconsider their relationship with the Petrine ministry of the Pope, but also address the foundations of Catholic theology, instead of continuing to corner the Church in Germany with their resentful ideologies and their claims to power.
The “miracle” of Leo XIV in Spain.
It is the title of an article by Alex Rosal. “The seven minutes of applause for Pope Leo XIV from the deputies and senators in Congress are not easy to explain. Why do many of those politicians who freely criticize the Church and the Catholic religion whenever a microphone appears now applaud the Vicar of Christ on earth so enthusiastically? What has happened for those public representatives who proudly denigrated everything Christian in public now to pay homage to Leo XIV? It is possible that those long rounds of applause were the gesture indicating a change of era. That the old is dying, and the new is being born. And to this new stage, which we do not yet quite know what to call, for the moment we welcome it.”
“Possibly the humility of Leo XIV, who does not wish to impose but to offer the truth, together with that ‘Catholic turn’ that can be felt in the atmosphere and is spreading, and which every good politician worth his salt seeks to catch in order to ride the wave of new trends, has favored this ‘capitulation’ before the Pope.”
“Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
Enjoy your reading.
Il Papa a Lampedusa: “Sarà come una carezza di Dio”