Catholic News Agency reports (November 25, 2025) on comments by Francesco Ielpo, recently appointed custodian of Holy Land sites by antipope Leo XIV. The article presents Ielpo’s claim that providing “hope” constitutes the “greatest challenge” for Christians amid Middle Eastern conflicts. He emphasizes maintaining interreligious schools (90% Muslim students in Jericho), preserving salaries, and begging Western pilgrims to return as economic lifelines. The “custos” describes hope as arising from “feeling God’s presence through the Church beside you” while avoiding any mention of conversion, the Social Kingship of Christ, or the supernatural purpose of the Church.
Subversion of Ecclesial Mission Through Naturalism
The article’s central thesis – that the Church’s primary duty is dispensing earthly hope through economic stability and interfaith coexistence – constitutes apostasy from her divine mandate. Quas Primas (Pius XI, 1925) declares Christ’s reign must extend to “individuals, families, and states” through the “public veneration” of His Kingship. By contrast, Ielpo reduces the Church to a humanitarian NGO, prioritizing Muslim education and interreligious choirs (“Magnificat music school with Christian, Muslim, Jewish members”) over the unam sanctam doctrine. This aligns perfectly with the Modernist heresy condemned in Lamentabili (1907) which held that “revelation was merely man’s self-awareness of his relationship to God” (Proposition 20).
Omission of Christ’s Exclusive Mediation as Blasphemous Silence
Nowhere does this “custos” mention the extra ecclesiam nulla salus dogma or the duty to proclaim Christ as sole redeemer to Muslims and Jews. His statement that “they understand and appreciate that the service we offer is for everyone” constitutes implicit religious indifferentism – a direct violation of Pope Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors condemning the notion that “man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation” (Proposition 16). The article’s celebration of schools where Muslims outnumber Catholics 9:1 exposes the conciliar sect’s betrayal of Mortalium Animos (Pius XI, 1928), which forbade Catholic participation in interfaith projects implying equality between truth and error.
Economic Idolatry Replacing Spiritual Priorities
Ielpo’s lament that “the lack of pilgrims… generates income problems” reduces holy sites to tourist commodities. Contrast this with the authentic Franciscan charism embodied by St. Leonard of Port Maurice, who preached: “Woe to those who turn My Father’s house into a den of thieves!” (Sermo XLIV de Passione). The custody’s obsession with preserving Muslim salaries and “guaranteeing education” for pagans directly contradicts Pope Gregory XVI’s condemnation of those who “zealously undertake that worst possible business of digging up the wealth hidden in the earth and giving it over to public use” (Mirari Vos, 1832). True Catholic hope flows from the sacraments, not paychecks – a truth omitted entirely in this naturalist manifesto.
Illegitimate Authority Undermining True Custodianship
As an appointee of antipope Leo XIV, Ielpo’s authority derives from the same invalid lineage that produced the apostate Vatican II sect. The article’s reference to him as “custos of the Holy Land” constitutes a fraudulent title, since valid jurisdiction evaporated when true bishops adhering to the extraordinary magisterium were supplanted by Modernist usurpers. Canon 188.4 of the 1917 Code automatically deprives officeholders who defect from Catholic faith – a condition fulfilled by all conciliar “clergy” embracing religious liberty and collegiality. Thus, this entire interview showcases not Catholic stewardship, but the Masonic operation to replace Christ’s reign with humanist universalism.
Source:
Giving people hope is greatest challenge, custos of Holy Land says in U.S. visit (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 25.11.2025