VaticanNews portal reports on May 8, 2026, that the usurper Robert Prevost, known as “Pope” Leo XIV, made a pastoral visit to the Shrine of Pompeii, where he met with charitable workers at the so-called “Temple of Charity.” In his discourse, he urged trust in Jesus as a “friend,” promoted the Rosary as a “hidden force,” and invoked Saint Bartolo Longo—whom he himself “canonized”—as a model of charity. The entire event is a textbook example of post-conciliar sentimentalism, devoid of doctrinal substance, and designed to project an image of the “Church” as a humanitarian NGO rather than the one true Ark of Salvation.
The Usurper on Pilgrimage: A Journey Without Doctrine
The opening of Leo XIV’s visit is a statement in itself. He begins not with the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass—the true center of Catholic life—but with a meeting with a charitable organization. This is the post-conciliar “Church” in a nutshell: the social gospel precedes and overshadows the supernatural. The “Temple of Charity” is prioritized over the Temple of the Eucharist. This is a direct inversion of Catholic order, where charity flows from and is subordinate to the worship of God. As Pope Pius XI taught in Quas Primas, “the Kingdom of our Redeemer encompasses all men,” but its foundation is not humanitarian work, but the recognition of Christ’s royal authority over minds, wills, and hearts. By starting with charity, Leo XIV implicitly accepts the modernist premise that the Church’s primary mission is social betterment, not the salvation of souls through the preaching of truth and the administration of the sacraments.
The “Canonization” of Bartolo Longo: A Case Study in Neo-Church Hagiography
Leo XIV’s invocation of Saint Bartolo Longo is deeply problematic. He claims the “joy of canonizing” him on October 19 of the previous year. This act of “canonization” by an antipope is ipso facto null and void. The Church teaches that only the true Roman Pontiff, acting with his full authority, can infallibly declare someone a saint. Leo XIV, as a manifest heretic and usurper, possesses no such authority. His “canonization” is a theatrical performance designed to lend legitimacy to his own regime and to create “saints” in the image of conciliar values. Bartolo Longo’s work in Pompeii, while perhaps containing elements of personal piety, is now instrumentalized by the neo-church as a model for its own secularized mission. The focus is on his “tenderness” and his ability to “reveal the beating heart of God” to orphans, language dripping with the sentimentality of the New Advent, not the stern, paternal charity of the Saints who sought first the Kingdom of God and His justice.
“The Power of Christ’s Resurrection” as a Psychological Phenomenon
Leo XIV declares that in the charitable works of the Shrine, “the power of Christ’s Resurrection is experienced every day, regenerating hearts through love to the good life of the Gospel.” This is a classic modernist reduction. The Resurrection is not presented as a historical, supernatural fact—the cornerstone of our faith—but as a subjective, psychological experience felt within the context of social work. It is “experienced” in the act of serving the poor, thereby conflating the supernatural order with the natural. This is the heresy of immanentism condemned by St. Pius X in Lamentabili sane exitu (Proposition 20): “Revelation was merely man’s self-awareness of his relationship to God.” Here, the Resurrection becomes a feeling generated by human interaction, not the objective victory of Christ over sin and death that demands our faith and obedience.
Prayer as a “Hidden Force” for Social Work
The Rosary, in Leo XIV’s discourse, is stripped of its true power as a weapon against heresy and a means of obtaining graces for conversion. He calls it the “hidden force ‘that makes everything else possible.'” Prayer, and in particular the Holy Rosary, is reduced to a motivational tool for charitable activism. It is the fuel for the social gospel engine. This is a far cry from the teaching of the Church. The Rosary is a meditation on the mysteries of our salvation, a means to obtain the graces necessary for perseverance in the faith and the conversion of sinners. Pope Leo XIII, in his numerous encyclicals on the Rosary, consistently presented it as a remedy for the evils of the age, a defense against heresy, and a means to obtain peace through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. To present it merely as a “hidden force” that enables charitable work is to trivialize it and to divorce it from its supernatural end. It becomes a technique, not a prayer.
Jesus as “Friend” and “Brother”: The Familiarity That Blasphemes
Perhaps the most theologically bankrupt moment is Leo XIV’s exhortation to the young: “place your trust in Jesus, the Son of God, crucified and risen, who saves and sets us free… Jesus is the Friend who never abandons or rejects us, the Brother who understands us and always walks beside us.” While Our Lord is indeed our Redeemer, the deliberate emphasis on Jesus as “Friend” and “Brother” is a hallmark of modernist piety. It seeks to eliminate the fear of God, the awe due to His majesty, and the recognition of His absolute sovereignty. It presents a domesticated, approachable Jesus, one who “understands” us in our weakness and never “rejects” us—a Jesus who demands nothing, who imposes no hard doctrines, who asks for no repentance. This is the “Jesus of tenderness” so beloved of the conciliar sect, a Jesus who is a companion on our journey, not the Judge before whom we must all appear. It is a direct contradiction of the Gospel: “You call me Lord, and you say well, for so I am” (John 13:13). If He is Lord, He is to be obeyed, not merely befriended. This language is designed to make sin palatable and to remove the urgency of conversion.
The Omission of Hell, Judgment, and the Necessity of the Church
The entire discourse is characterized by a deafening silence on the fundamental truths of the faith. There is no mention of the Four Last Things: Heaven, Hell, Death, and Judgment. There is no warning about the state of mortal sin and the necessity of the Sacrament of Penance for salvation. There is no mention of the necessity of the Catholic Church for salvation, extra quam nulla salus. There is no call to conversion from false religions or from a life of sin. The “hope for a future of peace” is presented as a universal, horizontal hope, detached from the conditions of repentance and faith. This is the religion of humanitarianism, not the Catholic Faith. It is the “cult of man” condemned by Pope Pius XI, where the focus is on earthly well-being and social harmony, to the exclusion of eternal realities. The “peace” Leo XIV speaks of is the peace of the world, not the “peace which the world cannot give” (John 14:27).
Conclusion: The Abomination of Desolation in the Temple of Charity
This event at Pompeii is not a pastoral visit; it is a propaganda exercise for the conciliar religion. It presents a “Church” that is a charitable organization with a religious veneer. It offers a “Jesus” who is a supportive friend, not a demanding King. It promotes a “prayer” that is a tool for social activism, not a means of union with God. And it does all this while remaining silent on the truths that matter most: the necessity of the true faith, the reality of sin and judgment, and the absolute sovereignty of Christ the King over all individuals and nations. The “Temple of Charity” in Pompeii, as presented by Leo XIV, is a microcosm of the entire post-conciliar apostasy: a place where the form of godliness is retained, but its power is denied (2 Timothy 3:5). Let us cling to the integral Catholic Faith, which teaches us that charity without truth is mere philanthropy, and that the only true peace is the peace of Christ, found only in His one true Church, under the authority of His true Vicar—who is not Robert Prevost.
Source:
Pope in Pompeii: Trust always in Jesus, our friend who never rejects us (vaticannews.va)
Date: 08.05.2026