The EWTN News report from March 3, 2026, details a press encounter where the antipope occupying the Vatican, Leo XIV (Robert Prevost), stated he “cannot comment” on the 20-year prison sentence imposed on Catholic publisher Jimmy Lai by the Chinese communist regime. While expressing generic support for “the courage of those who defend dignity, justice, and the right of people to be informed,” the antipope explicitly avoided any direct reference to Lai’s specific persecution or to the tyranny of the People’s Republic of China. He concluded with a vague call for “less hatred and more peace” and “authentic dialogue,” framing the issue in purely naturalistic terms of human rights and international conscience, utterly silent on the supernatural duty of the Church to publicly condemn the enemies of Christ and His law.
This calculated omission is not mere diplomacy; it is the logical fruit of the conciliar apostasy, revealing a complete abandonment of the Church’s divine mission to be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world” in favor of a naturalistic, humanistic “dialogue” with the powers of darkness.
The Theological Bankruptcy of “Cannot Comment”
The antipope’s refusal to name the evil is a direct repudiation of the prophetic and juridical duty of the Vicar of Christ. Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical Quas Primas on the Kingship of Christ, explicitly ties the peace of nations to the public recognition of Christ’s reign: “the hope of lasting peace will not yet shine upon nations as long as individuals and states renounce and do not wish to recognize the reign of our Savior.” The antipope’s silence on the persecution of a Catholic layman by an atheist regime is a practical denial of this fundamental truth. It reduces the Church’s voice to a mere NGO concerned with “free speech” as a civil right, divorced from its foundation in the divine law and the salvation of souls. The Syllabus of Errors of Pope Pius IX condemns the very separation Pius XI laments: “The Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church” (Error 55). By engaging in “dialogue” with a regime that systematically crushes the Faith and imprisons its adherents, the conciliar sect practices the indifferentism Pius IX anathematized: “Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true” (Error 15). To remain silent on Lai’s imprisonment is to treat the atheist, persecuting state as a legitimate partner in dialogue, thus placing it on a level with the one true Church.
A Symptom of Systemic Apostasy: The Omission of Supernatural Truth
The analysis must focus on what is not said. The antipope’s statement is a masterclass in naturalistic language, entirely devoid of the supernatural. There is no mention of:
* The martyrium of Jimmy Lai, who suffers for Christ the King.
* The duty of Catholic rulers to publicly honor Christ and obey Him (as defined in Quas Primas).
* The sin of idolatry and apostasy inherent in the Chinese communist state’s mandatory atheism and worship of the state.
* The excommunication latae sententiae incurred by those who formally cooperate with such a regime in its anti-Catholic policies.
* The final judgment, where Christ will avenge the insults done to His royal dignity.
This silence is the gravest accusation. St. Pius X, in Lamentabili sane exitu, condemned the Modernist error that “the dogmas which the Church proposes as revealed are not truths of divine origin but are a certain interpretation of religious facts” (Proposition 22). The antipope’s action applies this error practically: the “fact” of Lai’s imprisonment is separated from the “dogma” of Christ’s exclusive kingship and the Church’s duty to proclaim it. The result is a purely secular “human rights” framework, which the Syllabus condemns as originating from a denial of God: “Human reason, without any reference whatsoever to God, is the sole arbiter of truth and falsehood, and of good and evil” (Error 3).
The “Dialogue” Charade and the Rejection of Christ’s Reign
The call for “authentic dialogue” is a coded reference to the conciliar sect’s preferred method of engagement with error, a method that presupposes the legitimacy of the other party’s position. This is the ecumenism of Assisi and the “human fraternity” of Abu Dhabi, which effectively nullifies the unique claims of Christ. Pope Pius IX’s Syllabus directly condemns the notion that “the civil power may interfere in matters relating to religion, morality and spiritual government” (Error 44), yet the antipope’s entire approach to China is predicated on the civil power’s (the PRC’s) terms. The Vatican’s “provisional agreement” on bishop appointments is the concrete fruit of this error, placing the Church’s governance under the thumb of an atheist state. The antipope’s “cannot comment” is thus the necessary corollary: to condemn Lai’s persecutors would be to condemn the very state with which the conciliar sect has compromised. This is the spiritual bankruptcy of a structure that has made a pact with the enemies of God.
Contrast with True Catholic Teaching: The Duty to Confront Tyranny
The true Catholic Church, as taught by the Roman Pontiffs before the death of Pius XII, has always asserted its duty and right to speak truth to power. Pope Pius IX, in his letter to the Prussian bishops, declared that laws persecuting the Church are “null and void because they are absolutely contrary to the divine constitution of the Church.” He further stated that no civil power “can deprive of the pastoral office those whom the Holy Ghost has made Bishops.” Where is this boldness from the occupant of the Vatican? It is absent, replaced by the cowardice of the “cannot comment.” The encyclical Quas Primas is unequivocal: rulers who ignore Christ’s reign “will very severely avenge these insults” at the final judgment. The antipope’s failure to remind the Chinese regime of this truth is a dereliction of his most fundamental duty, proving he holds the office not as the servant of Christ, but as the servant of the world’s “powers and principalities” (Eph. 6:12).
Conclusion: The Antipope as the Embodiment of the “Abomination of Desolation”
The figure of Leo XIV, and the conciliar sect he leads, stands in stark opposition to the integral Catholic faith. His statement on Jimmy Lai is a perfect microcosm of the entire post-conciliar revolution: a removal of the supernatural, a subordination of the Church’s mission to worldly “dialogue,” and a practical denial of the Social Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The “abomination of desolation” (Matt. 24:15) is not merely a future event; it is the present reality of a structure occupying the Vatican that speaks the language of the world, not the language of the Faith. The faithful are called to reject this apostasy, cling to the immutable Tradition codified before 1958, and recognize that the true Church continues in those who profess the whole Catholic faith, led by bishops and priests in communion with none of the post-conciliar antipopes. The suffering of Jimmy Lai cries out for the Church’s militant witness, but the counterfeit church in Rome offers only the silence of complicity and the empty platitudes of naturalistic humanism.
Source:
Pope ‘cannot comment’ on Jimmy Lai’s imprisonment (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 03.03.2026