Below is a list of resources to help better understand the current crisis in the Church and MDM’s response to it. The resources, organized by topic, include official Church documents, writings from saints, and the views of prelates, priests, religious, and laity. The crisis has engendered much controversy and so, not surprisingly, many of the views expressed in these resources will be controversial as well. With that in mind, it should be understood that MDM does not necessarily agree with all the views expressed in these resources. Nor should their listing on our site be taken as agreement by the authors with our position and actions.

If you would like to see resources listed by media type click here.

[Click on headings to see contents.]

Leo and the Emergency in the Church

Schneider, Bishop Athanasius

Strickland, Bishop Joseph

Taylor, Darrick

The Conclave and Initial Assessments of Leo

In the run-up to the conclave, a number of thoughtful commentators reflected on what should be done by the cardinals to address the crisis in the Church and the damage done by Jorge Bergoglio. With the surprisingly short conclave and papal election, commentary quickly turned to understanding and evaluating just who Cardinal Prevost, now Leo XIV, is. What follows is a mix of some of the pre-conclave commentary and initial commentary on Leo XIV.

CatholicVote News Feed

Gaspers, Matt

Jackson, Chris

Ivereigh, Austin

Kramer, Fr. Paul

McCusker, Matthew

Morello, Sebastian

Morrison, Robert T.

Nix, Fr. David

Sadewo, Giovanni

Strickland, Bishop Joseph

Viganò, Archbishop Carlo Maria

Yore, Elizabeth

Ongoing Assessments of Leo

Concerned Catholic

Nix, Fr. David

Perricone, Fr. John A.

Westen, John-Henry

Appointments and Governance of Leo

Cambria, Antonio:

EN.News

Faith and Reason

Kokx, Stephen

Lifesite News Staff

LSNTV

Masciullo, Gaetano

Merkowsky, Claire Marie

Strickland, Bishop Joseph

Wailzer, Andreas

Leo on Francis and Other Mentors and Predecessors

Leo XIV

Pullella, Philip and McElwee, Joshua

Francis and the Crisis in the Church

While the current crisis in the Church did not begin with Jorge Bergoglio, it was under and because of his usurpation of the papacy (as the Lord has stated in the Messages) that the crisis has reached an unprecedented perilous stage. The works below include some that help to sketch out the problems in the Church preceding Bergoglio, as well as others that focus on the profound damage Bergoglio has done to the Church and the legacy of that damage.

Gravino, John

  • Confronting the Pope of Suspicion (Independently published, 2021).

“It’s not that complicated. Replace divine law with pop psychology and disaster follows. [Confronting the Pope of Suspicion] connects the dots between Amoris Laetitia, Carl Rogers, theological dissent and sexual chaos in the Church. A short but profound read.” Jennifer Roback Morse, author of The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives and Why the Church Was Right All Along.

“One of the most important Catholic commentators today. A brilliant Catholic philosopher and theologian.” John Zmirak, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism.

Grigio, Dominic J.

  • The Disastrous Pontificate, (OS Justi Press, 2025)

” As this book demonstrates, Pope Francis clearly outdid them [his predecessors] in the number and gravity of his problematic statements and actions.”–Edward Feser, Professor of Philosophy, Pasadena City College

“This comprehensive study clearly shows that the pontificate of the late Pope Francis generated a great deal of confusion throughout various areas of Church teaching…. I heartily recommend this work for its clarity and the strength of its arguments.” –Eduardo Echeverria, author of Pope Francis: The Legacy of Vatican II

“A full-scale, dispassionately clinical analysis of Bergoglio’s rule, identifying through the entire pontificate countless divergences from Catholic truth.” –John Rist, author of Infallibility, Integrity and Obedience: The Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church, 1848-2023

“Not a few Catholics viewed the many troubling pronouncements of Pope Francis as merely ambiguous, imprecise, or poorly translated. Grave though such deficiencies would be, readers of this book will discover-sorrowfully-that the reality is far more serious…. This volume will prove indispensable to the future pontiff and council tasked with restoring what has been compromised.” –Michael Sirilla, Professor of Systematic and Dogmatic Theology, Franciscan University

“This remarkable book is both exhaustive and exhausting. Here in one massive volume is a thorough catalogue of the ways in which the late Pontiff confused the faithful, along with a defense of the truths he undermined.”–Philip F. Lawler, author of Lost Shepherd: How Pope Francis Is Misleading His Flock

“Meticulous, dispassionate, and charitable, this book bears invaluable witness to what has certainly been the most disastrous pontificate, from the doctrinal point of view, in the entire history of the Catholic Church.” –Claudio Pierantoni, former Professor of Medieval Philosophy, University of Chile

“This book demonstrates without a shadow of a doubt the sharp contradiction between Francis’s teachings and those of the Gospels, the authentic Magisterium of the Church, and the greatest Popes and theologians of the past.” -Dr. Josef Seifert, president emeritus of the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family

Lamont, John R.T. and Pierantoni, Claudio, eds.

  • Defending the Faith Against Present Heresies, (Arouca, 2021).

“Unquestionably the most important publication documenting and analyzing the many errors espoused and propounded by Pope Francis.”  Peter Kwasniewski

Lawler, Philip

  • Lost Shepherd: How Pope Francis Is Misleading His Flock (Regnery Gateway, 2018).

“Philip Lawler has written the best researched and most carefully argued book to date on this controversial papacy.”  Robert Royal, president of the Faith and Reason Institute

“After giving Pope Francis every benefit of the doubt, Philip Lawler reluctantly concluded that there were serious problems with this papacy…. Lawler explains without exaggeration or histrionics why we must hope for a successor who can right the Barque of Peter quickly, before too many passengers lose hope or abandon ship.”  Karl Keating, founder and president of Catholic Answers

Martin, Ralph

  • A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward (Emmaus Road Publishing, 2020)

“In this book Dr. Martin is squarely facing the serious crisis that is unfolding both in the Church and in the culture. He does so in an honest but fair manner and offers solutions that, if implemented, would do a great deal to restore health and strength to the Church, and allow it to be the light to the world it is meant to be. An important book that should be widely read.”  Cardinal Gerhard L. Müller, Former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Schneider, Bishop Athanasius

  • Christus Vincit: Christ’s Triumph Over the Darkness of the Age (Angelico, 2019)

“I highly recommend Bishop Athanasius Schneider’s book-length interview….His Excellency’s overview of modern Church history, the Second Vatican Council, the post-conciliar period, and the pontificate of Francis provides a full context for the arguments contained [in my book, True Obedience in the Church].”  Peter Kwasniewski

Rist, Dr. John

  • Infallibility, Integrity and Obedience: The Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church, 1848-2023 (James Clarke, 2023).

Sire, Henry

  • The Dictator Pope: the Inside Story of the Francis Papacy (Regnery, 2018). Sire is an English Catholic historian. The book is published under the pen name Marcantonio Colonna.

“A remarkable new book on the pope which is making waves in Rome and around the world….This volume is far more probing and detailed than anything that has previously appeared….When the head of the Church himself does not much feel bound by the tradition or impartial laws he has inherited, what then?…Any answer will have to reckon with the eye-opening material in this compelling book.”
Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing

“The most valuable service provided by the author of The Dictator Pope is the psychological portrait of Pope Francis: manipulative, hypersensitive, and often downright vindictive–certainly not the cheerful populist that his supporters make him out to be….For all the talk about a ‘reformer pope, ‘ the rhetoric about decentralization, and the promises of reform, the net results of this pontificate to date have been a climate of fear within the Vatican, a tightening of control, and a resurgence of the ‘old guard’ in Rome.”
Philip Lawler, author of Lost Shepherd: How Pope Francis Is Misleading His Flock

Ureta, José Antonio

  • Pope Francis’s “Paradigm Shift” (The American TFP, 2018).

Vigano, Archbishop Carlos Maria and McCall, Brian M.

  • A Voice in the Wilderness: Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano on the Church, America, and the World (Angelico Press, 2021).

“Archbishop Viganò is that rarest of mortal men: one who speaks the truth whatever the cost to his career or his standing with his fellow bishops. To be sure, his writings cast light on some of the darker corners of the institutional Church and on the abuses of some of its officials, but they are also suffused with hope by a prelate whose vibrant Christian faith shines through on every page.”  Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute

“Angelico Press has done an important service in gathering together in one volume Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s stunning August 2018 Memorandum and his subsequent writings, in which he details his personal knowledge of how the Holy See has failed to deal effectively with grave immorality in the Church’s hierarchy, particularly in the case of ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Viganò decided in conscience to expose the ways in which clerical expediency, self-interest, and a misplaced desire to avoid public scandal have in fact done grave harm to the Church and her mission. These collected interventions give a clear insight into Viganò’s thinking and allow readers to judge for themselves the cogency of his analysis of the causes, and the remedies, of the present crisis in the Church.”  Fr. Gerald Murray, pastor of Church of the Holy Family

Caldwell, Simon

Davidson, John Daniel

Echeverria, Eduardo J.

Fontana, Stefano 

Gomes, Jules

Haynes, Michael

Heimerl, Fr. Joachim

Kwasniewski, Peter

Lamont, Dr. John

Nix, Fr. David

Pell, Cardinal George

Pentin, Edward

Perriacone, Fr. John A.

Sammons, Eric

Strickland, Bishop Joseph E.

Thompson, Damian

Yore, Elizabeth

On the Legitimacy of Francis

Prelates, priests, scholars and other serious thinkers have raised questions about whether Jorge Bergoglio ever was the legitimate pope. The arguments range from questions about Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation, to the validity of the conclave electing Bergoglio, to the issue of Bergoglio’s heretical or otherwise profoundly questionable statements and actions.

Clovis, Rev. Linus  F. et al 

Faré, Fr. Giorgio Maria

Lamont, Dr. John

Lenga, Archbishop Jan Pawel

LSNTV

McCusker, Matthew

Mazza, Dr. Edmund

Morrison, Robert T.

Seifert, Josef

Viganò, Archbishop Carlo Maria

Westen, John-Henry

Wright, S. D.

Appointments and Governance of Francis

Examining Jorge Bergoglio’s overall governance of the Church, and particularly noting those he rewarded with appointments and those he punished with removal, causes much concern. In general, Bergoglio rewarded many who subverted the Deposit of Faith and punished many vigorous in their defense of it. His vaunted openness to accompaniment and dialogue always erred toward the progressive and the heterodox—think of Fr. James Martin, the German bishops, pro-abortion Catholic politicians, and his scandalous appointment and retention of many clerics with serious and credible charges of sexual and/or financial impropriety. By contrast, Bergoglio’s treatment of the orthodox faithful was often a door slammed shut—think of Bishop Strickland, Cardinal Burke, Traditionis custodes with its efforts to drastically curtail celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, and the condescending and dismissive way Bergoglio and much of his Curia often responded to the African bishops when they dared to stand up for the unchanging teachings of Jesus Christ and His Church. There was also his hostile efforts towards a number of orthodox and traditional religious communities, where he removed faithful leaders for his own dubious appointments, and otherwise hindered the communities from living out their charism, to the point where some have been effectively disbanded.

Lawler, Philip

  • Lost Shepherd: How Pope Francis Is Misleading His Flock (Regnery Gateway, 2018).

“Philip Lawler has written the best researched and most carefully argued book to date on this controversial papacy.”  Robert Royal, president of the Faith and Reason Institute

“After giving Pope Francis every benefit of the doubt, Philip Lawler reluctantly concluded that there were serious problems with this papacy…. Lawler explains without exaggeration or histrionics why we must hope for a successor who can right the Barque of Peter quickly, before too many passengers lose hope or abandon ship.”  Karl Keating, founder and president of Catholic Answers

Sire, Henry

  • The Dictator Pope: the Inside Story of the Francis Papacy (Regnery, 2018). Sire is an English Catholic historian. The book is published under the pen name Marcantonio Colonna.

“A remarkable new book on the pope which is making waves in Rome and around the world….This volume is far more probing and detailed than anything that has previously appeared….When the head of the Church himself does not much feel bound by the tradition or impartial laws he has inherited, what then?…Any answer will have to reckon with the eye-opening material in this compelling book.”
Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing

“The most valuable service provided by the author of The Dictator Pope is the psychological portrait of Pope Francis: manipulative, hypersensitive, and often downright vindictive–certainly not the cheerful populist that his supporters make him out to be….For all the talk about a ‘reformer pope, ‘ the rhetoric about decentralization, and the promises of reform, the net results of this pontificate to date have been a climate of fear within the Vatican, a tightening of control, and a resurgence of the ‘old guard’ in Rome.”
Philip Lawler, author of Lost Shepherd: How Pope Francis Is Misleading His Flock

Ureta, José Antonio

  • Pope Francis’s “Paradigm Shift” (The American TFP, 2018).

Condon, Ed and Flynn, J.D.

Mercer, Joshua

Moreau, Jean-Pierre

Pentin, Edward

Sammons, Eric

Scrosati, Luisella

Seifert, Josef

Sire, Henry

Thompson, Damian

Wells, Kevin

Zmirak, John

Amoris Laetitia

This papal document produced grave confusion on whether people who are objectively in a state of mortal sin—in particular couples who are sexually active but not validly married—could licitly receive the Eucharist. The confusion led four cardinals to request clarification through submission of a dubia and a host of concerned Catholic clerics and scholars to issue a filial correction, pointing out what they saw as the grave errors in the document. Jorge Bergoglio’s refusal to directly respond to either document, and most notoriously his answer in a private letter to the bishops of the Buenos Aires region that their interpretation that Amoris Laetitia did allow the divorced and remarried to receive Communion in certain circumstances—in direct opposition to the Deposit of Faith—has caused profound concern.

First Dubia to Francis and Cardinal Burke’s comments

Filial Correction to Francis

Harrison, Fr. Brian

Masciullo, Gaetano

Murray, Fr. Gerald

Seifert, Josef

Finnis, John and Grisez, Germain

China and the Sino-Vatican Agreement

Even many secular observers have labeled the Sino-Vatican agreement a disaster, seeing in it a betrayal of the Chinese Catholic faithful and their venerable leader, Cardinal Zen. Adding to the concern is that the provisions of the agreement are secret, and the Vatican has so far still refused to make them known. Nevertheless, the terrible impact has been obvious: the betrayal of the underground but true Catholic Church that has remained faithful to Rome over decades of Communist persecution, and the promoting of the so-called Patriotic Catholic Church, the puppet Church of the CCP. Since the signing of the treaty, Xi Jinping has ratcheted up persecution of the faithful with little to no protest from Rome.

Anonymous Chinese Priest

Mosher, Steven

Müller, Cardinal Gerhard

Zen, Cardinal Joseph

Death Penalty, Francis' Revision of the Catechism and Leo's Affirmation

The following selections both defend traditional Catholic teaching regarding the death penalty and point out that Jorge Bergoglio’s actions not only suggest error in this instance but call in to question the whole notion of the unerring character of Catholic moral doctrine.

Feser, Edward and Bissette, Joseph M.

  • By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment (Ignatius Press, 2017).

“Based primarily on the natural law, this excellent and much-needed book will be valuable to Catholics and readers of any faith who ask why capital punishment is justified.”
J. Budziszewski, Ph.D., University of Texas

“At long last, we have a serious and intelligent look at all aspects of the death penalty —its causes, its justification, its consequences for the victim, the criminal himself, and for civil society.”
James V. Schall, S. J., Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University

Graebe, Fr. Brian A.

Taylor, Darrick

Infiltration of the Church in Modern Times: the Problems of Freemasonry, Communism, Secular Humanism, the Lavender Mafia and Satanism within the Church.

While the Church has always faced powerful spiritual foes (Lucifer and his minions) and powerful temporal foes (from Roman persecution and the rise of Islam to the Protestant Reformation and the rise of Communism), a distinctive character of the current crisis is how much damage comes from hostile opponents within the Church, a phenomenon particularly acute in the 20th and 21st centuries. For many Catholics this reality is hard to accept, but the evidence is there and it’s impossible to truly understand the crisis of our times without understanding this infiltration. Whether the infiltrators profess freemasonry, Marxism, secular humanism, or some amalgam, the common denominator is a profoundly anti-Christian worldview incompatible with Jesus and His Church. This destruction from within has only been exacerbated by the growing rise of the Lavender Mafia, active homosexual clerics who unrepentantly ignore their vows of celibacy and seek to promote, either openly or surreptitiously, a radical sexual agenda within the Church. Finally, while the various agendas of these infiltrators are all satanic in that they further the devil’s desire to destroy the Church, it must be said that some of these infiltrators themselves have seemingly become explicit satanists, willfully acknowledging their allegiance to him and against Our Lord.

Marshall, Taylor

  • Infiltration: The Plot to Destroy the Church from Within(Sophia Institute Press, 2019)

“We must examine the very roots of the crisis, which, to a decisive extent, can be identified as Taylor Marshall has done in this book as an infiltration of the Church by an unbelieving world.”
Bishop Athanasius Schneider

Meloni, Julia

  • The St. Gallen Mafia: Exposing the Secret Reformist Group Within the Church (TAN, 2021).

“I have studied the text and find it to be excellent.”
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke

“Our times abound in conspiracy theories. Here, the coconspirators themselves acknowledge the machinations and goals of the Sankt Gallen self-identified “mafia” that collaborated to have Bergoglio elected pope to implement a plan to change the Church. This is a fascinating book that draws from published works, revealing more of what is not well with the Church. Highly recommended.”
Dr. Janet E. Smith, Moral Theologian

Murr, Fr. Charles Theodore

  • Murder in the 33rd Degree: The Gagnon Investigation into Vatican Freemasonry (Independently published, 2022).

“As a young priest in Rome, Fr. Charles Murr worked closely with Cardinal Édouard Gagnon on the dangerous mission Paul VI had entrusted to that eminent figure: investigating the Vatican curia to uncover membership in Freemasonry. Fr. Murr’s intimate role made him acquainted with the unsavory agendas of high-ranking prelates and the intrigues surrounding the death of John Paul I and the election of John Paul II… Fr. Murr does not peddle conspiracy theories; he tells the riveting story as he lived through it and recorded it in his notes and diaries—what he saw and heard, what his friends learned and suffered. Most of all, we discover how a divinely-given opportunity for serious reform was tragically refused. Murder in the Thirty-Third Degree is the most impressive eyewitness account of postconciliar Vatican politics to appear in decades.”
Dr. Peter A. Kwasniewski: Professor, Composer, Author, The Ecstasy of Love in Thomas Aquinas

“Fr. Murr provides a first-hand account of the work the remarkable Cardinal Gagnon did, at the bidding of Pope Paul VI, to expose the presence of Masons in the Roman Curia.”
Dr. Janet E. Smith: Professor, Philosopher, Author, The Right to Privacy

Nicholas, Mary and Kengor, Paul

  • The Devil and Bella Dodd: One Woman’s Struggle Against Communism and Her Redemption (TAN Books, 2022).

“Bella Dodd is a seminal Cold War figure, a brave woman who fearlessly battled atheistic communism. She should not be forgotten. Finally, thanks to this work, she won’t be.”
Sebastian Gorka, Ph.D., Newsmax Host and former Deputy Assistant and Strategist to the President

“There is nothing hidden that will not come to light, as Bella Dodd proved after her reversion to the Catholic Church by revealing the extent of the communist conspiracy that she had helped to spread. Mary Nicholas and Paul Kengor have performed a great service by shining a new and delightful light on this remarkable woman.”
Michael Knowles, The Daily Wire

“The Devil and Bella Dodd is a powerful book about what happens when pernicious ideas grip a soul—and what happens when grace snatches her back.”
Julia Meloni, Author of The St. Gallen Mafia

“I couldn’t put this book down. It seems timelier than ever as socialism continues to spread. But more than anything, it is a beautiful testament to the peace and love offered not by ideologies but by Christ and His Church.”
Carrie Gress, Author of The Anti-Mary Exposed

Armstrong, H. Reed

Collmer, Sheryl

Hickson, Maike

Mangiaracina, Emily

Smith, Janet

Strickland, Bishop Joseph E.

Wells, Kevin

Jesus Christ as the Only Savior; Catholicism as the One True Faith; and the Problems of Religious Indifferentism, False Ecumenism, and Idolatry

Faith and Reason

Gallager, Daniel B.

Masciullo, Gaetano

Marian Issues

Heimerl, Fr. Joachim

Lanzetta, Fr. Serafino M. (Interview with Diane Montagna)

Mutsaerts, Bishop Robert

Schneider, Bishop Athanasius

Westen, John-Henry

Obedience to God and the Salvation of Souls Comes First: The Problems of Error, Corruption and Heresy in the History of the Church, and How to Respond Faithfully to Them

Throughout Church history, there have been many instances when being faithful to God and His Church requires witnessing to problems in the Church. The problems can be manifold, from scandalous sinful behavior by Church officials, to unwise policy decisions, to the promotion of error and even heresy. How best to witness and respond to such problems has and will vary according to the type of problem and the circumstances. As always, the saints provide helpful models.

Kwasniewski, Peter

  • True Obedience in the Church: A Guide to Discernment in Challenging Times (Crisis Publications, 2022).

“The present book of Dr. Peter Kwasniewski offers a valuable and timely theological clarification on the authentic meaning of obedience. This tract will bring peace of conscience to many perplexed souls and confirm their fidelity to the perennial doctrinal and liturgical tradition of Holy Mother Church.”
Most Rev. Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana

“Following the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, Peter Kwasniewski puts forward timeless principles that can help us navigate the strait of true obedience in difficult times.”
Fr. Thomas Crean, O.P., Author, The Mass and the Saints

“This wonderful tract provides solid principles for our discernment, especially relevant in the face of new assaults upon Catholic tradition, and it will strengthen our resolve to obey God in all things.”
Fr. John Paul Echert, SSL, Pontifical Biblical Institute

“I am exceedingly grateful that such a son of the Church would assist us at this most difficult time to know how to respond to the many false and unreasonable dictates of a number of Her hierarchy. I consider True Obedience in the Church to be not only a must-read, but a healing balm of clarity for the Faithful.”
Miriam Of The Lamb Of God, O.S.B., Mother Miriam Live!

Mattei, Roberto de

  • Love for the Papacy and Filial Resistance to the Pope in the History of the Church (Angelico, 2019).

“Defends the legitimacy of criticizing, disagreeing with, or opposing Roman pontiffs, citing many historical examples.” Peter Kwasniewski 

Torres, Alex and Charles, Joshua

  • Persecuted from Within (Sophia Institute Press, 2023)

“A Reflection on the Essentials of Christian Obedience: I believe this phrase get to the heart of this great book authored by Joshua Charles and Alec Torres. I use the word “heart” advisedly because the wonderful saints they explore all had obedience to God’s Will at heart. St. Joan of Arc sought that highest level of obedience in her time as St. Athanasius did in his. Every saint has that in common: they seek the will of God at all costs, including their lives.
This is a timely book that should be at the top of every faithful Catholic’s reading list as we navigate a time of great crisis and turmoil in the life of the Church. This volume presents us with a powerful gift, namely the reminder that whatever hardships these men and women endured in their earthly lives, they are now saints enjoying the eternal banquet of love with our God. Saving souls is what the Church, the mystical Body of Christ, is all about. The great saints profiled in this book model for us how our souls may be saved, no matter the persecutions, crises, and challenges we may face on this journey.”
Bishop Joseph E. Strickland. Diocese of Tyler, Texas

“In times like these, where so many faithful Catholics are enduring a great trial that tests their faith, it is a precious thing to know that many, whom we regard as saints today, endured similar and painful persecutions, often from the very Church they loved. Joshua Charles and Alec Torres have written a marvelous and exceptionally helpful book that will both encourage and challenge faithful Catholics to model their response to our current crisis on the lives of saints who also endured the crucible of strife from clergy and fellow Catholics. Examining the lives of Saints such as St. Paul, St. Athanasius, St. Joan of Arc, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Thomas More and many others, our authors have amassed a rich deposit of testimony as to the proper and holy responses required of the faithful in times like these. Reading this book feels like being on a retreat! Go sell all you have to buy this book, it will bless you exceedingly.”
Msgr. Charles Pope, Pastor, Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian in Washington, D.C.

“This marvelous study of saints persecuted by the Church is not just a welcome and needed call for us to persevere in the face of often negligent and sometimes wicked clerical leadership. It’s an invitation to grow in faith, to draw nearer to Christ in times of trial.” R.R. Reno, Editor, First Things Magazine and Author, Return of the Strong Gods

Xavier da Silveira, Arnaldo

  • Can a Pope Be . . . a Heretic? The Theological Hypothesis of a Heretical Pope (Caminhos Romanos, 2018).
  • Can Documents of the Magisterium of the Church Contain Errors? (The American TFP, 2015).

Aquinas, St. Thomas

  • “Whether a law is binding in conscience,” Summa Theologiae, I-II, 96, Art 4.

Bellarmine, St. Robert

  • “On resisting a pope,” De Romano Pontifice, Book II, Chapter 29.

Francis of Assisi

Newman, St. John Henry

Feser, Edward

Strickland, Bishop Joseph

Pro-Life Issues

While both Francis and Leo have offered pro-life sentiments on occasion, they tend to be the minimum one would expect from a pope or any Catholic prelate. What is concerning is how often in both their actions and words they undermine the Church’s teaching on the gravity of abortion in particular. This includes supporting the “seamless garment” approach that minimizes the gravity of abortion relative to other issues of a more prudential nature; appointing bishops who also minimize the gravity of abortion; undermining pro-life institutions, such as the Pontifical Academy of Life and the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family, through appointments of heterodox and non-Catholic administrators and faculty who openly question Catholic moral teachings; and the normalizing and even praising of radical pro-abortionists.

Hawkins, Kristin

Nix, Father David

Rist, John

Prophecy in Contemporary Times

[From Fr. John Mary’s initial public statement]

Throughout history, God has raised up His Prophets for His people. They are called to warn them and wake them up. They are also called to give consolation and hope to His suffering children, who are discouraged and confused. Prophets are especially needed in difficult, confusing times, like ours today, when the normal channels of instruction aren’t working well. They help bring God’s light to guide our actions. There are many examples of this in the Old Testament, when the prophets had to denounce the corruption of the shepherds of Israel, the religious and civil leaders…. But prophecy is not limited to Biblical times. As the great Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas said, “at all times there have not been lacking persons having the spirit of prophecy, not indeed for the declaration of any new doctrine of faith, but for the direction of human acts.” We see this in many saints and mystics, such as, Francis of Assisi…Catherine of Siena…and John Bosco, all of whom experienced the prophetic charism in their lives.  Heaven also speaks powerfully through apparitions like those of the Sacred Heart, and those of our Blessed Mother, [such as at] Guadalupe…. Does it not make sense that at this time when not only the world but the Church herself is suffering from grave confusion and corruption, God would continue to raise up prophets to help guide His people? Consider St. Faustina…Our Lady of Akita and Our Lady of Kibeho—different prophetic messages in very different circumstances but [all] providing guidance to the faithful and warning of coming dangers. St Paul’s instruction is urgent for the Church today: “Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophecies, but test everything” (1 Th 5:19-22). Too often, we quench the action of the Holy Spirit by despising prophetic messages. But he also instructs us to test everything. There are also false prophets.  Prophecy requires discernment and prudence. At the core of authentic prophecy is something that is essential for all of us, especially today: to listen to God. The pastors of the Church have a key role in guiding the Church. But to do this, they must themselves be humbly, faithfully listening to God. And accepting that God can speak whenever, however and through whomever He chooses.

O’Connor, Fr. Edward

  • I Am Sending You Prophets, The Role of Apparitions in the History of the Church (Queenship, 2007).

Fr. O’Connor is an emeritus professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame.

Ayral, Xavier (interviewed by John-Henry Westen)

Morro, Rob (interviewed by John-Henry Westen)

Strickland, Bishop Joseph E.

Secularist/Globalist Alliances

A striking pattern of Jorge Bergoglio is how often he sided with the secularist elites that dominate so many sectors of Western society, from governments and corporations to the media and academia. These are the elites that typically hold profoundly anti-Christian views on marriage, sexuality, and the sanctity of life, among other matters. Yet whether it was Bergoglio treating prudential issues as moral absolutes (climate change, covid lockdown and vaccine policies) and moral absolutes as prudential matters (homosexual and adulterous acts)—a hallmark of the secularist elites’ approach—or his standing foursquare for globalist solutions that push one-size-fits-all policies regardless of a particular nation’s circumstances, Bergoglio seemed far more at home and comfortable with such secularist elites than with, say, the ordinary Catholic moms and dads and schoolchildren marching at a pro-life rally.

Schneider, Bishop Athanasius

  • Christus Vincit: Christ’s Triumph Over the Darkness of the Age (Angelico, 2019).

“I highly recommend Bishop Athanasius Schneider’s book-length interview….His Excellency’s overview of modern Church history, the Second Vatican Council, the post-conciliar period, and the pontificate of Francis provides a full context for the arguments contained [in my book, True Obedience in the Church].” Peter Kwasniewski

Haynes, Michael

Matt, Michael J.

McCloone, David

Pentin, Edward

Roberts, James

Vigano, Archbishop Carlos Maria

Sexual Morality, Gender Ideology and Fiducia Supplicans

Few actions under Jorge Bergoglio caused more controversy than the publication of Fiducia Supplicans. This document, written by Cardinal Fernandez, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and approved by Bergoglio, produced a backlash of concern and denunciation among prelates throughout the Church that was unprecedented, with many bishops stating outright that they would not abide by some of its most error-filled pronouncements. Most concerning was the document’s legitimizing of blessing sinful relationships in direct contradiction to perennial Church teaching. Troubling as Fiducia continues to be, it is only one of the disturbing signs that many in the current hierarchy of the Church are not only open to, but desirous of promoting teachings and practices on sexuality fundamentally at odds with the truth of Catholic doctrine. And that this effort stems in part because of the large number of powerful and active homosexuals among the hierarchy–what has come to be known as the Lavender Mafia–who oppose that truth.

Allman, Myles

Chaput, Archbishop Charles J.

Eleganti, Bishop Marian

Enoch, Fr.

Faith and Reason Podcast

Finnis, John, George, Robert P., Ryan, Peter S.J.

Gomes, Jules 

Heimerl, Fr. Joachim

Jones, Robert

Lawler, Leila M.

Malloy, Chris

Miriam, Mother

Mosher, Steven

Müller, Cardinal Gerhard

Pentin, Edward

Peta, Archbishop Tomas and Schneider, Bishop Athanasius (reported by Diane Montagna)

Quackenbush, Rachel

Rist, John (Interview with Edward Pentin)

Sarah, Cardinal Robert

Schneider, Bishop Athanasius (Interview with Diane Montagna)

Smith, Janet

Strickland, Bishop Joseph

Westin, John-Henry

Weinandy, Fr. Thomas G.

Zen, Cardinal Joseph

Zmirak, John

SSPX and the Vatican

Synodality and the "Synodal Church"

The Synod on Synodality, Francis’ vision for a new “synodal Church,” and Leo’s continuation of this vision have alarmed many of the faithful. Among the greatest concerns is that “synodality” is a kind of Trojan horse, using the pretext of encouraging greater participation among the faithful as a means to force heretical changes in Church doctrine and practice, all under the guise of being a more “democratic” Church. Cardinal Burke noted that the term synodality is one that “has no history in the doctrine of the Church and for which there is no reasonable definition. Synodality and its adjective, synodal, have become slogans behind which a revolution is at work to change radically the Church’s self-understanding, in accord with a contemporary ideology which denies much of what the Church has always taught and practiced” (Forward to The Synodal Process Is a Pandora’s Box). The late Cardinal Pell, speaking of the synod’s preparatory document, Enlarge the Space of Your Tent, called it, “One of the most incoherent documents ever sent out from Rome…It is not a summary of Catholic faith or New Testament teaching. It is incomplete, hostile in significant ways to the apostolic tradition, and nowhere acknowledges the New Testament as the Word of God, normative for all teaching on faith and morals. The Old Testament is ignored, patriarchy rejected, and the Mosaic Law, including the Ten Commandments, is not acknowledged…The Catholic Church must free itself from this ‘toxic nightmare.” (“The Catholic Church must free itself from this ‘toxic nightmare,” The Spectator, January 11, 2023.)

Ureta, Jose Antonio and Loredo de Izcue, Julio

  • The Synodal Process Is a Pandora’s Box (TFP, 2023).

Burke, Cardinal Raymond

Eleganti, Bishop Marian

Enoch, Fr.

Haynes, Michael

Masciullo, Gaetano

Müller, Cardinal Gerhard

Murray, Fr. Gerald

Mutsaerts, Bishop Robert

Pell, Cardinal George

Pentin, Edward

Perricone, Fr. John A.

Strickland, Bishop Joseph

Zen, Cardinal Joseph

Traditionis Custodes and the Attacks on Catholic Traditionalists

With the document Traditionis Custodes, Jorge Bergoglio severely curtailed the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, in direct contradiction to the efforts of Benedict XVI, once again demonstrating that his policies of dialogue, accompaniment and compassion for those on the margin are missing in action when it comes to orthodox and traditionalist Catholics.

Kwasniewski, Peter, ed.

  • In From Benedict’s Peace to Francis’s War: Catholics Respond to the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes on the Latin Mass (Angelico, 2021), Peter Kwasniewski has gather contributions from a range of Catholic prelates, priests, and laity, including

Cardinal Walter Brandmüller • Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke • Cardinal Gerhard Müller • Cardinal Robert Sarah • Cardinal Joseph Zen • Archbishop Thomas Gullickson • Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò • Bishop Rob Mutsaerts • Bishop Athanasius Schneider • Msgr. Charles Pope • Dom Alcuin Reid • Abbé Claude Barthe • Fr. John Hunwicke • Michael Brendan Dougherty • Ross Douthat • Edward Feser • Michael Fiedrowicz • Peter A. Kwasniewski • Phil Lawler • Martin Mosebach • George Neumayr • Joseph Shaw

Nix, Fr. David

Sammons, Eric

Strickland, Bishop Joseph

Women's Role in the Church

Eleganti, Bishop Marian