EWTN News reports on a chrism Mass celebrated by “Pope Leo XIV” at the Vatican on Holy Thursday, April 2, 2026. The event, described with neutral journalistic tone, involves the blessing of holy oils for sacraments—baptism, confirmation, anointing of the sick, and holy orders—by a man who occupies the Chair of Peter after the death of the antipope Francis. The photographic focus is on liturgical action and clerical greetings. This ritual, presented as a continuation of Catholic tradition, is in fact a profound sacrilege, a theatrical performance by a “conciliar sect” that has no authority to consecrate oils or offer the Holy Sacrifice. The very act exposes the theological and spiritual bankruptcy of the post-conciliar revolution, which has replaced the immutable Faith with a naturalistic, human-centered religion.
The Invalidity of the Chrism and the Loss of Jurisdiction
The foundational error of this entire event is the presence of an antipope. According to the unchanging doctrine of the Church, a manifest heretic cannot be Pope. St. Robert Bellarmine, whose teaching is definitive on this point, states: “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 current occupant of the Vatican, “Leo XIV” (Robert Prevost), is a manifest heretic. He embodies the Modernist errors condemned by St. Pius X in Lamentabili sane exitu and Pascendi Dominici gregis, particularly the evolution of dogma and the hermeneutics of continuity. By his very acceptance of the conciliar reforms—religious liberty, collegiality, ecumenism—he has publicly defected from the Catholic Faith. Therefore, he lost the papacy ipso facto the moment he publicly promulgated or adhered to these errors.
This is not a disciplinary matter but a theological necessity. As Bellarmine clarifies, a hidden heretic retains jurisdiction, but a manifest heretic is “already outside the Church before excommunication and deprived of all jurisdiction. They have indeed been condemned by their own judgment.” The 1917 Code of Canon Law, which remains the last valid codification of Catholic canon law, confirms this in Canon 188.4: “Every office becomes vacant by the mere fact and without any declaration by reason of tacit resignation… if the cleric: … 4. Publicly defects from the Catholic faith.” Public defection occurs through formal heresy or apostasy. The entire pontificate of “Leo XIV” is an act of public apostasy from the Faith of our fathers.
Consequently, any sacramental action performed by him, or by any bishop or priest in communion with him, is invalid or at best illicit. The holy chrism, which requires consecration by a valid bishop, is blessed by a man who lacks all jurisdiction. The oils are thus not set aside for God but remain common matter. The sacraments administered with these oils—baptism, confirmation, holy orders—are, in all probability, invalid due to the lack of proper form and intention, but certainly illicit. This is the “abomination of desolation” standing in the holy place (Matt. 24:15): a false priesthood offering a false sacrifice with false sacramental matter.
The Omission of Christ the King and the Reign of Naturalism
The reported chrism Mass is a stark contrast to the true Catholic teaching on the reign of Christ the King, as defined by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Quas Primas. Pius XI established the feast of Christ the King specifically as a remedy against the “plague” of secularism and laicism, which “denied Christ the Lord’s reign over all nations.” The encyclical declares: “When God and Jesus Christ… were removed from laws and states… the foundations of that authority were destroyed.” It commands rulers to publicly honor Christ and obey Him, for His kingdom encompasses all men and all societies.
What is utterly absent from the EWTN report, and from the entire action of “Leo XIV,” is any reference to this absolute kingship. The modernists in the Vatican have reduced Christ to a “king” of vague spiritual inspiration, while they themselves kneel before the idols of the world: human rights, religious liberty, and globalist fraternity. The chrism Mass, in this context, is not an act of worship of the true King but a ritual of conformity to the world. The oils are for sacraments that are themselves being deformed into mere symbols of community and “grace” disconnected from the juridical, social, and political reign of Christ.
The Syllabus of Errors, promulgated by Pope Pius IX, condemns precisely this naturalistic separation. Error #55: “The Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church.” Error #77: “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 modernists in Rome, while performing ancient rites, have embraced these errors. Their “chrism Mass” is a liturgical act that implicitly rejects the Social Kingship of Christ, for they serve a “kingdom” that is purely “spiritual” and interior, having no claims on public law, education, or the constitutions of nations. This is the “reduction of the Church’s mission to naturalistic humanism” condemned by every pre-conciliar Pope.
The Silence on Supernatural Reality and the Cult of Man
The EWTN article is a masterpiece of naturalistic reporting. It describes the “blessing of holy oils” and “clergy raising hands in prayer” with the same tone one might describe a corporate team-building exercise. There is no mention of the supernatural efficacy of the sacraments, no reference to the state of grace, no hint of the final judgment. This silence is not journalistic restraint; it is the very voice of Modernism. St. Pius X, in Lamentabili sane exitu, condemned the proposition that “Faith, as assent of the mind, is ultimately based on a sum of probabilities.” The modernists have reduced the sacraments to mere symbols, the Mass to a “memorial of the Lord,” and the priesthood to a function of community service.
The chrism, in Catholic doctrine, is a sacramental that signifies the plenitude of the Holy Ghost and is used in sacraments that imprint an indelible character. Its blessing is a supernatural act confected by the Church’s hierarchical power. To report on it without this context is to present it as a mere ritual. This is the “cult of man” replacing the cult of God. The focus is on the “clergy” (in quotes, as they are invalid ministers), on the “pope” (the antipope), on the “Vatican” (the conciliar sect’s headquarters)—all human elements. The divine element—the grace conferred by valid sacraments, the honor due to God alone—is systematically omitted. This omission is the gravest accusation. It reveals that the authors and the institution they serve operate on a purely natural, rationalistic plane, which is the essence of Modernism.
The Hermeneutics of Continuity in Liturgical Action
The article presents the event as a seamless continuation of Catholic tradition: “traditional blessing of the holy oils,” “chrism Mass,” “Holy Thursday.” This is the “hermeneutics of continuity” in action—the attempt to make the revolutionary appear as the traditional. But the pre-conciliar Church, as defined by the Council of Trent and the Code of Canon Law, required that the chrism be consecrated by the bishop alone, with specific prayers and the breathing (exsufflation) over the oils, which is shown in the photos. However, the validity of the act depends on the minister’s jurisdiction and intention. A bishop who is in schism or heresy cannot act as a bishop of the Church. The “Leo XIV” and the bishops concelebrating with him are part of a “paramasonic structure” that has exchanged Catholic truth for the “errors of Modernism” (Pius X).
The ritual is thus a “theatrical performance” (as the Fatima file might describe such spectacles). It uses the ancient form to give the illusion of continuity while emptying it of its Catholic content. The faithful who receive these oils are not receiving Catholic sacraments but are being incorporated into the “neo-church,” the “abomination of desolation.” The very fact that EWTN, a supposed “traditional” outlet, reports this without a word of caution or doctrinal correction, demonstrates its full integration into the conciliar sect’s propaganda machine.
The Call to Reject the Spectacle and Return to Tradition
This chrism Mass is not a sign of life but a symptom of death. It is the final stage of the “disinformation strategy” described in the analysis of the Fatima apparitions: the ritualistic use of Catholic symbols to legitimize a false church. The oils blessed in this ceremony are for a sacramental system that has been radically altered to align with Protestant concepts (e.g., confirmation as a “seal” rather than a sacrament of strengthening). The “holy orders” conferred with these oils will be for a priesthood that offers a “memorial” not a propitiatory sacrifice.
The only Catholic response is total rejection. As the Defense of Sedevacantism file demonstrates from Bellarmine and Canon Law, the See is vacant. There is no Pope. The “Vatican” is occupied by a “conciliar sect.” The faithful must flee to the true Church, which endures in those who hold the integral Faith, served by bishops and priests who have never adhered to Modernism. The chrism used by the true Church must be consecrated by a valid bishop who is in communion with the Catholic Faith, not with the apostates of the New Advent.
The feast of Christ the King, instituted by Pius XI, demands that we recognize no authority but that of Christ the King. The “Leo XIV” and his entire hierarchy are in rebellion against that Kingship. Therefore, their liturgical actions are not acts of worship but of rebellion. The faithful are bound to avoid these sacrileges, to shun the conciliar structures, and to seek refuge in the traditional Faith alone. The “abundance of peace” promised by Pius XI will only come when all tongues confess that Jesus Christ is King in the way defined by the pre-1958 Magisterium—a confession that necessarily implies the rejection of the modernist antipopes and their entire system.
Source:
PHOTOS: Holy Thursday chrism Mass at the Vatican (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 02.04.2026