Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the post-conciliar “church,” addressed a conference titled “The Culture of Giving” at Rome’s Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital on February 17, 2026. Speaking on organ donation, financial generosity, and volunteering, he presented these acts as supreme expressions of love that “transcend death,” framing them within a naturalistic, humanitarian paradigm utterly divorced from Catholic supernatural theology. Parolin’s speech, devoid of any reference to sin, grace, the state of grace, or the absolute primacy of Christ the King, epitomizes the Modernist reduction of charity to mere social work—a direct continuation of the apostasy condemned by St. Pius X in Pascendi Dominici gregis and the Syllabus of Errors.
The Naturalization of Supernatural Charity
Parolin’s central error is the systematic elimination of the supernatural from the concept of charity. He declares: “We can give everything—money, an organ, time”—and reduces these to “tools of justice” and “love that transcends death.” This is a Pelagian and Modernist distortion. True Catholic charity (caritas) is a theological virtue infused by God, ordered to the ultimate end of eternal salvation. It is not merely “generosity” or “solidarity” but a participation in the love of God Himself. As the Council of Trent anathematized (Session VI, Canon 19): “If anyone says that man is justified… by faith alone, without any cooperation of his own will… let him be anathema.” Parolin’s “culture of giving” implicitly denies the necessity of grace and the cooperation with God’s will, replacing it with a humanistic religion of works.
The pre-conciliar Magisterium consistently taught that all authentic charity must be rooted in the love of God and ordered to the salvation of souls. Pope Pius XI, in Quas Primas (1925), established the Feast of Christ the King precisely to combat the secular error that “the state could do without God.” Parolin, however, omits any mention of Christ’s reign, reducing “care” to a horizontal, sociological activity. His statement that “every contribution becomes ‘providence passing through human hands’” is a subtle form of pantheism, blurring the distinction between God’s providence and human action—precisely the error condemned in Syllabus Error #1 (pantheism) and #2 (denial of God’s action upon the world).
Organ Donation: A “Love” That Mocks the Dignity of the Human Person
Parolin’s glorification of organ donation as “an act of love that transcends death” is theologically reckless and medically dangerous. The pre-1958 Church, guided by the immutable principle of the inviolability of the human body (which is the temple of the Holy Ghost), permitted organ donation only under strict conditions: the donor must be certainly dead (i.e., cardiopulmonary death, not “brain death”), and the donation must not cause or hasten death. Pope Pius XII, in his 1956 allocution to anesthetists (Acta Apostolicae Sedis 48, 1956, p. 990), taught that “the removal of a vital organ from a living person is illicit” and that “the physician must be certain of death before proceeding with organ removal.” The modern criteria of “brain death,” developed after Vatican II, are a moral innovation that violates this principle, effectively allowing the removal of organs from living persons—a form of indirect euthanasia.
Parolin’s phrase “love that transcends death” is particularly blasphemous. Only the Resurrection of Christ truly transcends death; human acts, even generous ones, cannot. This language echoes the Modernist heresy condemned by St. Pius X in Lamentabili sane exitu #36: “The Resurrection of the Savior is not properly a historical fact, but belongs to the purely supernatural order. For this reason, it is not proven, cannot be proven, and was slowly inferred by Christian consciousness.” Parolin reduces the supernatural to a naturalistic sentiment, implying that human love can conquer death—a denial of the particular judgment and the necessity of Christ’s Redemption.
Furthermore, Parolin completely ignores the moral danger of scandal and the potential for cooperation with evil. In a “hospital” like Bambino Gesù, which operates within the conciliar sect and likely performs procedures contrary to Catholic morality (e.g., sterilization, abortion-linked treatments), organ donation can become formal cooperation with evil. The pre-1958 moral theology, as taught by theologians like Prümmer and Tanquerey, required that any cooperation with evil be avoided unless necessary to avoid a greater evil—and even then, it must be material, not formal. Parolin’s blanket endorsement, without any caveats about the moral integrity of the medical institution or the state of the recipient, is a grave omission that endangers souls.
Financial Giving as “Tool of Justice”: A Direct Embrace of Syllabus Error #58
Parolin’s treatment of financial giving is a verbatim repetition of the condemned errors of the Syllabus of Errors (1864). He states: “Money, which when inspired by charity becomes a ‘tool of justice.’” This is precisely the error condemned in Syllabus Error #58: “All the rectitude and excellence of morality ought to be placed in the accumulation and increase of riches by every possible means, and the gratification of pleasure.” Parolin reduces justice to material redistribution, ignoring the Catholic teaching that justice is a cardinal virtue ordering man to his neighbor according to right (ius), which is grounded in the eternal law of God. True Catholic charity, as St. Thomas Aquinas teaches (Summa Theologiae II-II, Q. 32, A. 1), is “friendship with God” and must be ordered to the supernatural end. Parolin’s “tool of justice” is a secular, utilitarian concept that aligns with Modernism’s “cult of man” (condemned in Pascendi).
Moreover, Parolin thanks “all who support the Bambino Gesù Hospital,” yet he never asks whether this support is given with the intention of advancing the Catholic Faith. The pre-1958 Church taught that almsgiving must be done with a right intention—to glorify God and save souls—not merely to alleviate temporal suffering. Pope Pius XI, in Quadragesimo anno (1931), warned against charity that “ignores the supernatural order” and becomes “merely human philanthropy.” Parolin’s speech is a textbook example of this error.
The Omission of Christ the King and the Supernatural Order
The most damning aspect of Parolin’s address is its complete silence on the Kingship of Christ. He speaks of “care,” “hope,” “dignity,” and “fraternity” but never mentions that all legitimate charity must be subordinated to the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the very error that Pius XI condemned in Quas Primas: “When God and Jesus Christ were removed from laws and states… the foundations of that authority were destroyed.” Parolin’s “culture of giving” is a direct product of the secularism (“laicism”) that Pius XI called “the plague that poisons human society.” The encyclical states unequivocally: “The kingdom of our Redeemer encompasses all men… He is the source of salvation for individuals and for the whole.” Yet Parolin reduces the Church’s mission to “care” without conversion, without the preaching of the Gospel, without the necessity of the sacraments.
This omission is not accidental but symptomatic of the Modernist heresy. St. Pius X, in Pascendi, defined Modernism as “the synthesis of all heresies,” whose chief error is the “evolution of dogma” and the “democratization of the Church.” Parolin’s speech mirrors this by:
– Replacing the sacrifice of the Mass with “care” as the primary Christian act.
– Omitting any reference to sin, judgment, hell, or the necessity of sanctifying grace.
– Presenting “volunteers” as the heroes of the Church, rather than priests offering the Holy Sacrifice.
– Using the parable of the Good Samaritan not as a call to spiritual mercy (which includes admonishing sinners) but as a warrant for mere physical assistance—a classic Modernist re-interpretation condemned in Lamentabili #13: “The Gospels did not report what actually happened, but what they thought would be of greater benefit.”
The “Good Samaritan” Distorted: From Spiritual Mercy to Naturalistic Humanism
Parolin invokes the Good Samaritan to praise volunteers who “stop, draw near, and care.” But the pre-conciliar Fathers and Doctors saw this parable primarily as a call to spiritual works of mercy: to instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish sinners, etc. St. Augustine (Tractatus in Ioannem, 123.5) explains that the Samaritan’s oil and wine signify the “sacraments and the word of God,” which heal the wounds of sin. Parolin’s reduction to physical “accompaniment” is a Modernist tactic to empty the parable of its supernatural content. As the Syllabus condemned (Error #40): “The teaching of the Catholic Church is hostile to the well-being and interests of society.” Parolin’s “fraternity” is the false fraternity of naturalism, not the Catholic unity built on faith and sacraments.
Conclusion: A Speech of Apostasy in the Service of the Conciliar Sect
Cardinal Parolin’s address is not merely erroneous; it is a manifestation of apostasy. It systematically:
1. Eliminates the supernatural end of charity (eternal salvation).
2. Reduces justice to material redistribution (Syllabus Error #58).
3. Glorifies organ donation without moral safeguards, endorsing the “brain death” fraud.
4. Omits Christ the King and the necessity of His reign over individuals and states (condemned by Pius XI).
5. Distorts Scripture to fit a naturalistic agenda (Modernist error condemned in Lamentabili).
6. Presents a “church” whose mission is “care” rather than the salvation of souls—the very definition of the “conciliar sect” that has replaced the Catholic Church.
The faithful must reject such speeches with the same vigor as the Syllabus condemned the errors of its day. As Pope Pius IX declared in Quanta Cura (1864): “The civil power… can and ought to pass judgment on the instructions issued for the guidance of consciences… [but] this is a most false and fatal error.” Parolin’s “culture of giving” is precisely such a false instruction—a humanistic substitute for Catholic doctrine that leads souls to hell. The only true “culture of giving” is the sacrifice of the Mass, the propagation of the Faith, and the call to penance and conversion—all utterly absent from this apostate discourse.
Source:
Cardinal Parolin: Organ donation is an act of love that trascends death (vaticannews.va)
Date: 17.02.2026