The EWTN News article dated February 6, 2026, describes “Archbishop Paul D. Etienne” of Seattle and “Archbishop Richard G. Henning” of Boston placing a $500 wager on the Super Bowl outcome, with proceeds directed to immigrant-focused charities. While acknowledging “more important matters” like immigration debates, the “archbishops” justify the event as promoting “unity” and “relaxation.” The article further records “Archbishop Etienne” promoting a superstition linking Seahawks’ Super Bowl appearances to papal elections, including the 2025 election of antipope “Leo XIV.”
Sacred Office Profaned by Secular Spectacle
The spectacle of purported successors to the apostles engaging in sports gambling constitutes sacrilegious trivialization of the episcopal office. Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907) condemned Modernists for reducing religion to “vague experiences” divorced from doctrinal truth. These representatives of the conciliar sect exemplify this error by treating the Church’s mission as interchangeable with secular entertainment.
Pius XI’s Quas Primas (1925) established Christ’s social kingship, commanding that “rulers of states…publicly venerate and obey the reigning Christ.” Yet these “archbishops” encourage faithful to seek unity through a pagan gladiatorial spectacle rather than through unum Dominum, unam fidem, unum baptisma (Eph 4:5). Their $500 token donation to immigration causes reinforces the conciliar sect’s transformation of the Church into a NGO – a betrayal condemned in Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors (Prop. 24-25, 39-40).
Naturalism Replaces Supernatural Faith
Nowhere does the article mention the salvation of souls, the Last Things, or the propitiatory Sacrifice of Calvary – the Church’s actual mission. Instead, it promotes the modernist equivalence between grace and nature:
“Healthy competition is a part of so many aspects of human life, and it’s good for people to have something to take their minds off of other matters…to just relax.”
This naturalistic reduction contradicts Pope Pius X’s condemnation in Lamentabili Sane (1907) of those who make religion “a kind of evolution of human consciousness” (Prop. 22, 58). The Syllabus explicitly condemned the notion that “the Church is an enemy of…progress” (Prop. 57) – precisely the accusation these “archbishops” tacitly endorse by downplaying doctrine in favor of temporal concerns.
Blasphemous Superstition Masquerading as Piety
“Archbishop Etienne’s” claim that Seahawks appearances correlate with papal elections constitutes scandalous superstition:
“When Pope Benedict XVI was elected in April 2005, the Seahawks played in the Super Bowl in February 2006. Then Pope Francis was elected in March 2013, and the Seahawks played in the Super Bowl in 2014. In May 2025, Pope Leo XIV was elected and now Seattle’s team is once again in the championship game.”
Canon 2326 of the 1917 Code mandates excommunication for those who practice divination. By promoting this sacrilegious “omen,” the conciliar clergy expose their detachment from true Catholic sensibilities. This recalls Masonic numerology noted in the False Fatima Apparitions analysis regarding manipulated 100-year cycles.
Omissions Reveal Doctrinal Apostasy
The article’s silence on critical matters speaks volumes:
- No mention of reparation for the blasphemies inherent in pagan sports spectacles held on the Lord’s Day (Canon 1247 §1).
- No warning that receiving “Communion” in invalid Masses constitutes sacrilege (Council of Trent, Session XIII, Canon 11).
- No distinction between lawful immigration and the current anarchic invasion enabling demographic revolution against Christian civilization.
As Pius XI warned in Quas Primas: “When God and Jesus Christ are removed from laws and states…the foundations of authority are destroyed.” By treating the Church as a social club cheering alongside secular society, these “archbishops” accelerate civilization’s apostasy from its Creator.
Source:
Seattle, Boston archbishops make friendly wager ahead of 2026 Super Bowl (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 06.02.2026