The Anti-Church’s Lebanon Pilgrimage: Ecumenical Theater Masks Apostasy
The “EWTN News” portal (November 23, 2025) reports Lebanese anticipation for Antipope Leo XIV’s visit, recalling previous trips by John Paul II (1997) and Benedict XVI (2012). Robert El Haybe and Elie Baroud describe these events as moments of “spiritual revival,” claiming they offered hope during Syrian occupation, economic collapse, and regional conflicts. Baroud asserts the upcoming visit should demand “peace,” disarmament of militias, and return of Christian emigrants. The article frames papal visits as sustaining Lebanon’s “model of coexistence,” ignoring doctrinal concerns.
Naturalism Replaces Supernatural Mission
The article reduces the Church’s mission to political mediation and social therapy, stating Benedict XVI’s visit “acted as a shield” against terrorism and economic crisis. This contradicts Quas primas (Pius XI, 1925), which declares: “When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony” (n. 19). By emphasizing earthly stability over the conversion of souls, the neo-church inverts the hierarchy of ends. The silence on proselytism exposes its apostasy: Christ commanded “going therefore, teach ye all nations… teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20), not interfaith “coexistence.”
False Ecumenism as Spiritual Sabotage
El Haybe’s claim that “everyone was there, including Muslims” during John Paul II’s visit celebrates the heresy condemned by Pius XI: “That false statement which is called ‘ecumenism’ tends to the union of all who boast of the name of Christian, even though they differ among themselves in faith” (Mortalium animos, 1928). The article’s praise for Muslim participation in papal events violates the Syllabus of Errors: “Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ” (Proposition 17). True shepherds warn non-Catholics of eternal peril—they don’t orchestrate interfaith spectacles.
Omission of Persecuted Faithful
While detailing Hezbollah’s aggression and Christian emigration, the article ignores the systematic persecution driving faithful Catholics from Lebanon. The conciliar sect’s bishops have for decades suppressed the Traditional Latin Mass and persecuted priests loyal to Tradition. Lamentabili sane (1907) condemned the modernist error that “Revelation was merely man’s self-awareness of his relationship to God” (Proposition 20)—precisely the anthropocentric religion promoted by these papal visits. No mention is made of Catholics executed by Islamists or imprisoned for opposing Vatican II’s heresies.
Canonization of Apostates
The blasphemous reference to John Paul II as “St. John Paul II” exemplifies the neo-church’s inversion of sanctity. This usurper promulgated the heretical Assisi gatherings (1986) and kissed the Koran (1999)—acts Pius X would condemn as “the synthesis of all errors” (Pascendi, 1907). True saints like Pius V excommunicated heretics (Regnans in excelsis, 1570); antipopes canonize those who betray Christ. The article’s nostalgia for Benedict XVI ignores his apostasy in claiming Muslims “adore the one God” (Regensburg, 2006)—denying the necessity of the Trinity for salvation.
False Hope in Earthly Powers
Baroud’s demand that the antipope pressure “global powers… to enforce sovereignty” confirms the neo-church’s entanglement with geopolitics. Contrast this with Pius IX’s condemnation: “The Roman pontiffs have, by their too arbitrary conduct, contributed to the division of the Church” (Syllabus, Proposition 38). True popes like Pius VII resisted Napoleon, declaring: “We cannot approve demands containing capital errors placing the rights of the Church in jeopardy” (1808). The conciliar sect, however, negotiates with Hezbollah—a terrorist entity—while abandoning Lebanese Catholics to Islamic domination.
Source:
Ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s historic visit, Lebanese recall past papal trips (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 23.11.2025