On the SSPX, the Old Covenant, and No Salvation Outside the Church: A Refutation of George Weigel

The well-known Novus Ordo lay theologian George Weigel has published an article against the Society of St. Pius X (FSSPX or SSPX) in the neo-conservative First Things magazine.

First Things was founded in 1989 by Rev. Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009), a name that was once a familiar one in ‘orthodox’ Novus Ordo circles but that seems to have largely disappeared from public discourse in the last decade or so, at least online. Neuhaus was a convert to the Novus Ordo religion from Lutheranism and supported Hans Urs von Balthasar’s blasphemous “hope” that all people will go to Heaven.… READ MORE

‘Archbishop’ of Detroit Feels ‘Divine Presence’ at Mosque Opening, Says It’s a ‘Truly Wonderful and Sacred Place’

(image source: dearborn.org)

The largest Muslim house of worship in the United States has just opened its doors in the city of Dearborn, Michigan. It is officially known as the Imam Al-Hasanain Mosque and is part of the Islamic Institute of America.

The Arab American News, a local newspaper in Dearborn, reports:

Hundreds of community members, religious leaders, elected officials and dignitaries gathered in Dearborn Heights earlier this month to celebrate the grand opening of the new headquarters of the Islamic Institute of America (IIOA) and the inauguration of the Imam Al-Hasanain Mosque, a $16 million project that community leaders describe as one of the largest and most significant Islamic developments in Michigan in recent years.

Pope Pius IX vs. Patriarch Joseph VI Audu:
The Full Text of the Encyclical Quae in Patriarchatu

His Beatitude Mar Joseph VI Audo (1790-1878) was the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon (in what is now Iraq) from 1848 until 1878.

His tenure was turbulent, as he at times ‘recognized’ but ‘resisted’ the authority of the Apostolic See. Patriarch Audo (or Audu) insisted on having autonomy in appointing and consecrating bishops, without or even against the approval of the Supreme Pontiff, and he acted accordingly. He also considered himself to have jurisdiction over the Syro-Malabar Church in India.… READ MORE

A Creepy and Bizarre Temple:
Leo XIV Visits Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona

(image: Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media/Abaca Press/Alamy Live News)

Robert Prevost, commonly known by his stage name ‘Pope Leo XIV’, has been on an extended ‘apostolic journey’ to Spain, which began on June 6 and will conclude on June 12.

On June 10, Leo XIV visited the basilica known as Sagrada Família in Barcelona. Its full official name is Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (‘Basilica and Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family’). It was designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926).… READ MORE

Novus Ordo Bishop Receives Rabbi’s Blessing at Jewish Temple

Mark Edward Brennan (b. 1947) is the outgoing Novus Ordo bishop of the diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia. He is currently in his ‘lame duck’ period, one might say: His resignation was officially accepted on May 1, but his successor, who was appointed the same day, has not yet taken over. The installation of ‘Bishop’ Evelio Menjívar-Ayala (b. 1970) is scheduled for July 2.

This past Friday, on June 5, 2026, the Most Rev. Mark Brennan was in attendance at the Shabbat Shalom Friday evening service at Temple Shalom in Wheeling, to be honored by the presiding rabbi, Joshua B.… READ MORE

LEO WATCH, Episodes 8 and 9

“It is not the Church that attracts, but Christ”

“We are one! We already are! Let us recognize it and…make it visible!”

Since May 8 of last year, the Rev. Robert F. Prevost has been running the Vatican II Church as ‘Pope Leo XIV’.

The sedevacantist podcast program LEO WATCH evaluates Leo’s public actions and teachings from the perspective of traditional Roman Catholicism, that is, that which the entire world knew to be Roman Catholicism until the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958.

LEO WATCH is produced by Roman Catholic Media on a monthly basis.… READ MORE

‘Go See It’: Conservative Novus Ordo Bishop Recommends Lewd and Profanity-Filled Gory Horror Movie

In a post on X/Twitter yesterday, the Vatican II Church’s ‘media bishop’ Robert Barron gave a ringing endorsement to the gruesome horror flick Obsession that is currently running in theaters across the United States.

The motion picture has officially been given an “R” (“Restricted”) rating by the secular authority (MPAA), meaning anyone under 17 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian to be allowed to see it in a movie theater. The reason given for the rating is “strong bloody violence, grisly images, sexual content, pervasive language, and brief graphic nudity.”… READ MORE

Now in English:
The Drama of the End of Times
by Fr. Emmanuel André, O.S.B.

The Benedictine Abbot Emmanuel André (1826-1903) is famous in France for his spiritual and devotional writings. In a series of articles published in 1885-86, he laid out an interpretation of what is commonly believed will happen in the last stages of human history, before the Second Coming of Christ and the General Judgement.

Translated into English for the first time by Juliana Staab from the original French edition, these articles have now been published as one book by Shield of Faith Press and can be purchased directly from their web site:

• The Drama of the End of Times by Fr.

Meet the New Generation of SSPX Bishops

From top left (clockwise): Fr. Pascal Schreiber, Fr. Michel Poinsinet de Sivry,
Fr. Michael Goldade, Fr. Marc Hanappier (images: FSSPX)

On Tuesday, May 26, 2026 the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX or FSSPX), originally founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (d. 1991), disclosed the names of the four priests whom they have chosen to receive episcopal consecration (=bishops’ ordination) on July 1.

They are Fr. Pascal Schreiber (from Switzerland), Fr. Michael Goldade (United States), Fr. Michel Poinsinet de Sivry (France), and Fr. Marc Hanappier (France). The announcement came via a communiqué from the SSPX General House in Menzingen, Switzerland, the day after ‘Pope’ Leo XIV released his first encyclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas.… READ MORE

Podcast: The Visibly False Church of Leo XIV
(TRADCAST EXPRESS 226)

Our latest podcast episode, TRADCAST EXPRESS 226, was published on May 23. It is 29 minutes long and deals with two separate but related topics.

First, we focus on a curious phrase with which Robert Prevost (‘Pope Leo XIV’) described the Holy Eucharist recently. In his May 10, 2026 Regina Caeli address, he said: “As he turns the bread and wine into a living expression of his love, Christ says: ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments’ (Jn 14:15)”.… READ MORE

Antipope Leo XIV

ENCYCLICAL MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS

On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence

May 15, 2026

The Vatican’s infinite text factory has just released another whopper of a document: Robert Prevost (a.k.a. ‘Pope Leo XIV’) has released his first Encyclical Letter. It is entitled Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”).

In its English version, Magnifica Humanitas has 42,088 words. It consists of five chapters, an introduction, and a conclusion. The text includes a total of 245 numbered paragraphs, and it has 224 footnotes.

The Vatican has made the text of Magnifica Humanitas available in sundry languages, of which we make the following available as direct links:

• Full Text of Magnifica Humanitas in English
• Full Text of Magnifica Humanitas in Spanish
• Full Text of Magnifica Humanitas in French
• Full Text of Magnifica Humanitas in Italian
• Full Text of Magnifica Humanitas in German
• Full Text of Magnifica Humanitas in Portuguese
• Full Text of Magnifica Humanitas in Polish

Highlights of the encyclical letter’s contents are also available:

• Video: These are the key points of ‘Magnifica Humanitas’, the first encyclical of Pope Leo XIV (Rome Reports)
• Video: Magnifica Humanitas (Vatican News)
• Pope Leo XIV’s Encyclical Magnifica Humanitas: A Summary in English (Zenit)
• Inside “Magnifica Humanitas”: Pope Leo XIV Rejects Transhumanism (Diane Montagna)
• 13 things to know about Pope Leo’s encyclical on AI (OSV News)
• Pope Leo presents ‘Magnifica humanitas’ calling for disarmament of AI (Vatican News)
• 10 quotes from Pope Leo’s first encyclical you should know for the era of AI (OSV News)
• 8 things to know about Pope Leo XIV’s sweeping AI manifesto (National Catholic Reporter)
• Pope Leo reaffirms right to life, condemns slavery, transhumanism in first encyclical (Life Site)
• The 3 most important themes in ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ (National Catholic Reporter)
• ‘Magnifica humanitas’: A reader’s guide (The Pillar)
• Leo in new AI text condemns ‘culture of power’ that fuels war (Crux)
• BREAKING: Leo XIV’s new encyclical makes Christ equivalent to mere human beings (Life Site)
• Pope Leo’s ‘Magnifica humanitas’: AI must serve humanity not concentrate power (Vatican News)
• Magnifica Humanitas: Leo critiques Godless society and ‘cultural blindness’ (Per Mariam via Pelican Brief)
• Pope Leo calls to ‘disarm’ AI in major document, warns of technologic threats to humanity (National Catholic Reporter)
• Leo’s First Encyclical: AI is a ‘Change of Epoch’ for Humanity (Where Peter Is)
• Leo says the use of AI must not inhibit human dignity or create ‘new colonialism’ (Crux)
• Babel, Nehemiah and algorithms: A guide to key terms in Pope Leo’s new encyclical on AI (OSV News)

The following is a list of links with initial coverage, summaries, background, and commentary on Magnifica Humanitas, as well as related news, by sources of various stripes:

• “Magnifica Humanitas” – What Unites the Mathematician Pope to the AI Technocrats.

Home At Last: Transalpine Redemptorists Become Sedevacantists

Some wonderful news broke earlier this month, on May 2, the feast of St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church:

The ‘Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer’ (Filii Sanctissimi Redemptoris or FSSR), headquartered on Papa Stronsay island off the northern coast of Scotland, published a formal document in which they disavow the Vatican II Church and its apostate counterfeit Catholicism, declare their allegiance to the true Roman Catholic religion, and explicitly repudiate Leo XIV and his predecessors through Paul VI, as being false popes.

In short: The ‘Transalpine Redemptorists’, as they are also known, have become sedevacantists.… READ MORE

Lefebvrists Fire More Salvos at Post-Catholic Vatican:
A Sedevacantist Assessment

left to right: Fr. Davide Pagliarani, Fr. Jean-Michel Gleize, Mr. Victor Manuel Fernández
(base image is copyright 2025, KNA GmbH, www.kna.de, All Rights Reserved)

Last Wednesday, on May 13, 2026, ‘His Eminence’ Víctor Manuel Fernández issued the following brief statement in his role as prefect of the Vatican’s so-called Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith:

With regard to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, we reiterate what has already been communicated. The episcopal ordinations announced by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X [FSSPX or SSPX] do not have the requisite papal mandate.

One Year of ‘Pope’ Leo XIV:
An Unpopular Reality Check

It was May 8, 2025, when all eyes were on the smoke stack atop the roof of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. Only approximately 24 hours had passed since the start of the conclave when white smoke began pouring out of the chimney, signaling to the world that a successor to ‘Pope’ Francis (Jorge Bergoglio) had been elected.

And so it was. Within about an hour, the Augustinian Rev. Robert F. Prevost of Chicago, United States, presented himself on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as the new ‘Pope’, as the head, that is, of the Vatican II Church.… READ MORE

‘Catholic’ Church Festival in Germany
Set to Promote Next-Level Sexual Perversion

(left to right: title page of program booklet, emblem associated with BDSM perversions)

The Vatican II Church in Germany has done it again.

While everyone is busy talking about whether homosexual ‘couples’ can receive blessings formally or only informally, the upcoming 5-day festival known as the ‘Catholic Convention’ (Katholikentag) is preparing people to accept the next stage in sexual perversity, one that makes ‘mere’ homosexuality look like small potatoes by comparison. It is called ‘BDSM’.

The so-called ‘Ecumenical Working Group on BDSM and Being Christian’ (Ökumenischer Arbeitskreis BDSM-und-Christsein) will be present with an information booth at the Katholikentag that is set to take place from May 13-17, 2026.… READ MORE