Theological Bankruptcy of Conciliar “Pastoral” Response
The cited article from EWTN News (February 20, 2026) reports that Bishop Silvano Pedroso Montalvo of Guantánamo-Baracoa, Cuba, met with the antipope “Leo XIV” during an ad limina visit postponed due to Cuba’s fuel crisis. The Cuban Bishops’ Conference, through Father Ariel Suárez, stated that “the shepherds have prayed and understood that this is a time to be with the flock: praying, accompanying, serving” amid the economic collapse. The antipope expressed concern over U.S.-Cuba tensions and urged “sincere and effective dialogue.” The bishops’ assistant secretary further claimed “political pluralism is an asset” for Cuba. This narrative, dripping with naturalistic humanism, constitutes a complete abandonment of the Catholic faith as defined before the 1958 apostasy.
Omission of Christ’s Kingship: The Primary Heresy
The article exhibits a total silence on the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the indispensable foundation for any true Catholic social order. Pope Pius XI, in the encyclical Quas Primas (1925), dogmatically taught that Christ’s kingship is not figurative but proper, extending over all individuals, families, and states. The Pope declared that “the Kingdom of our Redeemer encompasses all men” and that “the state is happy not by one means, and man by another; for the state is nothing else than a harmonious association of men” under Christ’s law. He warned that when “God and Jesus Christ… were removed from laws and states… the foundations of that authority were destroyed.” The Cuban bishops and the antipope, in focusing exclusively on material shortages, diplomatic “dialogue,” and political “pluralism,” explicitly reject the Social Kingship of Christ. They treat the state as a purely natural entity, thereby embracing the secularism condemned by Pius XI as “the plague that poisons human society.” Their pastoral priority is not the salvation of souls through the restoration of Christ’s reign, but the alleviation of temporal suffering through human negotiations—a perfect echo of the modernist error that the Church’s mission is merely naturalistic “service.”
Modernist Ecumenism and Dialogue as Apostasy
The antipope’s call for “sincere and effective dialogue” and the bishops’ promotion of “political pluralism” are direct implementations of the errors condemned by Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors. Error 80 states: “The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization.” This is precisely the action of “Leo XIV” and the Cuban hierarchy. They place the “dialogue” of men—especially with a communist regime and a hostile foreign power—above the absolute and non-negotiable demands of God’s law. Error 77 adds: “In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship.” The bishops’ endorsement of “political pluralism” is a sugar-coated version of this error, implying that the state may legitimately tolerate or endorse false religions and ideologies, thereby denying the exclusive right of Christ the King to rule society. This is the essence of the “abomination of desolation” standing in the holy place: the substitution of divine monarchy with humanistic negotiation.
The Illegitimacy of the Conciliar Hierarchy
The entire premise of the article—the “ad limina visit” of bishops to the “Holy See”—assumes the validity of the post-1958 Vatican structure. From the perspective of integral Catholic faith, this is a fatal error. As St. Robert Bellarmine taught, a manifest heretic “by that very fact ceases to be Pope and head, just as he ceases to be a Christian and member of the body of the Church.” The line of antipopes from John XXIII through “Leo XIV” have all manifestly embraced the errors of Vatican II, which are condemned by St. Pius X in Lamentabili sane exitu and Pascendi Dominici gregis. The Cuban bishops who recognize this antipope are therefore in formal schism. Their “pastoral concern” is nullified by their communion with heresy. The “flock” they claim to serve is not the Catholic Church but the conciliar sect. Their presence in Cuba, occupying Catholic churches, is an act of usurpation. Canon 188.4 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law states that an office becomes vacant by “publicly defects from the Catholic faith.” The entire conciliar episcopate, by accepting religious liberty (condemned in Syllabus Error 15) and ecumenism, has publicly defected.
Naturalism vs. Supernatural Salvation
The article’s language is entirely naturalistic: “fuel shortage crisis,” “economic and social crisis,” “shortages of basic goods,” “rising inflation,” “suffering of the beloved Cuban people.” There is not a single mention of sin, grace, the Sacraments, the state of souls, the final judgment, or the necessity of Catholic faith for salvation. This is the hallmark of the post-conciliar apostasy. Pius XI in Quas Primas stated that Christ’s kingdom “is opposed only to the kingdom of Satan and the powers of darkness—and requires its followers not only to renounce earthly riches and possessions… but also to deny themselves and carry their cross.” The Cuban prelates speak only of earthly riches and political arrangements. They have exchanged the “sweet yoke of Christ” for the yoke of Marxist economics and American sanctions. Their “praying” is devoid of supernatural content because they no longer believe in the God who rewards and punishes, but in a “benevolent Creator” of the naturalist type condemned in Syllabus Error 58. The “accompanying” they offer is that of social workers, not of Catholic shepherds who must “preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, entreat, rebuke” (2 Tim. 4:2), especially when their people are being led into apostasy by the conciliar sect itself.
Conclusion: A Call to Abandon the Conciliar Sect
The meeting in Rome is not a sign of hope but a manifestation of the great apostasy. The antipope “Leo XIV” and the Cuban bishops are all participants in the “Church of the New Advent,” which has replaced the immutable faith with a humanistic, dialoguing, and syncretistic religion. Their concern for the material welfare of Cubans is a smokescreen for their abandonment of the spiritual welfare of souls. They promote “political pluralism” while ignoring that the only true pluralism is between truth and error, and that Christ is the sole King whose law must govern all states. The faithful in Cuba must understand that their so-called bishops are in schism and that their primary duty is to seek the true faith outside the conciliar structures, in the remnant of the Catholic Church that maintains the integral doctrine and liturgical worship of the pre-1958 era. The fuel crisis is a temporal trial; the crisis of faith is eternal. The bishops have chosen to address the former while causing the latter.
Source:
1 Cuban bishop able to meet with Pope Leo XIV despite country’s fuel crisis (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 20.02.2026