A Very Different Church: Leo XIV and the ‘Week of Prayer for Christian Unity’

Blatant heresy in Vatican’s material for ecumenical prayer week…

A Very Different Church:
Leo XIV and the ‘Week of Prayer for Christian Unity’

It’s that time of the year again: The annual so-called “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” is right around the corner (Jan. 18-25), which is an ecumenicized version of the traditional Catholic “Chair of Unity Octave”, which was approved by Pope St. Pius X in 1909 and extended to the Universal Church by Pope Benedict XV in 1916. An octave is an observance of eight days, and it is called “Chair of Unity” in reference to the Chair of St. Peter, whose feast is celebrated on Jan. 18.

The idea behind the traditional Chair of Unity Octave was to pray for the conversion of heretics and schismatics, that they would return to unity with the Catholic Church by abandoning their errors and submitting to the Apostolic See, the Chair of St. Peter, which is the principle of the Church’s unity: “St. Cyprian also says of the Roman Church, that ‘it is the root and mother of the Catholic Church, the chair of Peter, and the principal Church whence sacerdotal unity has its source'” (Pope  Leo XIII, Encyclical Satis Cognitum, n. 13). A most worthy endeavor indeed!

After the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and its heretical or quasi-heretical teachings on the nature and unity of the Church, as well as its endorsement of ecumenism, the Chair of Unity Octave was altered to become the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. No longer is the goal the conversion of baptized non-Catholics to Catholicism; now it’s all about the attainment of ‘full Christian unity’ between all the baptized who profess to be followers of Christ in some way other than conversion to Catholicism. Exactly what kind of unity they envision is itself a matter of dispute: The parties involved in the endless dialogues cannot even agree on the precise goal of all their talking!

What they do all agree on, however, is that the unity being sought after is not Catholic unity, is not a unity brought about by non-Catholics becoming Catholic and submitting to the Pope. This has been confirmed by the Novus Ordo Church’s highest authorities even.

In his 1995 encyclical Ut Unum Sint, n. 60, for example, the false pope John Paul II referred approvingly to the so-called Balamand Declaration of 1993, which rejects “the outdated ecclesiology of return to the Catholic Church” (“Uniatism, method of union of the past, and the present search for full communion”, n. 30).

Or take the erstwhile head of the Vatican’s ecumenism department (then called the Council for Promoting Christian Unity), ‘Cardinal’ Walter Kasper. On Feb. 26, 2001, the Italian Novus Ordo news site Adista quoted him as saying: “Today, we no longer understand ecumenism in the sense of a return, by which the others would ‘be converted’ and return to being ‘Catholics.’ This was expressly abandoned by Vatican II” (quoted in Paul Kokoski, “The New Evangelization: Quo Vadis?”, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Sep. 20, 2012). Indeed it was. The false pontificate of ‘Pope’ Francis was filled with repudiations of converting people to Catholicism.

During World Youth Day 2005 in the Land of Luther, the false pope Benedict XVI declared concerning the unity aimed at by ecumenical efforts that “this unity does not mean what could be called ecumenism of the return: that is, to deny and to reject one’s own faith history. Absolutely not!”. In his Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia in 2012, Benedict frankly admitted that ecumenical “dialogue does not aim at conversion, but at better mutual understanding” — before seeking refuge behind the ubiquitous Modernist “but” and then losing himself in gobbledygook about “drawing closer to the truth” while rushing to assure his audience that Catholics “do not possess the truth, the truth possesses us”.

And so we see that not only do the non-Catholic partners-in-dialogue at the grand ecumenical table not want to convert to Catholicism, the official ‘Catholics’ don’t want them to, either! How ironic — and quite telling — that the different parties’ only point of perfect and perpetual agreement lies in their rejection of the true Catholic position!

This year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is the first under Robert Prevost, ‘Pope Leo XIV’. But although a new false pope may be in charge in Rome, the ecumenical program isn’t changing. On the contrary, it stands in perfect continuity with all the Vatican II junk that has preceded since the 1960s.

In that regard, it is worthwhile to peruse the materials released by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity for the 2026 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The official theme chosen for this year is: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (Eph 4:4), as the Novus Ordo translation puts it. The traditional Douay-Rheims Bible renders this verse very similarly: “One body and one Spirit; as you are called in one hope of your calling.”

A news article released by OSV News reports on the 2026 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity materials by summarizing: “For Pope Leo XIV, Christian unity is not just an ideal, but an imperative.”

For Catholics, by contrast, Christian unity is neither an ideal nor an imperative; it is necessarily a fact and more than a fact.

How so?

This is where perennial Catholic teaching comes in. All Christians, in the proper sense of the term, are necessarily united under the Pope in the one and only true Church of Christ, the Roman Catholic Church. That is so because Christ endowed His Church with the mark of unity, which she cannot lose. After all, in the Creed we profess belief in “one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church”.

The Church is one by her very nature, and this means all her members are united in the profession of the same Faith, in the carrying out of the same true worship, and ruled by the same hierarchical government. All who wish to follow Christ and be united to Him and His other followers, then, must necessarily join this one and only Catholic Church — if unable to do so in fact, at least in desire:

If each of you in the light of faith, meditates within himself on these truths in tranquility of mind before his crucifix, it will be easy for him to see that the outcome of slogans such as you have heard can be nothing else than, by separating you from the Roman Pontiff and the Bishops in communion with him, to separate you from the Catholic Church in its entirety, and consequently you will cease to have her for a Mother. For how could the Church be your Mother, unless your fathers are the shepherds of the Church, that is to say, the Bishops? And how can you boast of the title of Catholic if, separated from the center of Catholicity, that is to say, from this Apostolic and Holy See and from the Sovereign Pontiff in whom God has placed the source of unity, you break with Catholic unity? The Catholic Church is one, she is neither broken nor divided: therefore, your [sect called] “petite eglise” cannot in any sense belong to the Catholic Church.

(Pope Leo XII, Apostolic Exhortation Pastoris Aeterni, n. 4; translation from Papal Teachings: The Church, n. 149.)

Jesus Christ conferred on His Church the supreme power of administering religion and governing Christian society. This is not subject to the civil authority. In his letter to the Ephesians the apostle teaches that Christ established this ecclesiastical power for the benefit of unity. And what is this unity unless one person is placed in charge of the whole Church who protects it and joins all its members in the one profession of faith and unites them in the one bond of love and communion?

(Pope Gregory XVI, Encyclical Commissum Divinitus, n. 10)

There is only one true, holy, Catholic church, which is the Apostolic Roman Church. There is only one See founded in Peter by the word of the Lord, outside of which we cannot find either true faith or eternal salvation. He who does not have the Church for a mother cannot have God for a father, and whoever abandons the See of Peter on which the Church is established trusts falsely that he is in the Church.

(Pope Pius IX, Encyclical Singulari Quidem, n. 4)

And, indeed, there is one true and holy religion on the earth founded and established by Christ the Lord Himself. It is called Catholic, Apostolic, Roman by name, the fruitful and nurturing parent of all virtues, the expeller of vices, and the liberator of souls, the touchstone of true happiness.

(Pope Pius IX, Allocution Iamdudum Cernimus)

Our most beloved Redeemer, Christ the Lord, willed as you well know, venerable brothers, to deliver all men from the captivity of the devil, free them from the yoke of sin, call them from darkness into his wonderful light and be their salvation. When he had blotted out the handwriting of the decree against us, fastening it to the cross, he formed and established the Catholic Church, won by his blood, as the one “Church of the living God” [1 Tim 3:15], the one “kingdom of heaven” [Mt 13:45], “the city set on a hill” [Mt 5:14], “one flock” [Jn 10:16], and “one body”, steadfast and alive with “one Spirit” [Eph 4:4], one faith, one hope, one love joined and firmly held together by the same bonds of sacraments, religion and doctrine. He further provided his Church with leaders whom he chose and called. In addition, he decreed that the Church will endure as long as the world, embrace all peoples and nations of the whole world, and that whoever accepts his divine religion and grace and perseveres to the end will attain the glory of eternal salvation.

(Pope Pius IX, Encyclical Amantissimus, n. 1)

The true Church of Jesus Christ is constituted and recognised as such by those four ‘notes,’ belief in which is asserted in the Creed, each note being so linked with the rest as to be incapable of separation. Hence, the Church Catholic, truly so called, must be luminous with all the high attributes of unity, sanctity, and apostolical succession. The Catholic Church therefore is One, in the manifest and perfect unity of all nations of the world; that is, the unity of which the supreme authority and more eminent principality of blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and his successors in the Roman See is the principle, the root, and indefectible origin. She is no other than that Church which, built on Peter alone, grows up into one body knit together and compacted in unity of faith and charity; which blessed Cyprian in his 45th Epistle heartily acknowledged, where he addresses Pope Cornelius: ‘that our colleagues may firmly approve and hold to thee and thy communion — that is, alike to the unity and charity of the Catholic Church.’ It was the assertion of this same truth that Pope Hormisdas required of the bishops who abjured the schism of Acacius, in the formula approved by the suffrage of all Christian antiquity, in which they ‘who agree not in all things with the Apostolic See’ are said to be ‘put forth from the communion of the Church Catholic.’ So far from its being possible that communions separate from the Roman See can be rightly called or reputed Catholic, their very separation and disagreement is the mark by which to know those communities and Christians that hold neither the true faith, nor the true doctrine of Christ, as Irenaeus (lib. iii. contra Haeres. c. 3) most clearly showed as early as the second century. Let the faithful, then, jealously beware of joining those societies to which they cannot unite themselves and yet keep their faith unimpaired; and listen to S. Augustine, who teaches that there can be neither truth nor piety where Christian unity and the charity of the Holy Spirit are absent.

(Holy Office under Pope Pius IX, Letter to English Bishops, Sep. 16, 1864)

Now, whoever will carefully examine and reflect upon the condition of the various religious societies, divided among themselves, and separated from the Catholic Church, which, from the days of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles has never ceased to exercise, by its lawful pastors, and still continues to exercise, the divine power committed to it by this same Lord; cannot fail to satisfy himself that neither any one of these societies by itself, nor all of them together, can in any manner constitute and be that One Catholic Church which Christ our Lord built, and established, and willed should continue; and that they cannot in any way be said to be branches or parts of that Church, since they are visibly cut off from Catholic unity. For, whereas such societies are destitute of that living authority established by God, which especially teaches men what is of Faith, and what the rule of morals, and directs and guides them in all those things which pertain to eternal salvation, so they have continually varied in their doctrines, and this change and variation is ceaselessly going on among them. Every one must perfectly understand, and clearly and evidently see, that such a state of things is directly opposed to the nature of the Church instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ; for in that Church truth must always continue firm and ever inaccessible to all change, as a deposit given to that Church to be guarded in its integrity, for the guardianship of which the presence and aid of the Holy Ghost have been promised to the Church for ever.

(Pope Pius IX, Apostolic Letter Iam Vos Omnes)

For since the mystical body of Christ, in the same manner as His physical body, is one, compacted and fitly joined together, it were foolish and out of place to say that the mystical body is made up of members which are disunited and scattered abroad: whosoever therefore is not united with the body is no member of it, neither is he in communion with Christ its head.

(Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Mortalium Animos, n. 10)

Magisterial quotations regarding the unity of the Church could be multiplied almost without end, but we will stop here.

How badly Vatican II and the post-conciliar magisterium deny/distort these truths of the Church’s nature and unity can be seen very vividly in the 38-page PDF file just published by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. It is entitled “Resources for THE WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY and throughout the year 2026”.

Here are some quotations from the “Introduction to the Theme for the Year 2026”, found on pages 8-10, followed by our rating and some brief comments of our own:

• “Unity is a divine mandate at the core of our Christian identity, more than simply an ideal.” –FALSE. Unity is an essential characteristic of the one and only Church founded by Jesus Christ, such that if one were to break this unity, one would by that fact cease to be a true Christian. Christian unity, then, is not simply a command to be followed but a note of the Church to be recognized. All those who desire to be united to Christ can only partake of this unity by becoming Catholics.
• “The foundational command of Jesus to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34 35) reinforces that this love is the essence of our unity.” –FALSE. The essence of Christian unity consists in all members of Christ’s Church professing the same Faith, submitting to the same hierarchy under the Pope, and participating in the same sacraments.
• “Recognizing that we are part of one universal Body in Christ encourages global collaboration in spreading His gospel and serving humanity, shifting the focus from internal divisions to a collective mission.” –FALSE. Heretics and schismatics by definition are not part of the Body of Christ, because “the Mystical Body of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church are one and the same thing” (Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Humani Generis, n. 27). There can be no “collective mission” to spread the Gospel because heretics do not believe in, nor teach, the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, nor did Christ or the Apostles give the mandate to teach the Gospel to heretics or schismatics (cf. Acts 15:24).
• “The Holy Spirit is the source of spiritual life and guidance among believers, ensuring that the diverse members of the Church are together in faith and purpose. The Spirit fosters a deep, spiritual connection between believers, transcending differences and creating a bond that reflects the unity of the Holy Trinity. This shared spiritual bond is a basis for reconciliation, guiding believers globally and equipping them for effective witness and ministry. This global guidance helps align diverse expressions of faith with the core mission of the Church.” –FALSE and BLASPHEMOUS because it treats heretics as “believers” when by definition they are unbelievers: “Such is the nature of Catholicism that it does not admit of more or less, but must be held as a whole or as a whole rejected” (Pope Benedict XV, Encyclical Ad Beatissimi, n. 24). There is no spiritual bond between Catholics and non-Catholics, and to call the existence of such a bond the work of the Holy Ghost is blasphemy. False doctrines, especially heresy, constitute a distortion or denial of the Christian Faith; they are not alternate “expressions” of it.
• “This shared vision bridges confessional and cultural divides, encouraging Christians to work together in every way they can. Making ‘shared hope’ the objective of our calling as Christians defines our membership in the Church in terms of worldwide fellowship in the hope of salvation and eternal life.” –FALSE. This statement implies that heretics and schismatics are also members of the Church and that they have reason for hope of eternal life, an idea condemned by the Council of Florence (see Denz. 714) and the 1864 Syllabus of Errors (see Denz. 1717).
• “In a world with diverse and often divided traditions and expressions of Christian faith, Ephesians 4:4 reminds us that all believers are part of the ‘one body’ of Christ. This unity is not about uniformity but a common commitment to the core truths of the Christian faith.” –FALSE. There can be no “divided traditions and expressions of Christian faith”, since a deviation from the defined meaning of a dogma constitutes a denial thereof (see Denz. 1800, 1818). Again it is being claimed, falsely, that heretics are “believers” and therefore part of the Body of Christ. All dogmas constitute the Christian Faith; there are no ‘secondary’ dogmas that one could deny while still being committed to the Faith in its “core truths”.
• “Through its practices and teachings, the Armenian Apostolic Church offers us a profound reflection on the essence of unity within the universal Body of Christ, not merely as a concept but as a living and breathing reality.” –IMPOSSIBLE. The schismatic and heretical so-called ‘Armenian Apostolic Church’ has no communion with the Body of Christ and hence isn’t “living and breathing” unity; nor does it have a mandate from Christ to teach anything to anyone.
• “Let us embrace this divine calling to unity, not as an abstract ideal but as a vital expression of our faith. In a world where the Body of Christ is wounded by divisions within and between traditions and confessions, the Apostle’s call to unity is addressed to each of us.” –FALSE. The Body of Christ by its very nature professes one and the same Faith; it is not divided in Faith or government. The very fact that the Vatican’s ecumenical material is urging people to “embrace this divine calling to unity” shows they are not united. But since the Church founded by Christ is necessarily united, this demonstrates that these different factions gathered around the ecumenical table do not and could not possibly constitute the Body of Christ.

The heresy and other doctrinal error in this “Introduction” is blatant and extremely pernicious. It is obviously diametrically opposed to the timeless Catholic teaching on the nature and unity of the one and only Church founded by Jesus Christ, the Roman Catholic Church.

In his 1928 encyclical on true religious unity, Pope Pius XI hit the nail on the head when he wrote:

And here it seems opportune to expound and to refute a certain false opinion, on which this whole question, as well as that complex movement by which non-Catholics seek to bring about the union of the Christian churches depends. For authors who favor this view are accustomed, times almost without number, to bring forward these words of Christ: “That they all may be one…. And there shall be one fold and one shepherd” [John 17:21; 10:16], with this signification however: that Christ Jesus merely expressed a desire and prayer, which still lacks its fulfillment. For they are of the opinion that the unity of faith and government, which is a note of the one true Church of Christ, has hardly up to the present time existed, and does not to-day exist. They consider that this unity may indeed be desired and that it may even be one day attained through the instrumentality of wills directed to a common end, but that meanwhile it can only be regarded as mere ideal. They add that the Church in itself, or of its nature, is divided into sections; that is to say, that it is made up of several churches or distinct communities, which still remain separate, and although having certain articles of doctrine in common, nevertheless disagree concerning the remainder; that these all enjoy the same rights; and that the Church was one and unique from, at the most, the apostolic age until the first Ecumenical Councils. Controversies therefore, they say, and longstanding differences of opinion which keep asunder till the present day the members of the Christian family, must be entirely put aside, and from the remaining doctrines a common form of faith drawn up and proposed for belief, and in the profession of which all may not only know but feel that they are brothers. The manifold churches or communities, if united in some kind of universal federation, would then be in a position to oppose strongly and with success the progress of irreligion.

(Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Mortalium Animos, n. 7)

Lastly, for all those Vatican II enthusiasts who believe that “the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using [Protestant sects] as means of salvation” (Vatican II, Decree Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 3), let’s recall what the universal Roman Catechism of Pope St. Pius V says about that:

That all, therefore, might know which was the Catholic Church, the Fathers, guided by the Spirit of God, added to the Creed the word Apostolic. For the Holy Ghost, who presides over the Church, governs her by no other ministers than those of Apostolic succession. This Spirit, first imparted to the Apostles, has by the infinite goodness of God always continued in the Church. And just as this one Church cannot err in faith or morals, since it is guided by the Holy Ghost; so, on the contrary, all other societies arrogating to themselves the name of church, must necessarily, because guided by the spirit of the devil, be sunk in the most pernicious errors, both doctrinal and moral.

(Catechism of the Council of Trent for Parish Priests, trans. by Fathers John A. McHugh and Charles J. Callan, 2nd rev. ed. [New York, NY: Joseph F. Wagner, Inc., 1923], p. 107; italics given; underlining added.)

During his opening speech for the extraordinary consistory on Jan. 7, 2026, Leo XIV stated something related that is extremely grave, yet it did not get much attention in the press or on social media. His Phoniness declared nonchalantly: “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.”

Not only does the fake pope here deny the Catholic Church’s power to attract converts (which is obviously derived from Christ, who is the invisible Head of this Church); by trying to shift the power of attraction away from the Church and onto Christ, Prevost is able to suggest that Christ operates also by means of false churches (i.e. heretical sects or, in Vatican II Speak, “Christian/ecclesial communities”), which is a blasphemy.

For more information about Leo XIV’s errors in his Jan. 7 consistorial address, see our latest podcast episode, TRADCAST EXPRESS 220:

.
Don’t let Leo XIV’s gentle and pleasant personality fool you — it’s still the same hellish anti-Catholic doctrine being proclaimed. Coming from a friendly face only makes it all the more dangerous.

Image source: Shutterstock (paul saad)
License: paid