VaticanNews portal reports on a Christmas homily delivered by antipope Leo XIV (Robert Prevost) in 2025, replete with naturalistic theology and modernist distortions. The text states: “God gives us nothing less than his very self” while reducing Christ’s redemptive mission to vague concepts of “human dignity” and “fraternal self-giving.” The homily quotes Benedict XVI’s 2012 statement that “there is no room for God if there is no room for the human person,” ignoring Pius XI’s condemnation of such anthropocentric shifts in Quas Primas: “The state is happy not by one means, and man by another; for the state is nothing else than a harmonious association of men” (n. 18).
Theological Subversion of Redemptive Mystery
The homily claims Christ came “to free us from every form of slavery” yet omits original sin, the necessity of baptismal regeneration (John 3:5), and Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice—truths defined at Trent (Session VI, Canon 2). Saint Pius X’s Lamentabili condemned such modernist reductions: “The dogmas which the Church proposes as revealed are not truths of divine origin but are a certain interpretation of religious facts” (Proposition 22).
When the text declares “the divine light radiating from this Child helps us to recognize humanity in every new life,” it substitutes the supernatural order of grace with naturalistic sentimentality. Compare this to Pius XII’s Mystici Corporis: “For not every sin…is such that of its own nature it severs man from the Body of the Church, as does schism or heresy or apostasy” (n. 22).
Omission of Christ’s Social Kingship
Nowhere does the homily mention Christ’s Regnum Sociale, despite its central importance in pre-conciliar magisterium. Pius XI’s Quas Primas explicitly commanded: “Rulers of states…fulfill this duty themselves and with their people, if they wish to maintain their authority inviolate” (n. 32). The antipope’s silence on this constitutes apostasy from the Church’s mission to subordinate all civil authority to Christ.
The homily’s reference to “a distorted economy” treating humans as “merchandise” ignores Pius XI’s condemnation of economic collectivism in Quadragesimo Anno: “No one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist” (n. 120). Instead of proposing Catholic solutions, the text offers vacuous platitudes about “gentle light” illuminating “all children of this world”—effectively denying extra Ecclesiam nulla salus.
Modernist Language as Heretical Signifier
The constant use of “human person” (13 instances) replaces the traditional emphasis on souls needing salvation. This echoes Paul VI’s anthropological shift condemned by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre: “They prefer to speak of rights rather than duties, of values rather than commandments” (Open Letter to Confused Catholics).
The homily’s climax exemplifies its naturalism: “Christmas becomes for us a time of gratitude and mission…to bear witness before the world.” Contrast this with Pius X’s warning: “The Church is essentially an unequal society…comprising two categories of persons, the Pastors and the flock” (Vehementer Nos, 1906). By reducing mission to vague “witness,” the text denies the hierarchical Church’s duty to govern nations and convert heretics.
Liturgical and Eschatological Bankruptcy
Though celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Novus Ordo service described constitutes what Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani called “a striking departure from Catholic theology” (1969 Critical Study). The homily never mentions the Mass as propitiatory sacrifice, instead calling it a “feast of faith, charity and hope”—terms equally applicable to Protestant gatherings.
The concluding blessing—”Peace be with you all!”—parodies Christ’s post-Resurrection greeting while omitting the conditions of peace: repentance and submission to Church authority. As Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors declared: “The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” is condemned (Proposition 80).
Source:
Full text: Pope Leo XIV’s Christmas night homily (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 24.12.2025