VaticanNews portal reports (May 12, 2026) on the preparations at Rome’s Sapienza University for the visit of the current usurper on Peter’s throne, Leo XIV. The article highlights the activities of the university chapel, run by “priests” of the conciliar sect, focusing on their efforts to attract young people through psychological language, social activities, and a relativistic approach to faith and reason. The “chaplains” emphasize meeting students “where they are,” using the language of “anxieties” and “mental health,” while conspicuously omitting any mention of the supernatural life, the necessity of sanctifying grace, or the salvific mission of the true Church. The article serves as a prime example of the post-conciliar apostasy, where the Faith is reduced to a therapeutic tool for personal fulfillment, and the “pope” is presented as a celebrity figurehead for a church that has abandoned its divine mandate.
The Conciliar Sect’s University Outreach: A Study in Modernist Substitution
The “Laboratory of Human Hearts” or the Abomination of Desolation?
The VaticanNews article describes the Sapienza University Chapel as a “laboratory of human hearts,” a phrase that, in its naturalistic and humanistic focus, immediately reveals the theological bankruptcy of the conciar sect. This is not a house of prayer, a place where the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered for the salvation of souls and the propitiation of God’s justice. Instead, it is a “space in which to question oneself,” a “refuge in moments of weakness and reflection,” and a place where “everyone feels welcome.” This is the language of a secular support group, not of a Catholic chapel dedicated to the worship of the Most Holy Trinity. The “family” atmosphere described by the students is a counterfeit of the true supernatural family of the Church, built not on the sacraments and the pursuit of holiness, but on emotional comfort and shared “anxieties.”
The article’s emphasis on “hospitality” and “welcoming” those in need, while ignoring the only true help – which is supernatural grace obtained through the sacraments and a life of prayer and mortification – is a hallmark of the modernist heresy. As Pope Pius IX condemned in the Syllabus of Errors, “The Church is not a true and perfect society, entirely free… but it appertains to the civil power to define what are the rights of the Church” (Proposition 19). The conciliar sect has effectively made itself a department of the secular university, a service provider for the “spiritual progress of work,” as the article quotes the Italian Constitution, rather than the one true Church established by Christ to lead souls to eternal salvation. This is a direct rejection of the teaching of Pope Pius XI in Quas Primas: “The Church, established by Christ as a perfect society, demands for itself by a right belonging to it, which it cannot renounce, full freedom and independence from secular authority.”
The “Pope” as Celebrity and the Democratization of the Church
The article presents the upcoming visit of Leo XIV as a historic event that “makes me hopeful – placing hope in us young people.” This is the language of a fan meeting, not a pastoral visit from the Vicar of Christ. The “pope” is presented as a celebrity figurehead, a source of “hope” in a purely naturalistic sense, rather than the successor of St. Peter, the teacher of divine truth, and the supreme judge of Christendom. This is a direct consequence of the conciliar revolution, which has democratized the Church, turning the faithful into a “listening Church” that merely approves the “common opinions” of the hierarchy, as condemned by St. Pius X in Lamentabili sane exitu (Proposition 6).
The students’ excitement about seeing the “white smoke” and the “historic” nature of the visit reveals a profound ignorance of the true nature of the papacy. They are not preparing to receive the successor of St. Peter, the rock upon which the Church is built, but a usurper who sits on the throne of Peter while professing heresies that would have been condemned by his predecessors. As the Defense of Sedevacantism explains, “A Pope who is 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” (St. Robert Bellarmine, De Romano Pontifice). The article’s failure to address this fundamental issue – the legitimacy of the conciliar “popes” – is a damning indictment of its complicity in the ongoing apostasy.
The Psychologization of the Faith: Replacing Grace with Therapy
The “chaplains” at Sapienza boast of their ability to “speak the same language” as the students, a language of “anxieties,” “mental health,” and “depression.” “Fr.” Vecchione even claims that St. John of the Cross “described what we would call depression” in his Dark Night of the Soul. This is a blasphemous trivialization of the great mystic’s teaching on the purification of the spirit. St. John of the Cross was writing about the passive purgation of the senses and the spirit, a supernatural process by which God prepares the soul for divine union. To equate this with clinical depression, a natural psychological condition, is to reduce the supernatural life of grace to a mere mental health issue. It is to deny the existence of the soul, the reality of sin, and the necessity of supernatural remedies.
This psychologization of the faith is a direct fruit of the modernist heresy condemned by St. Pius X in Pascendi Dominici Gregis, where he warned that the Modernists “put man in the place of God” and reduce religion to a mere sentiment. The article’s focus on “re-educating the youth about how to achieve their true goals” and “providing them with the tools to become who they are meant to be” is a humanistic, naturalistic philosophy that has nothing to do with the Catholic faith. The true goal of every man is to know, love, and serve God in this life, and to be happy with Him forever in the next. The “tools” for achieving this goal are not psychological techniques, but the sacraments, prayer, and the practice of the virtues, especially the virtue of faith, which is the foundation of the supernatural life.
The Omission of the Supernatural: The Gravest Accusation
Perhaps the most damning aspect of the VaticanNews article is what it omits. There is no mention of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the primary duty of every Catholic and the source of all grace. There is no mention of the sacraments of confession and Holy Eucharist, which are necessary for the remission of sins and the nourishment of the soul. There is no mention of the necessity of sanctifying grace, the state of the soul that alone can merit eternal life. There is no mention of the reality of sin, the need for repentance, or the final judgment. There is no mention of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mediatrix of all graces, or the communion of saints. There is no mention of the social reign of Christ the King, the only true foundation of peace and order in society.
This silence is not accidental. It is the inevitable result of the conciliar revolution, which has emptied the Catholic faith of its supernatural content and replaced it with a naturalistic, humanistic philosophy that is indistinguishable from secular liberalism. The “chaplains” at Sapienza are not leading souls to Christ, but to a counterfeit “church” that is a synagogue of Satan, a paramasonic structure designed to deceive the faithful and lead them to perdition. As Pope Pius IX warned in the Syllabus of Errors, “The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). This is precisely what the conciliar sect has done, and the VaticanNews article is a testament to the success of this apostasy.
The “Italian Constitution” and the Rejection of Christ the King
The article’s reference to the “Italian Constitution, which mentions the spiritual progress of work” is a shocking revelation of the conciar sect’s subordination of divine law to human law. The Italian Constitution, a product of the Masonic and liberal revolution, is a document that enshrines the principles of secularism, religious indifferentism, and the sovereignty of the state over the Church. To cite it as an authority for the “spiritual progress of work” is to reject the social reign of Christ the King, the only true foundation of a just and ordered society.
Pope Pius XI, in Quas Primas, taught that “the State must leave the same freedom to the members of Orders and Congregations, both male and female, who are indeed the most valiant helpers of the Pastors of the Church and contribute most to the expansion and establishment of Christ’s Kingdom.” He further declared that “not only private individuals, but also rulers and governments have the duty to publicly honor Christ and obey Him.” The conciliar sect, by contrast, has not only failed to uphold this teaching, but has actively collaborated with the enemies of Christ, as seen in its embrace of religious liberty, ecumenism, and interfaith dialogue. The VaticanNews article, with its focus on “hospitality” and “welcoming” those in need, while ignoring the only true help – which is supernatural grace obtained through the sacraments and a life of prayer and mortification – is a prime example of this apostasy.
Conclusion: A Call to Reject the Conciliar Sect and Return to Tradition
The VaticanNews article on the Sapienza University Chapel is a microcosm of the conciliar sect’s apostasy. It presents a counterfeit “church” that is a “laboratory of human hearts,” a place where the Faith is reduced to a therapeutic tool for personal fulfillment, and the “pope” is presented as a celebrity figurehead. The “chaplains” boast of their ability to “speak the same language” as the students, a language of “anxieties” and “mental health,” while ignoring the supernatural life of grace, the necessity of the sacraments, and the salvific mission of the true Church.
This is not the Catholic Church. This is the Church of the New Advent, a paramasonic structure that has abandoned its divine mandate and embraced the principles of the French Revolution: liberté, égalité, fraternité. It is a church that has “reconciled itself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization,” as condemned by Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors (Proposition 80). It is a church that has “wandered outside the limits of its powers, has usurped the rights of princes, and has even erred in defining matters of faith and morals,” as condemned in the same document (Proposition 23).
The faithful must reject this counterfeit “church” and return to the immutable Tradition of the Catholic Church, the only ark of salvation. They must seek out the true Mass, the true sacraments, and the true doctrine of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church. They must pray for the restoration of the true papacy and the conversion of the conciliar sect. And they must never forget the words of Our Lord: “Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!” (Matthew 7:13-14).
Source:
University students in Rome prepare for a visit from Pope Leo (vaticannews.va)
Date: 12.05.2026