Bishop of Antwerp slates opera production with lesbian nuns on roller skates

The Bishop of Antwerp Johan Bonny has criticised opera production “Sancta,” calling it inappropriate to “grotesquely trample on Christianity.” 

In “Sancta,” lesbian nuns on roller skates are shown walking to church naked.

Several young Roman Catholics brought the performance to the attention of the Bishop of Antwerp Johan Bonny, who published an opinion piece in Flemish daily De Standaard on Wednesday. In it, he said it was “grotesque to trample on Christianity.”

Speaking on VRT TV he added: “Young people, who mean well, let me know that they wanted to protest against the performance. I then looked at the images the organisation is using to promote the show and decided that their protest is justified.”

“I have nothing against naked women floating through the air. What matters to me is the identification with religious life. The actresses are all wearing nun’s veils, which makes it clear that it is a religious community offering the spectacle,” explains Bonny.

“If any group can laugh, it’s Christians and Catholics. When it comes to nudity, go to the cathedral. There’s been more than enough of that hanging there since Rubens’s time. We do have a sense of humour; this is about respect for people.”

“All these elderly nuns won’t react; they can’t go out onto the streets anymore, but it’s too easy to make money and sell a show at their expense.”

The Bishop of Antwerp misses a logic in the protection of religious beliefs: "The Jewish community here in Antwerp is sent police and the army to combat the slightest hint of possible anti-Semitism. For the Muslim community, extreme vigilance is exercised to ensure Ramadan proceeds peacefully. And rightly so; we support that as well. But psychological mockery is also a form of violence,” Bonny concludes.

Let’s not fall into a witch hunt

Jan Vandenhouwe, artistic director of the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, refutes the bishop’s comments. “We shouldn’t exaggerate the situation either. We’ve now received about 10 emails, all from the same source: a student association that was also active in Germany regarding this production. It’s an ultra-conservative Catholic movement that staged a pro-life protest in front of our building just a few months ago.”

He believes that the Catholic Church is not deliberately targeted in the performance. 

“The visual language of the Catholic faith has shaped our Western art history. When you visit museums and churches, you see those images of the Descent from the Cross, violence, and blood as well. It is those images with which Holzinger (the Austrian choreographer) engages in dialogue.”

Above all, Vandenhouwe does not want society to fall back into “a kind of witch hunt against art that is critical or feminist, or that touches on difficult themes.”

And Bishop Bonny is always welcome to come and see the performance, says the artistic director. “We’ll save a seat for him; I’d love to talk with him afterwards.”

Bonny thanks him politely: “I won’t be attending out of respect for my dignity. My thoughts this week are with the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, and all the people who are going through that in the world today.”

Survivors claim Spanish Jesuits used Bolivia as ‘dumping ground’ for paedophile priests

Abuse survivors in Bolivia claimed the Society of Jesus in Catalonia used the country as a “dumping ground” for paedophile priests. 

The Bolivian Survivors’ Community (CBS) requested that the Catalan ombudsman and parliament investigate alleged cases of abuse involving approximately 1,000 victims and about 20 Jesuits. 

Some had criminal records or complaints regarding their suspected abuse at schools in Spain before they were sent to the “missions” in Bolivia. 

Alejandro Klock, legal representative in Spain for the CBS, told the EFE news agency that the Tarraconense (Catalan) Province was the “mother province” for the Jesuits’ Bolivian mission. 

“They created a criminal system which was perpetuated for 69 years and still has not been overcome today,” he said. 

Most of the Jesuits accused of abuse are now dead, including Alfonso Pedrajas, who left a diary – published in the Spanish daily El Pais in 2023 – detailing his abuse of children while he was headteacher of a school in the Cochabamba region of central Bolivia. 

A second Jesuit, Lucho Roma abused 70 indigenous girls between 1994 and 2005. 

A report from the CBS stated that the Tarraconense Province “had not only administrative, hierarchical and financial control over every level of the mission in Bolivia, it completely dominated it at every level”. 

It said the Catalan Jesuits had the authority to “transfer priests with criminal records for sexual abuse” to Bolivia, which became “a dumping ground for paedophiles”. 

“The Bolivian mission was used to hide aggressors and distance them from justice in Spain, exposing a vulnerable civil population to new abuses,” it said. 

The CBS asked the Catalan spokesman and parliament for an “institutional response” to “the biggest case of paedophilia in Latin America”.  

Last year Bolivian courts sentenced two Spanish former Jesuit provincials in Bolivia to a year in prison for covering up the abuse.

A paedophile priest conducted my mum’s funeral. It was three decades ago, but the nauseating stench of violation still lingers (Contribution)

It was my mother who ushered me away from childhood sectarian leanings in bigotry-blighted Ballymena during the mid-1970s. 

She was, not surprisingly, an influential role model. 

This is the woman whom I once saw embrace both the Rev Ian Paisley (our family home was next door to his father’s church and backed onto the manse) and Cardinal Cahal Daly (her childhood friend from Loughguile) on the same day.

She brought us up to believe you can be devout within your own particular strand of Christianity, while displaying empathy and respect to those espousing a different one.

Unfortunately for her, any devotion this onetime altar boy had garnered as a kid lapsed long before my teenage years ended, partly fuelled by rumours of paedophilic priests supposedly operating in places far enough away from Ballymena.

One of these cockroaches, however, crawled into our home after my mother’s passing and prior to conducting her funeral.

Obviously we didn’t know it at the time; the trauma came four months later when this debauched, depraved creature — that’s you, Daniel Curran — was charged with indecently assaulting two young boys at his house.

This was followed by similar charges involving nine others aged between 11 and 14, and a subsequent seven-year jail sentence — the first of several convictions as the poisonous, Savile-style drip-feed gamut of Curran’s depravity over several decades emerged.

None of that relatively welcome news removed the psychological stain this deviant left on us but, frankly, it’s nothing in comparison to what Curran’s many victims suffered, and has no doubt continued to haunt them.

There remains, nevertheless, an indelible feeling of violation, even for those like me who wouldn’t think of placing themselves anywhere near the same level of victimhood as those who suffered sexual abuse, yet can still feel duped and maligned by creeps like Curran.

That mephitic dog in a dog collar was in our midst at my family’s most vulnerable time, offering sympathy, piety and prayers for the repose of a decent, respectable, popular and God-fearing woman, even when he was busy wrecking young lives elsewhere.

It’s something I recall with remorse when my mum’s anniversary comes round every November, but it also came to mind last week when reading about how Stephen Mccullagh had been a regular visitor to the shattered home of Natalie Mcnally’s dignified, grieving family, having brutally murdered the 32-year-old.

He inveigled himself into their irreversibly devastated lives, being unwittingly welcomed as the father of pregnant girlfriend Natalie’s child and therefore someone supposedly suffering similar loss and anguish.

By appearing heartbroken, these debased fiends install themselves as victims rather than suspects, with appearances at wakes, vigils and funerals part of their sociopathic, de haut en bas pursuit of control.

As someone with a daughter I love more than life itself, I can only begin to imagine what the McNallys were already going through, without having to subsequently deal with the callous, murdering b ***** d himself hiding in plain sight — and lurking, knowingly, in their house.

These rancid individuals are the dregs of the sewers, and Mccullagh’s hardly the first to prey on a victim’s family for his own depraved ends.

Think, for instance, of the recently deceased Ian Huntley, murderer of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman and who, as school caretaker, engaged with the national media, purporting to be a concerned member of a shocked community, having already disposed of the bodies of his innocent young victims in the most undignified of ways.

Perhaps, in the throes of the brutal and ultimately lethal attack on him in HMP Frankland last month, that scumbag finally grasped the profound meaning in Matthew 26:52: “all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword”.

The UK’S most prolific serial killer, Dr Harold Shipman, took morbid pleasure in exploiting the grief of his victims’ families.

He was an insatiable narcissist who enjoyed playing God, often killing patients before ‘comforting’ their relatives, having insisted on being the one to inform them of the death.

In keeping with that ‘spirit’, police ensured that those bereaved by Shipman’s breathtaking litany of crime were among the first to be told that this cold-blooded impenitent monster had hanged himself in Wakefield Prison.

Daniel Curran wasn’t a murderer, but nevertheless revealed himself to be an arrogant, apathetic, emotionless destroyer of people’s lives.

Those who knew this lowlife described him as a loner who rarely associated with fellow clergy — apart from another notorious paedophile priest, Brendan Smyth — but preferred to regularly feed both his alcohol habit and voracious sexual appetite for vulnerable young boys.

He told police that, due to heavy drinking sessions, he struggled to remember who many of his victims were.

Unfortunately, they will never forget him. Neither did my father, who’d already gone off “Fr Curran” long before my mum’s funeral, following what he saw as the priest’s agitated, apathetic emergency bedside performance of the last rites to his beloved wife of 40 years.

As Dad would later ask: “I’m wondering what other plans he was forced to cancel that night.”

‘Daniel Curran was not a murderer, but was nevertheless a detached destroyer of young lives’

CHRISM MASS - HOMILY OF POPE LEO XIV

 St Peter's Basilica

Holy Thursday, 2 April 2026

_______________________________________

Dear brothers and sisters,

We are now on the threshold of the Easter Triduum. Once again, the Lord will lead us to the culmination of his mission, so that his passion, death and resurrection may become the heart of our mission. What we are about to relive, in fact, possesses the power to transform what human pride generally tends to harden: our identity and our place in the world. Jesus’ freedom changes hearts, heals wounds, refreshes and brightens our faces, reconciles and gathers us together, and forgives and raises us up.

In this, my first year presiding over the Chrism Mass as Bishop of Rome, I would like to reflect with you on the mission to which God calls us as his people. It is the Christian mission, the very same as Jesus’, not another. Each of us takes part in it according to our own vocation in a deeply personal obedience to the voice of the Spirit, yet never without others, never neglecting or breaking communion! Bishops and priests, as we renew our promises, we are at the service of a missionary people. Together with all the baptized, we are the Body of Christ, anointed by his Spirit of freedom and consolation, the Spirit of prophecy and unity.

What Jesus experiences at the culminating moments of his mission is foreshadowed by the passage from Isaiah, which he quoted in the synagogue at Nazareth as the word that is fulfilled “today” (cf. Lk 4:21). Indeed, at the hour of Easter, it becomes definitively clear that God consecrates in order to send.  “He has sent me” (Lk 4:18), says Jesus, describing that movement which binds his Body to the poor, to prisoners, to those groping in the dark and to those who are oppressed. We, as members of his Body, speak of a Church that is “apostolic,” sent out, driven beyond itself, and consecrated to God in the service of his creatures. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (Jn 20:21).

We know that being sent entails, first and foremost, a detachment, that is, the risk of leaving behind what is familiar and certain, in order to venture into something new. It is interesting that “with the power of the Spirit” (Lk 4:14), who descended upon him after his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus returned to Galilee and came “to Nazareth, where he had been brought up” (Lk 4:16).  It is the place he must now leave behind. He moves “as was his custom” (v. 16), but to usher in a new era. He must now leave that village for good, so that what has taken root there, Sabbath after Sabbath, through faithful listening to the word of God, may come to fruition. Likewise, he will call others to set out, to take risks, so that no place becomes a prison, no identity a hiding place.

Dear friends, we follow Jesus who “did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself” (Phil 2:6-7). Every mission begins with that kind of self-emptying in which everything is reborn. Our dignity as sons and daughters of God cannot be taken from us, nor can it be lost, but neither can the affections, places, and experiences at the start of our lives be erased. We are heirs to so much good and, at the same time, to the limitations of a history into which the Gospel must bring light and salvation, forgiveness and healing. Thus, there is no mission without reconciliation with our past, with the gifts and limitations of the upbringing we have received; but, at the same time, there is no peace without setting out, no awareness without detachment, no joy without risk. We are the Body of Christ if we move forward, coming to terms with the past without being imprisoned by it: everything is restored and multiplied if it is first let go, without fear. This is a fundamental secret of mission. It is not something that is experienced just once, but in every new beginning, in every new sending forth.

Jesus’ journey reveals to us that the willingness to lose oneself, to empty oneself, is not an end in itself, but a condition for encounter and intimacy.  Love is true only when it is unguarded; it requires little fuss, no ostentation, and gently cherishes weakness and vulnerability. We struggle to commit ourselves to a mission that exposes us in this way, and yet there is no “good news to the poor” (cf. Lk 4:18) if we go to them bearing the signs of power, nor is there authentic liberation unless we free ourselves from attachment. Here we touch upon a second secret of the Christian mission. After detachment comes the law of encounter. We know that throughout history, mission has not infrequently been distorted by a desire for domination, entirely foreign to the way of Jesus Christ. Saint John Paul II had the clarity and courage to recognize that “because of the bond which unites us to one another in the Mystical Body, all of us, though not personally responsible and without encroaching on the judgment of God who alone knows every heart, bear the burden of the errors and faults of those who have gone before us.” [1]

Consequently, it is now a priority to remember that neither in the pastoral sphere nor in the social and political spheres can good come from abuse of power. The great missionaries bear witnesses to quiet, unobtrusive approaches, whose method is the sharing of life, selfless service, the renunciation of any calculated strategy, dialogue and respect. It is the way of the Incarnation, which always takes the form of inculturation. Salvation, in fact, can only be received by each person through his or her native language. “How is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?” ( Acts 2:8). The surprise of Pentecost is repeated when we do not presume to control God’s timing, but place our trust in the Holy Spirit, who “is present, even today, as in the time of Jesus and the Apostles: is present and at work, arriving before us, working harder than us and better than us; it is not for us to sow or awaken him, but first and foremost to recognize him, welcome him, go along with him, make way for him, and follow him. He is present and has never lost heart regarding our times; on the contrary, he smiles, dances, penetrates, engulfs, envelops, and reaches even where we would never have imagined.” [2]

To establish this harmony with the transcendent, we must go where we are sent with simplicity, respecting the mystery that every person and every community carries within them. As Christians, we are guests. This is also true if we are bishops, priests, or men and women religious. To be hosts, in fact, we must learn to be guests ourselves. Even the places where secularization seems most advanced are not lands to be conquered or reconquered: “New cultures are constantly being born in these vast new expanses where Christians are no longer the customary interpreters or generators of meaning. Instead, they themselves take from these cultures new languages, symbols, messages and paradigms which propose new approaches to life, approaches often in contrast with the Gospel of Jesus… It must reach the places where new narratives and paradigms are being formed, bringing the word of Jesus to the inmost soul of our cities.” [3]  This happens only if we walk together as the Church, if mission is not a heroic adventure reserved for a few, but the living witness of a Body with many members.

There is also a third dimension, perhaps the most radical, of the Christian mission. The dramatic possibility of misunderstanding and rejection, which is already seen in the violent reaction of the people of Nazareth to Jesus’ words. “When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.  They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff” (Lk 4:28-29). Although the liturgical reading has omitted this part, what we are about to celebrate this evening calls on us not to flee, but to “pass through” the trial, just as Jesus did. Jesus “passed through the midst of them and went on his way” (Lk 4:30). The cross is part of the mission: the sending becomes more bitter and frightening, but also more freeing and transformative. The imperialist occupation of the world is thus disrupted from within; the violence that until now has been the law is unmasked. The poor, imprisoned, rejected Messiah descends into the darkness of death, yet in so doing he brings a new creation to light.

How many “resurrections” are we called to experience when, free from a defensive attitude, we immerse ourselves in service like a seed in the earth! In life, we may face situations where everything seems to be over. We then ask ourselves whether the mission has been in vain. While it is true that, unlike Jesus, we also experience failures that stem from our own shortcomings or those of others, often from a tangled web of responsibilities of light and shadow, we can make the hope of many witnesses our own. I recall one who is particularly dear to me. A month before his death, in his notebook for the Spiritual Exercises, the holy Bishop Óscar Romero wrote: ‘The nuncio in Costa Rica has warned me of an imminent danger this very week… These unforeseen circumstances will be faced with God’s grace. Jesus Christ helped the martyrs and, if the need arises, I shall feel him very close when I entrust my last breath to him. But, more than the final moment of life, what matters is to give him one’s whole life and to live for him… It is enough for me, to be happy and confident, to know with certainty that in him is my life and my death; that, despite my sins, I have placed my trust in him and I shall not be disheartened, for others will continue, with greater wisdom and holiness, the work for the Church and for the homeland.”

Dearest sisters and brothers, the saints make history. This is the message of Revelation: “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne” (Rev 1:4).  This greeting encapsulates Jesus’ journey in a world torn apart by the powers that ravage it. Within it arises a new people, not of victims, but of witnesses. In this dark hour of history, it has pleased God to send us to spread the fragrance of Christ where the stench of death reigns. Let us renew our “yes” to this mission that calls for unity and brings peace. Yes, we are here! Let us overcome the sense of powerlessness and fear! We proclaim your death, O Lord, and we proclaim your resurrection, as we await your coming.

 _______________________________________

[1] John Paul II, Bull of Indiction of the Great Jubilee of 2000 Incarnationis Mysterium (29 November 1998), 11.

[2] C.M. Martini, Three Tales of the Spirit, Milan 1997, 11.

[3] Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 73-74

Chrism Mass 2026, St Mary’s Cathedral – homily of Archbishop Farrell

Today is the Day We Have—God’s Mystery is Happening Among Us Today

“Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21) The key word here for us this morning is today. Today is the day Christ brings good news to the poor. Today is the day he is sent to proclaim liberty to captives, … to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. (see Luke 4:18–19)

The radical hope of Isaiah, which Jesus makes his own, can blind us to its presence in our lives, and in the life of the Church. Prophecies must, by their nature, be clear and clear-cut. However, their outworking is rarely as clear-cut. That which is proclaimed by Jesus, and is fulfilled in him, is not fulfilled in one fell swoop. The Good News does not happen with the linearity of a ‘feel-good’ story.

Is this not the mystery into which we enter in these days of Holy Week—the paradox and contradictions of God’s way with us and all his creatures? It is that mystery, with all its contradictions, that unfolds in the ministry of the Church and in our ministry. What Christ prophecies is not some vague future, but is, and has been, the story of our lives.

The Powerlessness of Christ

In these days of Holy Week, we not only celebrate a Christ “who rose victorious from the grave” (as we sing in the Exsultet), but we also remember him who joins us in death, who is with all of humanity in our ultimate place of helplessness. Christ is in the place of our ultimate powerlessness, and makes of it, the place of our salvation.

Christ has made our helplessness his own. The chaos of the Passion—its twists and turns, its betrayals and abandonments, is not just Christ’s; it is also ours, as is his isolation and aloneness. Christ not only looks upon our helplessness, but he has also entered right into its heart.

This is also the place of our ministry. Yes, we celebrate and mark the high-points of life—the marriages, the births, we proclaim good news, but like Christ himself, we are also in life in its lowest ebb. It is there that we are ministers of God’s presence and God’s hope—God’s abiding hope for us that enables us to act in ways that we did not think possible (see Matt 5:38–42).

This not some polished future; this is our today. It is in this place that we pray with Christ, “Father, if this [cup] cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done.” (Matt 26:42)

The Realm of the Real

Christ’s story is the story of the ministry of the Church, where, in our poverty, the Good News is made flesh in the life of every person; there the wounds of the wounded are bound up. For all our imperfections, and all our mistakes, this is place where God is acting, and is acting today, to create in all people the image of his Son, so that, in the words of Rowan Williams a few days ago, “the human world may see possibilities for transformation that would otherwise be in the realm of fantasy. (Rowan Williams “How to be an Archbishop of Canterbury,” The Tablet (21.03.26): 6, emphasis mine)

This is real priesthood; this is real ministry. This is our priesthood; this is our ministry. You do not need me to tell you that this is not “the realm of fantasy.” And this is where we need to be—even more so today, in this time of war and cynical violence, we need to be in the realm of the real, in the place where God’s Kingdom is close at hand (see Matt 4:17, cf. 26:45).

The Challenge of Ministry in a Weakened Church

The powerless Christ during Holy Week, brings home to us that to minister is not to be involved in some “success story,” but to be so permeated and filled by the compassion and attention of Christ that his life flows into everything we do, so that, day-in-day out, “it is no longer we who minister, but Christ who ministers in us.” (cf. Gal 2:20)

“At the Last Supper,” says Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, “Jesus had lost control of his life. He had been sold by Judas to his enemies; Peter was about to deny him… The Church begins in this moment of utter collapse. …. [As people of faith,] we have nothing to fear from crises. The Church was born in one and is renewed through them…” (see Timothy Radcliffe OP, “Power and Powerlessness in the Church: The Chance for Renewal” in Austen Ivereigh (ed.), Unfinished Journey: The Church 40 Years after Vatican II. (Continuum, 2003), 119–34; here 120)

Our ministry—both as priests and as lay people—is not just some activity of ours, it is much more. It is our permitting what we do to be the place where the healing and presence of Christ touches the concrete lives of people in their everyday, and in extremis. We are still called to be active in what we do. As Pope Leo said to the clergy of Rome ‘we are not merely inserted into the river of tradition as passive executors of some predefined pastoral plan but, on the contrary, with our creativity and our gifts, we are called to collaborate with the work of God.’ (19th February 2026)

This is not easy today! The sheer magnitude of the changes which have transformed our country and our society, which touch every community and every parish, also require a capacity for change on the part of the Church, ordained ministers and laity alike.

Not Resignation, but Acceptance and Renewal

While Christ was distraught by the enormity of what was unfolding before him on Holy Thursday, it did not paralyse him. He acts: he leads his disciples to the Garden, he prays, he witnesses to who he is before the Sanhedrin, he is himself before Pilate, he carries his cross, he cries his prayer abandonment from the cross. He gives his life. He is the model, not of resignation, but of acceptance. There is a world of difference between those two places. Resignation results in bitterness, a type of living death. Acceptance leads to peace, to healing, and a renewed life.

In the crisis in which the Church now finds itself we are being renewed. As God called Christ to enter his passion, so God is calling us to enter this new time. In Gethsemane, Christ discovered a deep acceptance within himself, a renewed trust in his Father, and the strength to travel the road that was being asked of him. It was the next stage of “This is my body, given for you.” By his life, by his passion and death, Christ calls us too to our next stage of “This is my body, given for you.” To follow him does not mean that we will not fall, but it does mean that we will try, and that resignation, despair, and defeatism, are not given the upper hand. Nobody knows what the Church in Dublin will look like in 10 years’ time. But neither did Pope John XXIII know what the renewed Church would look like when he announced the Second Vatican Council! The future of the Church is in God’s hands! How we welcome that future is in ours!

God’s Future for Us

Christ’s future was in God’s hands. That is the meaning of the Resurrection. But Christ trusted his Father; he welcomed his future, difficult and all as it would be. The call for us, as we bless these oils, is whether, in our ministry, we can welcome God’s future for us in a Christ-like way, with his trust in his Father, and his hope in the One who sent him into world. The future that God is giving his Church is a future that is already visible in people who seek a way of working with each other for the sake of the little ones. The future God is giving us is already charactered by lives that are taken up into the mystery that is Christ, by lives that are drawn into the One who is the light of the world. This is the future, which already unfolds among us. A living faith, that trust which Jesus had in his Father, is a faith that welcomes that future by the way we now live. It is not a question of age, it is not a question of numbers; it is question of our willingness still to be servants of our ever-living Lord in this new time.

“May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened, that we may know the hope to which he calls us.” (cf. Eph 1:18)

+Dermot Farrell

Archbishop of Dublin

Disgust after litter discarded at Dunfanaghy church

THIS is one of the many  photos of rubbish left at the gates of Holy Cross Church in Dunfanaghy.

The incident has sparked upset within the local community.

Cathaoirleach of Glenties Municipal District, Councillor Michael McClafferty has appealed to people to desist from littering the grounds of the church.

“Many people over the years have helped Father Martin Doohan and all the previous priests prior to that to leave it a nice chapel and grounds and surrounds for all to either visit, attend or simply go for a peaceful walk.

“I would appeal to people to take their rubbish home. Don’t throw it outside Holy Cross Chapel in Dunfanaghy.”

Chrism Mass as a pretext to hunt rebellious priests

One of the most discussed issues since the publication of Traditionis custodes, promulgated by Francis on July 16, 2021, is whether bishops can use the concelebration of the Chrismal Mass in the reformed rite as a test of communion for priests linked to the 1962 missal. 

The short answer is that Rome did not dictate a universal obligation worded in those terms, but it did offer bishops a disciplinary criterion that, in practice, has served in not a few places as a tool to detect resistances, measure adhesions, and, if necessary, withdraw permissions.

The so-called Responsa ad dubia on Traditionis custodes were not presented publicly by a cardinal, a group of bishops, or an episcopal conference identified by name. 

The official text of the Holy See states only that “some questions” had arrived “from various quarters” and “with greater frequency,” and that, after examining them and informing the Roman Pontiff, the most recurrent responses were being published. 

In other words: the Holy See did not make public the identity of those who raised those doubts. The document is dated December 4, 2021, but it was published by the Holy See Press Office on December 18, 2021. 

Later, a rescriptum ex audientia of February 20, 2023, disseminated on February 21, further reinforced its practical authority by confirming that dispensations regarding the use of parish churches and the erection of personal parishes were reserved to the Dicastery for Divine Worship.

The key to the matter lies in one of those responses. The official text of the dicastery expressly addresses the case of priests who are granted permission to celebrate with the 1962 missal, but who, according to the dicastery, “do not recognize the validity and legitimacy of concelebration” and therefore refuse to concelebrate the Chrismal Mass with the bishop on Holy Thursday. 

The response is negative and adds that, before revoking that concession, the bishop must engage in fraternal dialogue and accompany the priest toward an understanding of the value of concelebration, “particularly in the Chrismal Mass.” 

The official text can be read on the Vatican website: “Responsa ad dubia on certain provisions of the Apostolic Letter Traditionis custodes”. 

There it is, in essence, the foundation that many bishops have since wielded.

The formulation is not trivial. Rome did not merely recall that the Chrismal Mass expresses the unity of the presbyterate with the bishop, something known for decades, but effectively linked the refusal to concelebrate with a deeper suspicion: the possible non-acceptance of the legitimacy of the liturgical reform and the post-conciliar magisterium. 

Media with very different sensitivities thus understood the scope of the response. 

America Magazine, for example, summarized at the time that, according to the Vatican, refusal to concelebrate the Chrismal Mass could lead to the withdrawal of permission to celebrate the traditional liturgy. 

From a more critical canonical perspective, Vaticanist Edward Pentin would later recall in the National Catholic Register that, outside of a few cases provided for by liturgical law, requiring concelebration affects the freedom of priests recognized in canon 902.

The clearest and best-documented case in France was that of Dijon. 

Even before the Responsa, a head-on clash had already occurred there between Archbishop Roland Minnerath and the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter. 

In June 2021, CNA/EWTN reported that the fraternity’s priests would be removed from Fontaine-lès-Dijon after years of tensions. 

Father Hubert Perrel explained at the time that the archbishop wanted them to concelebrate the Chrismal Mass during Holy Week, something they had not done for years due to their charism and their way of living the liturgy. 

The same idea reappeared later in the National Catholic Register, which directly cited that dispute over Chrismal concelebration as one of the triggers of the conflict. 

It was no longer a theoretical discussion about rubrics or liturgical sensitivity, but a concrete disciplinary collision between a diocesan ordinary and an institute born precisely under the protection of Ecclesia Dei.

Dijon was not an isolated episode or a mere local eccentricity. 

In 2024, the same National Catholic Register returned to that precedent and presented it as a consolidated example of the new praxis: Archbishop Minnerath, the article said, expelled members of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter because they did not want to concelebrate Masses, “specifically the Chrismal Mass in the ordinary form,” and had not done so for years. 

The importance of this point lies in showing how the concelebration of the Chrismal Mass has ceased to be perceived in certain episcopal circles as a recommended gesture to become, in practice, a disciplinary boundary between the priest considered fully aligned and the priest under suspicion.

Soon after came another decisive piece of data, this time from Rome and with a clearly more general scope. 

After Francis’s audience with members of the French episcopate on April 21, 2022, several media outlets reported that the Pope had insisted that all priests accept concelebration, at least in the Chrismal Mass. 

The formulation was attributed to the Archbishop of Reims and President of the French Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Éric de Moulins-Beaufort. 

It was reported, among others, by Famille Chrétienne, which cited that papal insistence as part of the message transmitted to the French bishops. 

Although it was not a normative document with legislative value, it did have an evident effect: it confirmed that the Roman line did not see the issue as a secondary detail, but as a relevant sign of visible communion.

The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, for its part, obtained in February 2022 a singular papal decree that confirmed for its members the use of the 1962 liturgical books, in their own churches or oratories and, outside of them, with the consent of the local ordinary. 

The text can be consulted on the fraternity’s own website: “Decree of Pope Francis confirming the use of the 1962 liturgical books”. 

That decree was presented by the fraternity as a confirmation of its charism, but it did not fully resolve the issue of concelebration. 

In fact, precisely because the Pope reaffirmed their right to use the 1962 books without derogating from the general architecture of Traditionis custodes, the tension remained open between the recognition of a proper liturgical identity and the episcopal pressure for that identity to manifest itself as compatible with certain gestures of the reformed rite, especially in the diocesan framework.

That tension has continued to surface. 

In 2025, the Valence conflict brought the issue back to the forefront. 

The National Catholic Register reported that Bishop François Durand was withdrawing the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter from its apostolate in Valence and Montélimar, and emphasized that one of the points of friction was the FSSP’s refusal to concelebrate, “including the Chrismal Mass.” 

According to that information, for the diocesan authorities, such refusal was a sign of lack of ecclesial communion. 

Once again, the same pattern emerges: the Chrismal Mass ceases to be simply a great annual celebration of the diocesan clergy and begins to function as a visible test of adhesion to the post-conciliar liturgical and ecclesial framework.

From a strictly legal point of view, exaggerations must be avoided. 

There is no universal law that says, with that literalness, that “priests from ex Ecclesia Dei communities are obliged to concelebrate the Novus Ordo in the Chrismal Mass under penalty of automatically losing their ministries.” 

That would be inaccurate. 

What does exist is something more complex and, in a certain sense, more effective: a chain of texts and decisions that has allowed bishops to interpret refusal to concelebrate as an indication of a supposed deeper doctrinal or ecclesiological problem. 

First came Traditionis custodes; then, the Responsa of December 2021, with its explicit reference to the Chrismal Mass; later, the disciplinary reinforcement of the February 2023 rescriptum. 

On that basis, several ordinaries have acted very harshly, taking advantage of the framework to seek out suspects.

The real debate, therefore, does not revolve solely around a rubric or presbyteral courtesy toward the bishop. 

What is being discussed is whether the ecclesial communion of a traditional priest can legitimately be measured through a liturgical act that, for him, is not incidental but problematic for reasons of liturgical conscience, the history of his institute, and understanding of the priesthood. 

The more restrictive bishops respond yes, because the Chrismal Mass sacramentally expresses the unity of the presbyterate and because anyone who rejects even that minimal gesture places himself, in fact, in an anomalous ecclesial position. 

The sectors most linked to tradition respond that this demand turns a sign of communion into an ideological test, and that the pressure to concelebrate the Novus Ordo precisely in the Chrismal Mass has ended up operating as a detector of “rebels” within the traditional clergy.

This explains why the expression does not sound disproportionate to many of those affected. 

In light of the Roman texts and the cases of Dijon and Valence, it can be argued with foundation that the concelebration of the Chrismal Mass has been used in certain dioceses as a touchstone to separate traditional priests considered integrable from those considered reluctant.

Grünwidl tries to qualify his words... but insists: “If it comes from the Holy Spirit, it will prevail”

The Archbishop of Vienna, Josef Grünwidl, has tried to nuance his recent statements on the role of canon law in the Church, but his new assertions not only do not correct the substance, but reinforce it.

In an interview granted to the Austrian media Der Sonntag, the prelate insists that if something comes from the Holy Spirit, it will end up imposing itself in the Church as well, even in areas regulated by norms and traditions.

His words come weeks after the controversy generated by statements in which he claimed that “what comes from the Holy Spirit cannot be stopped by canon law”. 

Now, Grünwidl maintains that perhaps he did not express himself precisely, but he keeps the central idea.

A “correction” that reaffirms the substance

The archbishop explains that he was inspired by a passage from the Acts of the Apostles to emphasize that what comes from God cannot be stopped by human structures. 

However, far from limiting the scope of his words, he adds that if certain issues - like the role of women in the Church - respond to an impulse from the Holy Spirit or to “signs of the times,” they will end up developing at the ecclesial level as well.

In this sense, he explicitly links these possible evolutions to recent synodal processes, pointing out that their conclusions should translate into concrete changes in the life of the Church. 

Among them, he mentions the need to review the composition of consultative bodies to include not only clerics, but also laity and women.

Structural changes in the name of synodality

Grünwidl does not limit himself to theoretical reflection. He proposes practical measures that point to greater participation of the laity - and especially women - in decision-making instances. 

In his view, the current structure must adapt if one wants to effectively apply the synodal path promoted in recent years.

This approach reinforces the perception that it is not a simple nuance of his previous words, but a reformulation that keeps the underlying idea intact: that ecclesial norms can change if what he interprets as the action of the Holy Spirit demands it.

Good Friday and the comparison with Protestants

In another moment of the interview, the archbishop addresses the situation of Good Friday in Austria, which ceased to be a specific holiday for Protestants after a legal reform in 2019. 

Grünwidl states that this day has a “more identity-based” relevance for Protestants than for Catholics, in reference to the claim of those communities to recover the festive character of the day.

The statement is striking, given that Good Friday commemorates the Passion of Christ and holds a central place in the Catholic liturgy. 

Although the prelate shows understanding toward the demands of the Protestant churches, his comparison introduces a questionable nuance about the weight of this celebration in Catholic life.

Confession, a pending task

Asked about the practice of confession in the context of Holy Week, Grünwidl acknowledged that this year he has not been able to dedicate time to the ministry of the sacrament of penance due to the intensity of his agenda. 

The archbishop noted that, unlike his predecessor, who used to hear confessions in the cathedral during the days prior to Easter, he has not managed to do so on this occasion.

Nevertheless, he stated that it is an aspect he wishes to incorporate in the future, expressing his intention to personally involve himself in the administration of this sacrament in upcoming celebrations.

Between pastoral management and the vision of the Church

In the interview, the Archbishop of Vienna also offered various reflections on Christian life and his pastoral work. 

Grünwidl emphasized the centrality of Easter as the axis of faith, recalling that every Sunday constitutes “a little Easter” that invites the faithful to live with hope the resurrection of Christ throughout the year.

On the doctrinal plane, he explained the difference between Christian hope and reincarnation, insisting that life is unique and that salvation does not depend on human effort, but on the redemptive action of Jesus Christ and the mercy of God.

Beyond these points, Grünwidl defends the institutional structure of the Church against criticisms, justifying the need for economic resources, personnel, and organization to fulfill its evangelizing mission. 

At the same time, he insists on a non-individualistic vision of governance, emphasizing the importance of consultative bodies and joint work.

However, it is his reflections on the possible change of norms in the Church and his interpretation of the action of the Holy Spirit that once again place him at the center of the debate, in continuity with his previous statements.

Shortage of priests reduces the number of bishop candidates in Germany

The recent appointment of Heiner Wilmer to the diocese of Münster once again highlights a common practice in Germany: the designation of bishops with prior experience in other dioceses, in a context marked by the decreasing number of available priests.

According to Katholisch.de, this dynamic is not new. 

In the large German dioceses, it is common to turn to bishops who have already served in smaller sees. 

Recent examples include the archbishop of Munich, Reinhard Marx, who was previously bishop of Trier, or the archbishop of Cologne, Rainer Maria Woelki, who came from Berlin.

A consolidated practice in canon law

The transfer of bishops from one diocese to another, which was prohibited in the early centuries of Christianity, has become an ordinary practice in the Church. 

The current Code of Canon Law regulates this procedure and establishes, among other provisions, that the bishop must take possession of his new diocese within a specified period, after which his previous see becomes vacant.

During the transition period, the bishop maintains limited functions in his former diocese, similar to those of a diocesan administrator, without being able to introduce significant changes in its governance.

A problem that goes beyond appointments

Beyond the practice of transfers, the background is the progressive reduction in the number of priests in Germany. 

In 2024, only 25 new presbyters were ordained throughout the country, which represents, for the first time, an average of less than one per diocese.

This decline not only affects the pastoral coverage of increasingly large parishes but also the number of candidates available for the episcopate.

A priestly profile less oriented toward governance

In addition to this quantitative limitation, there is a change in the profile of new priests. 

According to a study by the Pastoral Research Center at the University of Bochum, many of the presbyters ordained in recent years do not see themselves as organizational leaders.

“Many want to be pastors, but not bosses or managers,” the report states, highlighting a certain distance between vocational motivations and the administrative demands of current ecclesial structures.

An episcopal succession in perspective

The situation is further complicated by demographic factors. 

In the coming years, several bishops will reach retirement age, which will require filling numerous episcopal sees in a context of limited human resources.

Despite some solutions adopted in other countries - such as the unification of dioceses under a single bishop - this option does not seem viable in Germany, due both to the territorial extent and the number of faithful.

A horizon marked by scarcity

Currently, two German dioceses are vacant, and a new wave of replacements is expected in the coming years. 

The combination of vocational decline, aging clergy, and increasing pastoral responsibilities paints a scenario in which the selection of bishops becomes increasingly complex.

In this context, the Church in Germany faces the challenge of ensuring succession in the governance of dioceses in an environment of growing scarcity of candidates.

Roche and the Order of Malta: a relationship that provides context to the rumors about its future

The possible departure of Cardinal Arthur Roche from the Dicastery for Divine Worship has once again focused attention on his link with the Order of Malta, a consolidated institutional relationship that helps contextualize the reports that position him as a potential patron of the institution.

Roche’s name has begun to circulate in Italian media as a possible successor to Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda at the head of the Order’s patronage, a position that acts as a link between the Holy See and this historic entity with its own legal personality and international projection.

A recognized member within the Order

Roche is not a stranger to the Order of Malta. He has been a member since 2016, which places him within its structure as an integral part of the institution.

His relationship with the current leadership of the Order became especially evident in January 2023, when Fra’ John Dunlap - then Lieutenant of the Grand Master and today the highest authority -  personally bestowed upon him the insignia of Bailiff Grand Cross of Honor and Devotion, one of the highest distinctions.

In this context, Il Giornale highlights the existence of a fluid relationship between Dunlap and Cardinal Arthur Roche, a fact that gains relevance in light of the rumors about his possible transfer to the Order.

The role of the patron of the Order of Malta

The patron of the Sovereign Order of Malta is the representative of the Holy See to the institution and plays a relevant role in the spiritual accompaniment of the Order and in its relations with the Vatican.

This position involves safeguarding the spiritual interests of the Order, as well as fostering communion with the Church and the correct interpretation of its ecclesial identity within a singular institutional framework, given the sovereign nature of the entity.

Currently, the position is held by Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, appointed in 2023 after playing a key role in the reform of the Order promoted during the previous pontificate. 

His profile, closely linked to the legal field and restructuring processes, has marked a transitional stage in the institution.

The Order of Malta as a curial destination

Roche’s eventual transfer as patron of the Sovereign Order of Malta fits into a known dynamic within the Roman Curia. 

On various occasions, this position has been occupied by cardinals who left more significant responsibilities in the central structure of Church governance.

One of the most cited precedents is that of Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, appointed patron after having held relevant positions in the Curia. 

Although his situation responded to a different context, marked by more explicit doctrinal tensions, the institutional scheme presents similarities: a destination with formal recognition, but away from the core of decision-making.

In this sense, Roche’s connection with the Order of Malta is interpreted in some circles as a possible fit within that pattern, that is, a transition to a relevant institutional position, although located outside the front line of curial governance.

Traditional Holy Thursday returns to Letrán with the Roman Canon

The Mass in Coena Domini that opens the Paschal Triduum in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, presided over this year by Pope Leo XIV, presents some elements of interest, according to the official libretto published by the Holy See, both for its liturgical content and for its fit within the pontifical agenda of these days.

The text confirms that the celebration will follow the proper scheme of Holy Thursday, with the proclamation of the Gospel of the washing of the feet - “he loved them to the end” - and the corresponding rite, which visualizes the new commandment of charity. 

The liturgy thus maintains its own character: memory of the institution of the Eucharist, of the priesthood, and of service.

One of the less frequent details in recent pontifical celebrations is the choice of Eucharistic Prayer I, the Roman Canon, expressly indicated in the libretto. 

It is the oldest prayer of the Latin rite, of traditional use, although in recent decades it has been less common compared to other shorter options. 

Its presence in this celebration does not change the development of the Mass, but it does give it a more classical tone in the central moment of the liturgy.

The preface also incorporates the accents proper to the day, emphasizing the institution of the Eucharistic sacrifice and Christ’s self-giving as the foundation of the rite that the Church celebrates. 

In continuity with this, the structure of the Canon preserves its usual features, including the intercessions and the commemoration of the saints.

The celebration is also inserted into an especially intense agenda for Pope Leo XIV. After the Chrism Mass in the morning, Holy Thursday culminates with this evening liturgy in the cathedral of Rome. 

Good Friday will be marked by the celebration of the Lord’s Passion and the Way of the Cross, while the Easter Vigil on Saturday will constitute the center of the annual liturgical calendar.

The libretto also reflects other traditional elements, such as the singing of Ubi caritas in the offertory and the reposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament at the end of the celebration, accompanied by the Pange lingua. 

All of this configures a fully recognizable liturgy, in which ritual continuity and some less habitual choices coexist within the recent pontifical context

35 seminarians receive the minor orders at the FSSPX seminary in the United States

A total of 35 seminarians from the Dillwyn seminary in the United States received the minor orders on March 27 during a pontifical Mass celebrated by Monsignor Bernard Fellay, as reported by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX).

The ceremony, held at the Our Lady of Redemption seminary, marks a new step in the formation of these future priests within the framework of the liturgical tradition.

Formation in the Traditional Priesthood

Of the 35 seminarians, 18 from the third year received the orders of porter and lector, while another 17 from the fourth year were instituted in the orders of exorcist and acolyte.

These minor orders, suppressed in the reform following the Second Vatican Council in their traditional form, continue to be conferred in the FSSPX seminaries as part of the training itinerary toward the priesthood.

A Sign of Vocational Vitality

The ordination of this large group of seminarians reflects the continuity of vocations in the field of priestly formation linked to the traditional liturgy.

The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X has asked for prayers for these seminarians “so that they advance generously on the path to the priesthood”.

SSPX pilgrims refused entry to Marian shrine in Italy as tensions with Rome grow

There are moments in the life of the Church which, though outwardly small and easily passed over, disclose with startling clarity the deeper principles by which she is presently governed. 

They do not announce themselves with the solemnity of councils or the authority of decrees. 

Rather, they emerge quietly, almost incidentally, in the ordinary flow of ecclesial life - and yet, precisely because of this, they reveal far more than formal pronouncements ever could. 

Such a moment occurred on 28 March 2026.

On that day, participants in a pilgrimage organised by the Society of Saint Pius X arrived at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorrows in Cuceglio, near Turin. 

The pilgrimage had been announced in advance and undertaken in a recognisably traditional Lenten spirit of penance and devotion. 

According to the Italian newspaper La Voce, the group included several priests, the Consoling Sisters of the Sacred Heart, and numerous faithful, including young families, some of whom had walked several kilometres carrying a statue of Our Lady of Sorrows as part of their devotion.¹

Nothing in this would ordinarily invite controversy. 

As La Voce itself noted, with some evident astonishment, there was to be “no Mass, no liturgical celebration: only a few final prayers, as a gesture of devotion.”² 

The intention was modest, traditional, and entirely consonant with Catholic piety as historically understood.

And yet, when they arrived, they found the doors closed.

The decision had been made in advance. 

The rector of the sanctuary, Don Luca Meinardi, reportedly acting under the authority or influence of the Bishop of Ivrea, Mgr. Daniele Salera, determined that the group would not be admitted.³ 

The pilgrims, having completed their penitential journey, were thus left standing outside the sanctuary toward which their devotion had been directed.

The irony did not escape the secular press. 

La Voce remarked that such a decision appeared to contradict “an ecclesiastical vocabulary which, in recent years, has emphasized words like welcome, inclusion, dialogue, and mercy.”⁴ 

This observation is not merely rhetorical. 

It identifies a genuine tension between the Church’s stated pastoral language and her practical actions in particular cases.

For what occurred in Cuceglio was not merely administrative. 

It was symbolic.

The pilgrims were not refused because they intended to perform an illicit sacrament or disrupt ecclesial order. 

They were refused because of their association with a body whose canonical and theological position remains contested. 

The refusal therefore communicates a boundary - not one grounded in immediate behaviour, but in identity and alignment.

Such gestures must be interpreted within the broader ecclesiological framework. 

The Church has traditionally understood herself as the domus Dei, the household of God, a place of refuge and return.⁵ 

The sacred building is not merely functional but sacramental in sign: it manifests the reality of divine hospitality extended to sinners seeking grace.⁶ 

The exclusion of the faithful from such a space therefore carries a significance beyond the physical act; it becomes a statement about belonging.

Historically, access to churches for prayer has been widely understood even for those in irregular situations, provided no scandal or disorder arises.⁷ 

The refusal in this case thus marks a departure not from law strictly speaking, but from long-standing pastoral instinct.

Father Aldo Rossi, addressing the pilgrims before the closed doors, interpreted the event through the lens of patristic precedent. 

He cited Saint Athanasius, who, during the Arian crisis, observed that the faithful might be excluded from churches while still possessing the true faith: *“You remain outside the places of worship, but faith dwells within you.”*⁸ 

This reference is not incidental. 

The Arian crisis itself was characterised by widespread institutional confusion in which orthodoxy was not always aligned with visible structures of authority.⁹

The question he posed - whether faith or place is primary - echoes a long theological tradition. Saint Augustine, for example, distinguishes between the visible and invisible dimensions of the Church, noting that external membership does not always coincide with interior fidelity.¹⁰ 

The point is not to relativise ecclesial structures, but to recognise that their integrity depends upon the truth they signify.

Father Rossi then situated the incident within a broader contemporary context, contrasting the exclusion of the SSPX with the Church’s openness in other areas. 

His remarks referenced widely documented developments in recent decades: ecumenical gestures, interreligious gatherings, and the use of Catholic spaces in contexts that would previously have been considered irregular or even inappropriate.¹¹ 

The 1986 Assisi interreligious meeting, for example, remains a touchstone in discussions of post-conciliar ecumenism, particularly due to the symbolic placement of non-Christian religious elements within Catholic sacred spaces.¹²

Similarly, the extension of gestures of fraternity toward Anglican leadership - including recent Vatican communications emphasising shared baptism despite doctrinal divergence - has been widely reported.¹³ 

These developments form part of a broader pastoral orientation articulated in documents such as Unitatis Redintegratio and subsequent ecumenical initiatives.¹⁴

Against this backdrop, the exclusion of a group of Catholics seeking only to pray appears not merely inconsistent, but paradigmatic. It suggests that inclusion, as presently practiced, is not a universal principle but a differentiated one - applied according to theological and institutional compatibility.

This brings us to Father Rossi’s central claim: “The truth is exclusive.” The statement reflects a principle deeply embedded in Catholic theology. The First Vatican Council affirmed that truth is objective and binding, not subject to contradiction or relativisation.¹⁵ 

Pope Pius IX similarly condemned the notion that all religions are equally valid paths to truth.¹⁶ 

The exclusivity of truth is not an innovation but a foundational aspect of Catholic doctrine.

Philosophically, this corresponds to the principle of non-contradiction articulated by Aristotle and integrated into Christian thought by figures such as Saint Thomas Aquinas.¹⁷ 

To affirm truth is necessarily to exclude falsehood. 

The attempt to maintain both simultaneously results not in synthesis but in incoherence.

The difficulty arises in a cultural and ecclesial environment that prioritises inclusivity as an overriding value. 

In such a context, exclusivity is perceived negatively, even when it pertains to truth itself. 

This inversion produces a paradox: those who uphold the exclusivity of truth are excluded in the name of inclusion.

The position of the SSPX must be understood within this framework. Founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the Society has consistently framed its mission in terms of fidelity to received tradition.¹⁸ 

Lefebvre’s insistence on transmitting what he had received reflects a classical understanding of tradition as something objective and binding.¹⁹

Its canonical status remains complex. The excommunications of its bishops in 1988 were lifted in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI in an effort toward reconciliation,²⁰ and subsequent provisions by Pope Francis granted faculties for confession and recognised certain sacramental acts.²¹ 

These measures indicate that the Society is not regarded as wholly outside the Church, even while its full regularisation remains unresolved.

Yet in practice, as the incident at Cuceglio demonstrates, this distinction often collapses. 

The ambiguity that can be maintained in official discourse proves difficult to sustain in concrete situations. 

The result is a pattern of practical exclusion that sits uneasily alongside theoretical inclusion.

The contemporary emphasis on synodality further complicates this dynamic. Synodal processes emphasise listening, participation, and discernment within a framework that allows for development and plurality.²² 

While not inherently problematic, such an approach encounters limits when confronted with claims of immutable truth. The SSPX’s insistence on doctrinal continuity does not easily fit within a paradigm that presupposes openness to revision.

Thus, the response is not necessarily explicit rejection, but functional marginalisation. The door is not slammed in doctrinal condemnation; it is simply not opened.

The final image is therefore one of quiet but profound significance: pilgrims standing before a closed church, praying. It recalls, in inverted form, the Gospel imagery of the door—yet here it is not the faithful who are unprepared, but the house that appears unwilling to receive.

The question that emerges is unavoidable. What does inclusion mean if it excludes those who insist upon the truth as something definitive? Can a Church that opens herself to all forms of dialogue close her doors to those who seek only to pray without undermining her own coherence?

Until these questions are answered not merely in theory but in practice, such moments will continue to arise. And each will carry the same silent testimony: that the tension between truth and inclusion, far from being resolved, remains at the very heart of the Church’s present crisis.

¹ La Voce, regional Italian press report on Cuceglio pilgrimage, March 2026.

² Ibid.

³ Ibid.; corroborated by LifeSiteNews, March 2026.

⁴ La Voce, March 2026.

⁵ Catechism of the Catholic Church, §2691.

⁶ Joseph Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000), pp. 66–70.

⁷ 1917 Code of Canon Law, can. 1179; cf. 1983 Code, can. 1210–1213.

⁸ Athanasius of Alexandria, Historia Arianorum, §54.

⁹ J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines (London: A&C Black, 1977), pp. 233–251.

¹⁰ Augustine, De Civitate Dei, Book XVIII, ch. 49.

¹¹ Second Vatican Council, Unitatis Redintegratio (1964).

¹² John Paul II, Assisi Interreligious Meeting, 27 October 1986; see contemporary critiques in Romano Amerio, Iota Unum (Kansas City: Sarto House, 1996), pp. 123–130.

¹³ Vatican communications on Anglican relations, 2026 (various reports).

¹⁴ Unitatis Redintegratio, §§1–4.

¹⁵ First Vatican Council, Dei Filius (1870), ch. 4.

¹⁶ Pius IX, Quanta Cura (1864); Syllabus of Errors, prop. 15.

¹⁷ Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I, q. 16, a. 7.

¹⁸ Marcel Lefebvre, Open Letter to Confused Catholics (1976).

¹⁹ Ibid.

²⁰ Pope Benedict XVI, Decree of Remission, 21 January 2009.

²¹ Pope Francis, Misericordia et Misera (2016); Ecclesia Dei provisions (2017).

²² Synod of Bishops, Preparatory Document for the Synod on Synodality (2021).

Pope Leo’s Triduum plans: What’s new?

Leo XIV is set to celebrate his first Easter Triduum as pope, beginning with the Chrism Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Holy Thursday morning.

The liturgical plans have been seen by some as a return to more traditional practice, including celebrating the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in the pope’s diocesan cathedral of St. John Lateran, rather than in a local prison, as Pope Francis often did.

They also include a notable departure: the pope is expected to personally carry the cross during the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum on Friday evening.

So, what is the pope’s schedule for celebrating his first Holy Week, and what’s new — or old, in the plans?

Holy Thursday

The pope will celebrate two masses on Holy Thursday.

At 9:30 am Roman time, he will celebrate the Chrism Mass, at which diocesan bishops the world over bless the oils for the anointing of the sick and the oil used for catechumens. 

The Mass will be celebrated with Roman diocesan clergy at Saint Peter’s Basilica.

Then, at 5:30 pm, he will celebrate the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome.

This is something of a return to tradition, departed from by Pope Francis, who made it a frequent practice to celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass in Roman prisons or social centers, washing the feet of inmates and those living on the social “peripheries.”.

For example, Francis celebrated his first Holy Thursday Mass at Casa del Marmol juvenile prison, and in different prisons in Rome in every year of his pontificate but two: In 2014, he celebrated Mass in a rehabilitation center and in 2016 he celebrated Mass in a refugee center.

Pope Francis formally changed the rubrics for the liturgy so that the washing of the feet also included women in 2016. 

He commonly washed the feet of the prison’s inmates and refugees, including women and Muslims.

The Vatican has also announced that Pope Leo will wash the feet of 12 Roman priests, most of them ordained by him in the last year. This is also a return to the common practice for the papal Mass.

Good Friday

On Good Friday, Pope Leo will celebrate the liturgy – not a Mass – of the Passion of the Lord at 5:00 pm in Saint Peter’s Basilica.

During this liturgy, the homily is usually delivered by the preacher of the papal household, Fr. Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap, but it hasn’t been made clear whether the pope will decide to preach himself.

While no changes are expected for this liturgy, the pope will introduce one innovation to the other major papal event of the day. 

Leo is set to become the first pope to carry the cross personally throughout all of the stations of the via Crucis celebrated at 9:15 pm in the Colosseum.

Both Benedict XVI and Saint John Paul II carried the cross only at the opening and closing stations, while Pope Francis presided over the ceremony from the Palatine Hill, and didn’t attend in the last years of his pontificate due to his health issues.

Asked about why he decided to carry the Cross through the whole via Crucis on Tuesday, Pope Leo said: “I think it will be an important sign because of what the Pope represents: a spiritual leader in today’s world, a voice to say that Christ still suffers. And I carry all these sufferings in my prayers as well.”

The meditations for this year’s via Crucis have been prepared by Fr. Francesco Patton, OFM, who was the Custos of the Holy Land from 2016 to 2025. 

Pope Francis personally prepared the meditations in 2024 and 2025, after returning home from his hospitalizations at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, and a few days before his death.

The Colosseum was dedicated in 1756 by Pope Benedict XIV to the memory of the passion of the Lord and the first Christian martyrs, which gave birth to the practice of praying the via Crucis in the Colosseum, but the practice died out in the 19th century. 

Pope Saint John XXIII revived the practice, with Pope Saint Paul VI making it a yearly event every Good Friday.

Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday

On Holy Saturday, the pope will celebrate the Easter Vigil at 9:00 pm, where he is expected to baptize and confirm several adults. 

On Easter Sunday, Leo will celebrate Mass at 10:15 am and will give the Easter Urbi et Orbi blessing from Saint Peter’s Basilica after Mass.

The square will be decorated with thousands of Dutch flowers, mostly tulips, brought from the Keukenhof garden near Amsterdam, perhaps the most famous tulip field in the world.

The tradition started following Pope John Paul II’s visit to the Netherlands in 1985, as the floral display left a strong impression on the pope, with the Vatican requesting Dutch florists to supply flowers for the beatification of Dutch holocaust martyr Titus Brandsma the same year. 

The tradition has continued at Easter every year since 1986.

Bishop Hans van den Hende of Rotterdam, president of the Dutch Bishops’ Conference, blessed the flowers before they were shipped to Rome on March 31. 

The arrangements this year include 65,000 tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, 7,800 flowers, delphiniums, gerberas, and thousands of other varieties of flowers.

On Easter Monday, the pope is scheduled to lead the Regina Caeli in St. Peter’s Square with no public events scheduled for Tuesday, and is expected to go to the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo.

Priest criticises multi-million euro ‘vanity project’ that will close Dublin’s St Mary’s Cathedral for two years

A multi-million euro renovation project that will close St Mary’s Cathedral in Dublin for two years has been strongly criticised by a well-known priest as “a vanity project”.

Fr Brendan Hoban, of Killala diocese in the west of Ireland, said: “The optics are all wrong.”

The upgrade to one of Dublin’s most historically significant places of worship will involve a reconfiguration and restoration of the sanctuary and internal spaces, including the provision of a new glazed entrance lobby, restoration of decorative mosaic flooring and a new retractable platform lift for accessibility.

It will also involve the construction of a new sacred heart chapel area, the demolition of outdated extensions, and the provision of new rooms on the upper levels to support the Palestrina choir, staff and clergy.

The Marlborough Street church was known as St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral until Pope Leo elevated it to cathedral status to mark its bicentenary in November 2025.

One of Fr Hoban’s concerns is how the money will be raised. 

The cost of the conservation, refurbishment and repair works is speculated to be about €25m.

A spokesman for the archdiocese of Dublin said that, because the tender process was still under way, “costs and the length of time required for the works are not yet known”.

Dublin City Council granted planning permission for the works last year. St Mary’s is a protected structure within the O’Connell Street Architectural Conservation Area.

Dublin diocese spokesman Peter Henry referred to Archbishop Dermot Farrell’s homily for the feast of St Kevin in 2024, in which he said: “I have received many indications of support for this strong expression of our faith and hope. Accordingly, I am confident that substantial financial support will be forthcoming that will enable necessary structural work to be carried out without adversely affecting other important pastoral needs.”

The archbishop’s homily on the feast of St Laurence O’Toole last November also addressed the role of the cathedral in the archdiocese of Dublin. 

He said the designation of a cathedral would be an important sign that there was nothing “fleeting” about the commitment of the Church in Dublin and nothing “incomplete about its structures”.

Dr Farrell described St Mary’s Cathedral as an important element of the built heritage of Dublin.

Fr Hoban has challenged the proposed spend, asking whether Catholic resources could produce such a large sum and whether that would be the best way to spend it: “Could spending €25m on a new cathedral be not just a waste of money, but a waste of resources?”

For Dr Farrell, as well as being a place of prayer, a new cathedral must be a place of beauty: “If our places of assembly and worship do not reflect the beauty of Christ, our faith remains, in the words of Cardinal Mendonca, ‘dry, functional, bureaucratic, ritualistic, an outward bath of conventions to which our hearts remain impervious’.”

Fr Hoban has raised another concern: a lack of consultation. He told the Irish Independent that the process “presses all the wrong buttons on commitments to synodality and the poor”.

A synodal church, he said, was a church of the people, where all the baptised were listened to and given a say. 

The project could have found expression, he added, in “a decision that reflected the will of the people of Dublin though an open consultation, instead of the present decision that seems to reflect the private wishes of the clerical church”.

Fr Hoban said the way the project had been handled was “yet another example of how the clerical church is effectively pushing back against the imperative of reform. Dublin diocese can and should do better than this”.

Last August, the Sunday Independent revealed the project had an initial budget of about €20m.

Emails obtained under Freedom of Information showed church officials had briefed Dublin City Council earlier in the year on its plans to “re-energise” the building.

Brendan Merry & Partners, the quantity surveyor for the refurbishment, said the “transformative project” would enhance the protected structure to bring it up to full cathedral status, preserving its architectural heritage and strengthening the cathedral’s role as a spiritual and community hub in the heart of the city.

It is understood St Mary’s will close its doors around June. St Andrew’s Church on Westland Row will be used by Dublin diocese while the cathedral is closed.

More than 50 new victims came forward with allegations of abuse at Jesuit schools last year

Fifty-one new victims came forward with allegations of abuse at Jesuit schools last year, according to figures released in the Catholic order’s latest safeguarding report.

On February 12, 2025, the Jesuits in Ireland publicly named 15 deceased members who were the subject of child sexual abuse complaints. This prompted a new wave of allegations from 51 people not previously known to the Jesuits.

Saoirse Fox, the director of safeguarding and professional standards for the Jesuits, said: “It is safe to believe that the public communication in February [2025] was the catalyst for most people bringing forward their accounts of abuse.”

A total of 18 Jesuits against whom allegations of abuse had been made have been publicly named.

In 2021, the Jesuits named Fr Joseph Marmion as having abused boys sexually, emotionally and physically during his time as a teacher at Belvedere College from 1969 until 1978.

The naming of Marmion was requested by a former student who was sexually and emotionally abused by the priest in the 1970s when he was 13. In 2024, they also named Fr Paul Andrews and Fr Dermot Casey.

The majority of the new complaints in 2025 (43) were made against 14 of the 18 Jesuits who had been named publicly last year.

Six of the complaints were made against other Jesuits, while two were made against Jesuits whose names have not yet been disclosed. In addition, four complaints were made against lay teachers.

While the majority of the complaints related to child sexual abuse (39), nine related to physical and emotional abuse, while a further seven were complaints of inappropriate behaviour that was not sexual abuse.

The new complaints spiked last February when the Jesuits published the list, prompting 35 new victims to come forward.

The new figures, when added to the number of people who came forward in 2024 (62) bring the total of victims to 113.

“This is a very significant number of people over a two-year period who for the first time ensured the Jesuits knew that they, too, were abused,” Ms Fox said.

A total of 250 child sexual abuse allegations have been made against 50 individuals who were Jesuits at the time of the alleged abuse.

In a statement, Jesuit Provincial in Ireland, Fr Shane Daly SJ, said he hoped that the report’s updated figures and safeguarding information would show the Jesuits’ commitment to providing safe spaces and safe relationships for the children and adults with whom they work and minister.

“It is an important part of our ongoing process of atoning for past failures and the creation of real change for the future,” he said.

Fr Daly acknowledged that rebuilding trust in the church and Jesuit institutions would be “a long process”.

“We hope the transparency and communication of everything we are doing in the area of safeguarding will be a step towards it,” he said.

The naming of Jesuits accused of abuse last year followed an examination of the files of deceased Jesuits by an Independent Working Group.

Bishop Ger Nash to lead Diocesan Good Friday Walk in Kilkenny

The 22nd Annual Diocesan Good Friday Walk, a moving symbol of solidarity and spiritual reflection, will take place this Good Friday, April 3, beginning at 7pm from St. Canice’s Catholic Church.

This year’s walk will be led by Bishop Ger Nash and Father Willie Purcell, who will walk in solidarity with those who carry the cross of homelessness, war, famine, migration, trafficking, and abandonment in our world today. 

A cross from the Holy Land will be given to each walker - all are welcome.

Organised by the Kilkenny Gospel Choir, this cherished tradition will wind its way down Dean Street, Parliament St, and up High Street, culminating in a powerful Taizé-style prayer service around the Cross at the Capuchin Friary Church. 

This is the year of St. Francis of Assisi, dedicated by Pope Leo XIV.

In a moment of profound spiritual significance, a relic of the True Cross - bearing the original Vatican seal of authenticity - will be carried in procession and used during the prayer service. 

This marks only the third time the relic will be used on Good Friday in Kilkenny. 

Attendees will have the rare opportunity to be personally blessed with the relic, which is believed to have inspired many miracles over the years.

This year’s walk will also include participation from members of the Ukrainian, Indian, and Polish communities, reflecting a heartfelt call for peace and reconciliation across the globe.

“The annual Good Friday Walk is a symbol of our solidarity with those who suffer,” said Fr. Willie Purcell.

A large crowd is expected, and all participants are encouraged to join at the starting point at St. Canice’s Catholic Church. 

The community is invited to walk together in prayerful silence, witness the relic, and take part in a unique and transformative act of faith.

For more information, please contact: kilkennygospelchoir@gmail.com

'Keep dreaming big', Traitors star Harry Clark meets Pope Leo

Harry Clark, who found fame as part of the BBC One series The Traitors, has described meeting the Pope as “one of the coolest experiences” of his life.

Speaking ahead of his new BBC documentary, Harry Clark Goes to Rome he revealed that he achieved his seemingly impossible quest of meeting Pope Leo and even prayed for him. 

They also exchanged gifts, with Clark giving the pope a Chelsea football shirt with his name and title on the back.

The documentary follows the 24-year-old on a personal journey to Rome in search of answers about faith, identity and what it means to be a “good” Catholic in the modern world. 

But at the centre of his journey is his goal of meeting the pontiff.

In an emotional climax, Harry - accompanied by his mother Georgia - was granted a private audience with Pope Leo. 

What follows is a heartfelt, surreal and often humorous encounter that captures the spirit of the film: hope, faith and the power of believing in something bigger than yourself.

Clark said: “I never thought the Pope would want to meet me but here we are. It was a life changing experience and it was great to do it alongside my mum.

“It was the first time in my life my mind was blown and I thought wow, I'm just a kid from a council house in Slough and here I am sitting opposite Pope Leo XIV talking about the importance of mental health awareness and that whether you have faith or not, life is worth living.

“My message to other young people is to never let anyone tell you you can’t achieve or accomplish something. Keep dreaming big.”

The former British Army engineer said his “overwhelming nerves” turned into pure excitement as he finally met the Pope, and he felt a genuine connection between them. 

He even asked the Pope about football - before gifting him the Chelsea FC shirt, which was warmly received.

Clark said the experience was even more poignant because he was able to share it with his mother who he said first instilled his faith and supported him through the most challenging moments of his life. 

He was born into a Catholic family, baptised and after confirmation he recently told Premier Christianity he found his “own faith. I’d only ever been to church because my mum made me go to church. I was going through the motions. But confirmation was really the moment where I wanted faith to be a big part of my life.”

Clark credits taking part in a pilgrimage to the Alps for a previous BBC documentary for deepening his faith. 

He told the BBC :"I'd got to such a good place with my faith. I honestly believe I'm only where I am now because of it. It saved me in the army. It saved me from doing a lot of stupid things. Having faith is like that extra armour on the side. It's like the clothes I wear or the protection I have. It's honestly why I think I am where I am now, because if I didn't pray, if I didn't have God in my life, I wouldn't be who I am today.

"I see myself as a modern Catholic. I believe in God, but I don't necessarily believe in every tradition the church has always dictated. And I just felt you could be as close to God through the church within yourself. So, the question became - 'how do I deepen my faith further?' And I realised the answer was to go to the epicentre of Catholicism, Rome, and ask all the tough questions to the top people there."

Harry Clark Goes to Rome – is on Thursday 2nd April at 10.40pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.