Jordan’s UNESCO Baptism Site: Syncretism Masquerading as Piety

The VaticanNews portal (January 11, 2026) promotes Al-Maghtas in Jordan as the baptismal site of Christ, emphasizing archaeological findings, UNESCO recognition, and visits by antipopes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. This neo-ecclesial propaganda exemplifies the conciliar sect’s surrender to naturalistic historicism and religious indifferentism.

Archaeology as Substitute for Divine Revelation

The article obsessively cites “archaeological evidence“—churches, hermits’ caves, and a “cross-shaped baptistery“—as validation of the site’s authenticity. This reduces the supernatural event of the Theophany to a mere historical curiosity. Quod non est in monumentis, non est in mundo (“What is not in the records does not exist”) becomes the unspoken dogma, contradicting Pius IX’s condemnation of those who subordinate faith to “human reason without reference to God” (Syllabus of Errors, 1864, Propositions 2-3).

“UNESCO: Outstanding value for humanity”

Here lies the theological bankruptcy: A Masonic-inspired secular body (Lamentabili Sane, 1907) replaces the Church as arbiter of sacred truth. The 2015 UNESCO inscription constitutes blatant submission to anti-Christian globalism, violating Christ’s exclusive kingship over nations (Pius XI, Quas Primas). By celebrating this, the conciliar sect endorses the heresy condemned by Pius IX: “The Roman Pontiff can reconcile himself with progress, liberalism, and modern civilization” (Syllabus, Proposition 80).

False Ecumenism in Stone and Mortar

The article boasts that the site “also includes churches of other Christian denominations.” This institutionalizes the equality of error with truth, directly opposing Pius XI’s teaching that “the Church alone is the depository of truth” (Mortalium Animos, 1928). The 2025 consecration of the “Church of the Baptism of the Lord” by Bergoglio’s secretary Parolin compounds the sacrilege—a counterfeit liturgy in a temple of indifferentism.

The Antipapal Pilgrimage: Sacrilege as Spectacle

The portal glorifies visits by three usurpers of the Apostolic See:

John Paul II (2000): Architect of the Assisi abominations who kissed the Koran
Benedict XVI (2009): Destroyer of the Mass with Summorum Pontificum‘s false traditionalism
Francis (2014): Heretic who declared “God wills religious diversity” (Fratelli Tutti, 2020)

Their presence transforms the site into a stage for apostasy, fulfilling Pius X’s warning about Modernists who “pervert the eternal concept of truth” (Pascendi Dominici Gregis, 1907). The article’s silence on the sacramental nature of baptism—the ex opere operato infusion of sanctifying grace—exposes its naturalistic reduction of the sacrament to a historical footnote.

Elijah’s Hill: Syncretic Sabotage of Prophecy

The identification of Tell al-Kharrar as “Elijah’s Hill” (Jabal Mar Elias) becomes a vehicle for interreligious dialogue. This distorts the prophet’s mission as precursor Domini in spiritu et virtute Eliae (“forerunner of the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah”—Luke 1:17), reducing it to an archaeological tagline for tourism. Where is the warning that “outside the Church there is no salvation” (Council of Florence, 1442)? Where the call to convert Jordan’s Muslim majority?

A Celebration of Apostasy

The article culminates in the 2025 consecration of a “new Catholic church“—an oxymoron given the conciliar sect’s invalid sacraments and heretical rites. This structure stands not as a house of God but as a monument to the Great Apostasy, where “the abomination of desolation standeth in the holy place” (Matthew 24:15). Its dedication during Bergoglio’s reign confirms it as part of his “synodal church” of man-worship.

In this Al-Maghtas spectacle, we witness the total inversion of Catholic mission: Not the conversion of Jordan to Christ the King, but the conversion of the faith to UNESCO-approved relativism. As Pius XII warned, when archaeology replaces theology, “the divine gives way to the human, the supernatural to the natural” (Humani Generis, 1950). Let true Catholics turn away from these neo-pagan shrines and cling to the immutable depositum fidei—for Christus heri, hodie, et in saecula (“Christ yesterday, today, and forever”—Hebrews 13:8).

Source:
Bethany Beyond the Jordan, the Place of Jesus’ Baptism (vaticannews.va)
Date: 11.01.2026