The Catholic News Agency portal (January 3, 2026) reports on Xavier Polisetty, a seminarian from the Diocese of Fort Worth, who during the SEEK 2026 conference encouraged men to pursue priesthood in the post-conciliar structures. The article emphasizes emotional experiences over doctrinal formation, with Polisetty stating: “God will give you the grace to say yes” despite doubts about celibacy. He references “Fr.” David Michael Moses’ description of priests being “so close to Jesus” during sacramental rites, while admitting to weekly vocational uncertainties. This narrative typifies the neo-church’s anthropocentric approach to Holy Orders.
Naturalization of Sacred Ministry
Polisetty’s admission of experiencing doubts “almost on a weekly basis” reveals the catastrophic formation crisis in post-conciliar seminaries. The 1917 Code of Canon Law (can. 1352 §2) mandated that seminarians demonstrate “firm and perpetual will to consecrate themselves to the divine ministry” before receiving tonsure. Pius XI’s Ad Catholici Sacerdotii (1935) condemned precisely this modernist tendency to reduce priesthood to psychological struggle: “The priest must be holy because his office demands holiness… Any lack of seriousness in a priest is intolerable.” The article’s celebration of perpetual indecision constitutes spiritual malpractice.
Sacrilegious Sacramental Theology
The reported words of “Fr.” Moses – that priests “speak for [Jesus]” during confessions and Masses – constitute a dangerous simplification masking heretical presuppositions. The Council of Trent (Session XXIII, Ch. 4) dogmatized that priests act in persona Christi through ontological character imprint, not emotional proximity. Moreover, given that Polisetty trains at The Catholic University of America – an institution implementing the 1976 Program of Priestly Formation that abolished Latin requirements – his sacramental efficacy remains doubtful at best. As Pius XII warned in Sacramentum Ordinis (1947), any deviation from sacramental form invalidates Holy Orders.
Psychologized Celibacy Versus Sacrificial Oblation
The seminarian’s claim that “everyone has those desires” for marriage dangerously normalizes concupiscence rather than demanding supernatural mortification. Contrast this with the Roman Catechism‘s teaching: “Celibacy is to be embraced not as imposed by law, but as spontaneously undertaken for the sake of greater liberty in the service of God.” (Part II, Ch. 7). Pius XII’s Sacra Virginitas (1954) explicitly condemned the modern tendency to “consider celibacy impossible or inexpedient” (§15). The article’s therapeutic language (“empathy my journey has given me”) reduces priestly identity to social work, abandoning the Thomistic understanding of priesthood as alter Christus.
Omissions Exposing Apostasy
The complete absence of references to the Tridentine Mass – replaced by the invalid Novus Ordo service Polisetty will presumably celebrate – demonstrates the neo-church’s break with Catholic Tradition. Nowhere does the article mention the priest’s primary duty to offer propitiatory sacrifice, instead emphasizing conference networking (“explore the booths at Mission Way”). This aligns with Paul VI’s heretical 1967 Sacrificium Laudis address claiming the Eucharist is merely “a fraternal meal.” The true priestly ideal remains defined by Pius X’s Haerent Animo (1908): “The priest must be another Christ… shining with the splendor of all virtues.” (§3)
Source:
Seminarian says ‘God will give you the grace to say yes’ (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 03.01.2026