No Unity, No Faith: Leo XIV Introduces His Ecumenical Super-Church

Prevost tries to reduce Catholic dogma to Nicene Creed…

No Unity, No Faith:
Leo XIV Introduces His Ecumenical Super-Church

In our prior post on ‘Pope’ Leo XIV’s newly-released ‘apostolic letter’ on the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, In Unitate Fidei, we provided a critical examination of much of its content:

• No Unity of Faith: Leo XIV Releases ‘Apostolic Letter’ Filled with Ecumenical Bilge and Other Errors

In the last article of this pseudo-magisterial document, n. 12, the false pope speaks of the “ecumenical value” of Nicea. It is this we will now take a closer look at:

Finally, the Council of Nicaea is relevant today because of its great ecumenical value. Indeed, the achievement of unity among all Christians was one of the main objectives of the last Council, the Second Vatican Council. Exactly thirty years ago, Saint John Paul II further promoted this conciliar message in his Encyclical Ut Unum Sint (25 May 1995). In this way, together with the great anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, we also celebrate the anniversary of the first ecumenical Encyclical. It can be considered a manifesto that brought up to date the same ecumenical foundations laid down by the Council of Nicaea.

Perhaps Robert Prevost (Leo XIV) does not understand that the word ‘ecumenical’ in the phrase ‘ecumenical council’ has a very different meaning from the term ‘ecumenical’ in the phrase ‘ecumenical movement’:

Ecumenical Councils are those to which the bishops, and others entitled to vote, are convoked from the whole world (oikoumene) under the presidency of the pope or his legates, and the decrees of which, having received papal confirmation, bind all Christians. A council, Ecumenical in its convocation, may fail to secure the approbation of the whole Church or of the pope, and thus not rank in authority with Ecumenical councils. Such was the case with the Robber Synod of 449 (Latrocinium Ephesinum), the Synod of Pisa in 1409, and in part with the Councils of Constance and Basle.

(Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. “General Councils”; underlining added.)

Stated simply, an ecumenical council is a council by and for the whole Church, whose teachings and decrees have been approved by the Pope. The term ‘ecumenical’ here basically signifies that it concerns the whole Church and not just a part.

With regard to the modern ecumenical movement, the word ‘ecumenical’ simply means ‘pertaining to ecumenism’, concerning which the false Second Vatican Council (1962-65) said: “The term ‘ecumenical movement’ indicates the initiatives and activities planned and undertaken, according to the various needs of the Church and as opportunities offer, to promote Christian unity” (Decree Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 4).

Pope Pius XII had made clear in 1949 that there is only one legitimate way to “promote Christian unity” when he insisted that “by no means is it permitted to pass over in silence or to veil in ambiguous terms the Catholic truth regarding … the only true union by the return of the dissidents to the one true Church of Christ” (Instruction Ecclesia Catholica, n. II). It was this clear perennial Catholic teaching — that the Catholic Church alone is the true Church founded by Jesus Christ, and all men must be joined to her if they wish to be saved — that was overturned at Vatican II.

Whatever may have been unclear about ecumenism in the documents of Vatican II has since been clarified in one way or another by six decades of the post-conciliar magisterium, most notably John Paul II’s Ut Unum Sint, as mentioned by Leo, but also very much by the 1983 Code of Canon Law and by the 1993 Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism. All of these taken together leave absolutely no doubt that the ecumenism the post-Catholic Vatican has embraced, imposed, taught, and legislated is diametrically opposed to the pre-Vatican II teaching, subverts Catholic dogma, and is wholly incompatible with the timeless Catholic doctrine on the Church and religious unity:

• Vatican celebrates 60 Years of Ecumenism: How it Contradicts Catholic Doctrine
• The Vatican and the Ecumenical Movement: From Stern Condemnation to Enthusiastic Approval
• No False Unity: Cardinal Stritch’s Rebuff of the Ecumenical Movement

Returning now to the text of Leo XIV’s In Unitate Fidei, n. 12:

Thanks to God, the ecumenical movement has achieved much in the last sixty years. It is true that full visible unity with the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches and with the ecclesial communities born of the Reformation has not yet been reached. Nevertheless, ecumenical dialogue, founded on one baptism and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, has led us to recognize the members of other Churches and ecclesial communities as our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, and to rediscover the one universal community of Christ’s disciples throughout the world. We share the same faith in the one and only God, the Father of all people; we confess together the one Lord and true Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the one Holy Spirit, who inspires us and impels us towards full unity and the common witness to the Gospel. Truly, what unites us is much greater than what divides us! In a world that is divided and torn apart by many conflicts, the one universal Christian community can be a sign of peace and an instrument of reconciliation, playing a decisive role in the global commitment to peace. Saint John Paul II reminded us, in particular, of the witness of the many Christian martyrs from all Churches and ecclesial communities: their memory unites us and spurs us on to be witnesses and peacemakers in the world.

The only thing the ecumenical movement has definitely achieved is, it has ensured the rapid spread of the heresies of Indifferentism and Latitudinarianism, the view that it does not really matter what religion (or at least what ‘Christian denomination’) one belongs to because one can be saved in any of them.

Aside from that, let’s recall ‘Cardinal’ Kurt Koch’s lament, expressed in 2017, that the various parties at the ecumenical table cannot even agree on the goal of ecumenism:

• Vatican Chief Ecumenist laments: No Consensus even on Goal of Ecumenism!

Of course they all want to “promote Christian unity”, but what exactly that is and how the final product should look, that too is a matter of disagreement for them. The only thing they certainly agree on is that the goal is not the conversion of the non-Catholics to Catholicism. How ironic!

In recent weeks Leo XIV has left no doubt of his support for, and endorsement of, the entire ecumenical program of Vatican II and the post-conciliar magisterium. Especially with his praise of the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate, which launched a kind of ‘ecumenism’ with Jews, Mohammedans, and pagans, Prevost made absolutely clear where he stands:

• Leo XIV Spews Ecumenical Bilge in Message Commemorating 1925 Stockholm Ecumenical Conference
• Sixty Years of Vatican II’s Declaration on Non-Christian Religions: A Reality Check on Nostra Aetate
• Leo XIV Backs 1986 Assisi Prayer Meeting, Abu Dhabi Declaration in Message to Interreligious Conference

In any case, as quoted above, in In Unitate Fidei Leo XIV claims that ecumenical dialogue has led them “to rediscover the one universal community of Christ’s disciples throughout the world.” What sort of community is this? Is it the Church founded by Christ? If not, what other association of the ‘disciples of Christ’ is there in the world, and who founded it? What is its purpose? What spirit animates it?

A little further on, Leo repeats the ecumenical mantra that, it seems, is obligatory to mention in every single speech or document on the topic: “Truly, what unites us is much greater than what divides us!” But is that so? Certainly not, for Catholics and heretics are divided in Faith, in worship, and in government. There is nothing greater than these that could possibly unite them. Regardless, Pope Pius XII had warned the world’s Catholic bishops to

…be on guard lest, on the false pretext that more attention should be paid to the points on which we agree than to those on which we differ, a dangerous indifferentism be encouraged, especially among persons whose training in theology is not deep and whose practice of their faith is not very strong.

(Instruction Ecclesia Catholica, n. II)

How prophetic of a warning — if only it had been heeded!

Again Leo mentions that “one universal Christian community”. Clearly, Mr. Prevost is trying instill in the minds of his readers the idea that there is a church that is even more universal than the Catholic Church, an ecumenical ‘super-church’ that encompasses all those who claim to adhere to the Faith of Nicea I and Constantinople I. (Apparently, the subsequent councils are optional — except for Vatican II perhaps?)

Not surprisingly, this ecumenical super-church also has its own saints and martyrs: “Saint John Paul II reminded us, in particular, of the witness of the many Christian martyrs from all Churches and ecclesial communities….” How diametrically opposed this is to Catholic dogma can hardly be overstated:

[This council] firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart “into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels” [Mt 25:41], unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fastings, almsgiving, and other functions of piety and exercises of Christian service produce eternal reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.

(Council of Florence, Bull Cantate Domino; Denz. 714.)

We might add that the Council of Florence was an ecumenical council ratified by Pope Eugene IV in 1442.

Back in September of this year, Leo XIV presided over an ecumenical liturgy commemorating “the Martyrs and Witnesses of the Faith of the 21st century”. We gave this tragicomic farce a well-deserved spanking here:

• Knowing When to Swallow: Leo XIV Omits Controversial Line in Common Recitation of ‘Ecumenical’ Creed

Next in his false ‘apostolic letter’ In Unitate Fidei, Prevost writes:

In order to carry out this ministry credibly, we must walk together to reach unity and reconciliation among all Christians. The Nicene Creed can be the basis and reference point for this journey. It offers us a model of true unity in legitimate diversity. Unity in the Trinity, Trinity in Unity, because unity without multiplicity is tyranny, multiplicity without unity is fragmentation. The Trinitarian dynamic is not a dualistic and exclusive “either/or,” but rather a decisive bond, “both/and.”

What does one say in the face of such rubbish?

In the Church founded by Jesus Christ, there is one visible principle of unity, and that is the Pope:

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? The wisdom of the Divine Lawgiver ordered that a visible head be placed over a visible body so that “once so established, the opportunity for division might be removed.” Wherefore, although for all the bishops whom the Holy Spirit placed as governors of the Church of God there is a common dignity and in matters of rank there is nevertheless equal power, there is not the same rank in the hierarchy for all and they do not all have the same extent of jurisdiction.

Using the words of St. Leo the Great; “Among the holy apostles there was a similarity of honor but a distinction of power: while the election of all was equal, it was given only to one to have preeminence among the others … because the Lord wanted the sacrament of evangelical duty to belong to the office of the apostles; thus He placed it principally in St. Peter, the head of all the apostles.” He granted this to Peter alone out of all the apostles when He promised him the keys of the kingdom of heaven and entrusted to him the obligation of feeding the Lord’s sheep and lambs and the duty of strengthening his brothers. He wanted this to extend to Peter’s successors whom He placed over the Church with equal right. This has always been the firm and united opinion of all Catholics. It is Church dogma that the pope, the successor of St. Peter, possesses not only primacy of honor but also primacy of authority and jurisdiction over the whole Church. Accordingly the bishops are subject to him.

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

The false pope Leo XIV continues:

The Holy Spirit is the bond of unity whom we worship together with the Father and the Son. We must therefore leave behind theological controversies that have lost their raison d’être [reason for being] in order to develop a common understanding and even more, a common prayer to the Holy Spirit, so that he may gather us all together in one faith and one love.

(underlining added)

So Prevost thinks we must “leave behind theological controversies” that are no longer relevant in our day! And which ones would these be? He is clever enough not to mention any. However, given the immediate context of his remarks (the Holy Trinity) as well as his conspicuous failure to mention the Filioque controversy, it is quite probable that he means to include the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son (which is denied by the Eastern Orthodox) among ‘outdated’ theological disputes.

Theological controversies that constitute obstacles to ecumenism typically concern matters of Faith, and so it is absurd to suggest that such disagreements could ever become outdated or irrelevant. At this point, however, perhaps Prevost is sensing that the endless ecumenical discussions are a futile endeavor, and if they ever want to get anywhere, they will have to simply drop a number of disagreements. Under Leo’s proposal, they could do that by declaring them to be irrelevant and therefore as no longer being obstacles to ‘Christian unity’.

It was Pope Leo XIII — a real Pope Leo — who warned: “There can be nothing more dangerous than those heretics who admit nearly the whole cycle of doctrine, and yet by one word, as with a drop of poison, infect the real and simple faith taught by our Lord and handed down by Apostolic tradition” (Encyclical Satis Cognitum, n. 9). And it was Pope Clement XIII who observed: “Meanwhile the matter is such that diabolical error, when it has artfully colored its lies, easily clothes itself in the likeness of truth while very brief additions or changes corrupt the meaning of expressions; and confession, which usually works salvation, sometimes, with a slight change, inches toward death” (Encyclical In Dominico Agro, n. 2).

Furthermore, in the 1949 Holy Office document already mentioned, Pope Pius XII insisted:

Therefore the <whole> and <entire> Catholic doctrine is to be presented and explained: by no means is it permitted to pass over in silence or to veil in ambiguous terms the Catholic truth regarding the nature and way of justification, the constitution of the Church, the primacy of jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff, and the only true union by the return of the dissidents to the one true Church of Christ. … It will be necessary to say these things clearly and openly, first because it is the truth that they themselves are seeking, and moreover because outside the truth no true union can ever be attained.

(Instruction Ecclesia Catholica, n. II; underlining added.)

So much for dismissing unresolved doctrinal disputes as outdated!

Returning to In Unitate Fidei, the fake pope Leo XIV makes a candid admission:

This does not imply an ecumenism that attempts to return to the state prior to the divisions, nor is it a mutual recognition of the current status quo of the diversity of Churches and ecclesial communities. Rather, it is an ecumenism that looks to the future, that seeks reconciliation through dialogue as we share our gifts and spiritual heritage.

Here Prevost makes clear that he is not interested in bringing the non-Catholic sects into the Catholic Church by convincing them of their errors and joining the only true Church. This comes as no surprise to those who have been paying attention, but it will be important to point this out to those who labor under the illusion that all ecumenical activity ultimately aims at the conversion of the non-Catholic ‘Christians’ to the Roman Catholic Church. It most certainly does not!

Leo XIV then ends his portentous apostolic letter with a frightful prayer to the Holy Ghost, which treats the heretics as if they were believers and the Catholics as if they were not already part of the one flock of Christ.

Prevost’s In Unitate Fidei is a sickening document that ensures that all those involved in ecumenism will have neither unity nor Faith.

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