The article from EWTN News (June 2, 2026) reports that U.S. Catholic charismatic leaders, following an audience with the antipope Leo XIV on May 30, 2026, announced the launch of “Evangelize USA,” an ecumenically-oriented initiative aimed at reigniting the Catholic charismatic renewal. The initiative, led by Deacon Darrell Wentworth, explicitly frames its mission as a response to the “new evangelization” calls of John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. Its core strategy involves forming small ecumenical groups that include not only Catholics but also a Pentecostal member, with the goal of pursuing “full communion and healing animosity between local Christian denominations.” The initiative received explicit praise from Leo XIV, who called the charismatic movement “a great gift to the Church.”
This announcement is not merely a programmatic shift; it is a public, formalized synthesis of every modernist error condemned by the pre-conciliar Magisterium, dressed in the language of zeal and unity, and blessed by the highest authority of the conciliar sect. It represents the logical, terminal stage of the post-conciliar apostasy: the abandonment of the Church’s exclusive claim to truth and salvation in favor of a syncretistic, anthropocentric movement that explicitly rejects the necessity of conversion to the Catholic Faith as the sole means of salvation.
The Foundational Heresy: Ecumenism as a Goal in Itself
The entire premise of “Evangelize USA” is built upon the condemned heresy of ecumenism. The initiative’s structure—integrating a Pentecostal as a full member of its core groups—and its stated aim of “healing animosity” between denominations directly contradict the immutable Catholic doctrine that there is only one true Church, outside of which there is no salvation. The First Vatican Council defined: “Further, it is a dogma of faith that outside the Church no one can be saved” (Session 4, Chapter 3). This is not a matter of “animosity” to be healed, but of eternal truth to be proclaimed.
The initiative’s explicit rejection of any “fight” with “Protestant brothers and sisters” is a direct assault on the missionary mandate of the Church. Pope Pius XI, in *Mortalium Animos* (1928), condemned those who “act as if the unity of the faith is of no importance” and who “hold that the Christian religion can best be found by all paths.” He stated unequivocally: “The union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it.” The “Evangelize USA” model inverts this: it promotes unity *by staying together*, not by conversion. This is the very essence of the “false ecumenism” condemned by Pope Pius XI, which “does not aim at the return of the dissidents to the true Church of Christ, but at a reciprocal approach of the two parties.”
Theological Bankruptcy: The “New Evangelization” as Apostasy
Deacon Wentworth explicitly frames the initiative as a response to the “new evangelization” of John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. This is a fatal admission. The “new evangelization” is not a renewal of the Church’s mission but its replacement with a naturalistic, worldly project. The true evangelization, as defined by the Church for two millennia, is the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, leading to conversion, baptism, and incorporation into the one, true Catholic Church. The “new evangelization,” as practiced by the concilar sect, is a dialogue with the world, a “meeting of cultures,” and a collaboration with heretics and schismatics on social and moral issues, while systematically downplaying or denying the necessity of the Catholic Faith for salvation.
Pope Leo XIV’s praise for the charismatic movement as “a great gift to the Church” is a scandalous endorsement of a movement that, from its inception, has been characterized by subjectivism, emotionalism, and a dangerous openness to Protestant influences. The charismatic movement’s emphasis on personal experience of the “Holy Spirit” over the objective means of grace (the sacraments) and the authority of the Magisterium is a form of modernism. As St. Pius X warned in *Pascendi Dominici Gregis* (1907), the modernists “place the origin of religion in the sentiment of the heart” and “make of the religious fact a purely subjective experience.” The charismatic movement is the practical application of this condemned theology.
The Syncretistic Model: A Pentecostal in the Catholic Fold
The most brazen element of the “Evangelize USA” plan is the inclusion of a Pentecostal as a permanent member of its core groups. This is not an ecumenical gesture; it is a formal act of syncretism. It treats a member of a heretical sect—one that denies the sacramental system, the Real Presence, the authority of the Pope, and the necessity of the Catholic Church—as a legitimate partner in “evangelization.” This is a direct violation of Canon 1325 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, which forbids Catholics to take part in non-Catholic religious functions or to invite non-Catholics to participate in Catholic worship.
The model of “12” is a grotesque parody of the Apostolic College. The Twelve Apostles were chosen by Christ to be the foundation of His Church, to teach, govern, and sanctify. They were not a mixed group of believers and heretics. The inclusion of a Pentecostal is not a sign of openness but of doctrinal capitulation. It implies that the Catholic Faith and Pentecostalism are complementary paths to God, a proposition anathematized by the Council of Trent: “If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ… or that more or fewer than seven are sacraments… let him be anathema” (Session 7, Canon 1).
The Usurper’s Seal: Leo XIV’s Endorsement
The fact that this initiative received the explicit blessing of the antipope Leo XIV is not incidental; it is constitutive. The audience at the Paul VI Hall, the praise for the charismatic movement, and the encouragement of its apostolate are acts of the highest authority of the conciliar sect. They demonstrate that this ecumenical, syncretistic model is not a peripheral activity but the official policy of the Vatican institution.
Leo XIV’s remark that “this is what the charismatic movement is all about: help everyone to experience the power of the Holy Spirit and fall in love with God the Father instead of all the material things present in society” is a masterpiece of modernist ambiguity. It reduces the supernatural life of grace to a subjective emotional experience and replaces the worship of God as He has commanded (in Spirit and in Truth, through the Holy Catholic Church) with a vague, sentimental “love.” This is the “cult of man” condemned by Pope Pius XI in *Quas Primas*: “When men are removed from the care and providence of God, and when the divine law is set aside, the only thing left is human authority, which is weak and unstable.”
The Omission of Conversion: The Gravest Silence
Nowhere in the article, in the statements of Deacon Wentworth, or in the reported remarks of Leo XIV is there any mention of the necessity of conversion to the Catholic Faith. The word “conversion” is absent. The goal is not to bring Protestants into the Catholic Church but to “heal animosity” and “bring Christians together.” This is the ultimate betrayal of the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
The Church has always taught that the primary purpose of evangelization is the salvation of souls through their incorporation into the true Church. Pope Pius XII, in *Humani Generis* (1950), condemned the error that “the Church should adapt herself to the forms of thought and action which are in vogue at any given time.” The “Evangelize USA” initiative is the embodiment of this condemned error: it adapts the Church’s mission to the prevailing culture of religious indifferentism.
Conclusion: The Abomination of Desolation in Action
The “Evangelize USA” initiative is not a new evangelization; it is the final apostasy. It replaces the supernatural mission of the Church with a naturalistic, ecumenical project. It substitutes the objective means of grace with subjective emotional experience. It treats heresy as a legitimate partner in the work of salvation. And it does so with the explicit blessing of the highest authority of the conciliar sect.
This is the logical fruit of the Second Vatican Council, which opened the doors to ecumenism, religious freedom, and the democratization of the Church. It is the fulfillment of the prophecies of the pre-conciliar popes who warned that such innovations would lead to the destruction of the faith. As Pope Pius IX declared in the *Syllabus of Errors*: “The Church is not a true and perfect society, entirely free—nor is she endowed with proper and perpetual rights of her own, conferred upon her by her Divine Founder; but it appertains to the civil power to define what are the rights of the Church” (Proposition 19). The “Evangelize USA” initiative is the practical application of this condemned proposition: the Church is no longer the ark of salvation but a partner in a human project of unity.
The faithful must reject this abomination with all their strength. They must cling to the unchanging Catholic Faith, to the true sacraments, and to the true Church, which endures in the hearts of the faithful who refuse to bow before the idols of modernism. As Our Lord warned: “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it” (Matthew 7:13). The “Evangelize USA” initiative is the broad way of destruction, leading not to the Kingdom of God but to the kingdom of man.
Source:
U.S. Catholic charismatic leaders announce ecumenically-oriented evangelization initiative (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 02.06.2026