The Vatican News portal (November 29, 2025) presents a commentary by “Fr.” Luke Gregory, OFM, framing Advent as “a supreme time for praying for reconciliation and world peace.” The text reduces this eschatological season to social activism, claiming Advent “invites us to consider… the deep desire for reconciliation and peace within our fractured world” while quoting selectively from Scripture. Emphasizing global harmony and “collective responsibility,” it omits the necessity of personal conversion, the Kingship of Christ over nations, and the Church’s exclusive mediation through the sacraments. This transformation of a penitential season into a vehicle for humanistic utopianism exemplifies the neo-church’s apostasy.
Naturalistic Subversion of Eschatological Vigilance
The article’s description of Advent as preparation for “the transformation of our hearts and the world around us” constitutes blatant naturalism. Contrast this with Pope Pius XII’s Mediator Dei (1947), which defines Advent as “a period of devotion and eager longing… in which the faithful… prepare to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord’s coming into the world as the incarnate God of love.” Gregory replaces supernatural anticipation with horizontal activism, stating:
“Our longing for reconciliation and world peace must compel us into action, propelling us to be vessels of change in our communities.”
This echoes Modernist heresies condemned in Lamentabili Sane Exitu (1907), which rejects the notion that “the dogmas… are a certain interpretation of religious facts which the human mind has worked out with great effort” (Proposition 22). The true Advent spirit requires fasting (Zechariah 8:19), sacramental confession, and metanoia—not sociological restructuring. Silence about the Four Last Things (Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell)—the traditional Advent meditations—reveals contempt for Catholic asceticism.
Omission of Christ the King’s Social Reign
Nowhere does Gregory mention Christ’s right to rule societies—a fatal omission. Pius XI’s Quas Primas (1925) declares: “Rulers of nations… will not obtain peace except by recognizing… the kingship of our Savior.” The article’s call for “world peace” while ignoring the Regnum Christi constitutes apostasy from the Church’s mission. When Gregory claims “Christ embodies peace and reconciliation,” he deliberately avoids specifying that this peace flows only from submission to Catholic truth. Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors condemns the proposition that “the Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church” (Proposition 55)—precisely the assumption underlying this peace theology.
False Reconciliation Without Conversion
The text’s emphasis on “facilitat[ing] dialogue among differing perspectives” masks religious indifferentism. True Catholic reconciliation requires repentance and submission to Church authority. As the Council of Trent teaches: “Penance necessarily requires… hatred of sin and firm purpose of amendment” (Session XIV, Chapter IV). Gregory substitutes this with Protestant-style “empathy,” stating:
“Reconciliation is choosing empathy over apathy, and forgiveness over bitterness.”
This contradicts St. Paul’s warning: “What concord hath Christ with Belial?” (2 Corinthians 6:15). The article’s silence about the necessity of conversion for non-Catholics violates Mortalium Animos (1928), where Pius XI condemns those who “imagine the Church… to embrace all religions” as “gravely erroneous.”
Advent’s True Urgency: Fleeing Modernist Heresy
Gregory’s Advent—a time for “community service” and “peace-building initiatives”—embodies the modernist synthesis condemned by St. Pius X: “Modernists place in the ranks of the pious those who… feed the poor, while rejecting all external guidance—to the extent of denying obedience to authority” (Pascendi Dominici Gregis, 39). The true Advent warning remains Christ’s: “See that you be not seduced” (Luke 21:8). When “Fr.” Gregory urges readers to “embody hope” through social activism, he perpetuates the conciliar sect’s fundamental error: replacing the Unbloody Sacrifice of Calvary with humanitarian works.
As the liturgical year begins, faithful Catholics must recognize this neo-Advent as sacrilegious parody. The only “action” Advent demands is flight from the conciliar sect (Revelation 18:4) and return to the integral Catholic faith professed before the abomination of Vatican II.
Source:
Lord's Day Reflection: Advent is a time for praying for reconcilation and peace (vaticannews.va)
Date: 29.11.2025