Return to The Reign of Mary No. 197
The Reign of Mary
No. 197: Letter from the Editor
August 22, 2025
Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Dear friends in Our Lady,
Praised be Jesus and Mary. As we all know, the watchword at Vatican II was “ecumenism.” It was the insatiable (and insane) desire for any kind of unity with non-Catholic religions that inspired all the compromise, all the teachings of Vatican II. There was no longer a concern for conversion to the true faith, only a desire for unity at all costs with the “separated brethren.” This led to all the watering down, if not outright denial, of the uncomfortable teachings of the Church, that were considered a roadblock to unity.
An example of this mania for ecumenism occurred in July, when a group of “Catholics” and Orthodox from the United States had an audience with “Pope” Leo XIV in the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo. In his address, Leo stated: “Rome, Constantinople and all the other Sees, are not called to vie for primacy.” This statement implies a shocking and scandalous denial of the primacy of the Roman See, a dogmatic teaching of the Catholic Church.
Jesus made St. Peter His visible representative on earth: “Thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:18-19). Every true pope is the successor of St. Peter and therefore shares in the authority given to him by Christ.
The Vatican Council of 1870 declared: “We teach and declare that according to the testimonies of the Gospel the primacy of jurisdiction over the entire Church of God was promised and was conferred immediately and directly upon the blessed Apostle Peter by Christ the Lord… Whoever succeeds Peter in this chair, he according to the institution of Christ himself, holds the primacy of Peter over the whole Church… If anyone then says that the blessed Apostle Peter was not established by the Lord Christ as the chief of all the apostles, and the visible head of the whole militant Church, or that the same received great honor but did not receive from the same our Lord Jesus Christ directly and immediately the primacy in true and proper jurisdiction: let him
be anathema” (Denzinger #1822-3).
The above-mentioned statement by Leo reminds us of the abandonment of the papal tiara by Paul VI. It is false humility. No pope can give away what Christ established in His Church. To even downplay his authority would be an implicit denial. And as we see by the above Canon of Vatican Council I, Leo has called down anathema on his own head for denying this dogmatic teaching. He certainly is not a true pope. For our part, we must be most grateful for the gift of our faith and the grace to recognize that this religion of Vatican II is not the faith of the Church founded by Christ. Let us also remember the words of Our Lady to Lucia: “My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge, and the way that will lead you to God.” May we all stay close to Our Blessed Mother and be always faithful to the requests she made at Fatima, that we might obtain the grace to always persevere in the true Faith.
In the service of Jesus and Mary,
Rev. Fr. Benedict Hughes, CMRI (Email)