Vatican News portal reports on the ad limina visit of the bishops of Hong Kong and Macau to Rome, where they met with the antipope Leo XIV and discussed “synodality,” “missionary renewal,” and “hope.” The article presents these modernist prelates as exemplars of the conciliar revolution, parroting the jargon of the post-conciliar sect while ignoring the true mission of the Church: the salvation of souls through the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments. Their “synodality” is nothing but a Masonic plot to democratize the Church and destroy its hierarchical structure, while their “hope” is a naturalistic substitute for supernatural faith.
The Jargon of Synodality: A Mask for Apostasy
The article opens with Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, Bishop of Hong Kong, explaining the Chinese translation of “synodality” as “gong yi tong xing”, meaning “conversing together, discussing together, discerning together” and “walking together, journeying together.” This is not merely a linguistic exercise; it is a theological statement that reveals the modernist understanding of the Church. For Cardinal Chow, synodality is about “mutual listening” and “shared discernment,” where the bishops “share their experience” with the antipope, and he, in turn, “listens” to them. This is a far cry from the Catholic understanding of the Church as a hierarchical society, where the Pope, as the Vicar of Christ, teaches, governs, and judges with supreme authority, and the bishops are his assistants, not his equals.
The Catholic Church has always taught that the Magisterium is the sole arbiter of faith and morals, and that the faithful are bound to submit to its teachings. As Pope Pius IX declared in the Syllabus of Errors, “The Church is not a true and perfect society, entirely freeānor is she endowed with proper and perpetual rights of own, conferred upon her by her Divine Founder; but it appertains to the civil power to define what are the rights of the Church, and the limits within which she may exercise those rights” (Proposition 19). This is precisely the error that synodality promotes: the idea that the Church is a democratic institution, where decisions are made by consensus and “discernment,” rather than by the authority of Christ transmitted through the Pope and the bishops in communion with him.
Cardinal Chow’s statement that the antipope is a “great listener” and that “this way he can make better discernment in leading the Church” is a clear admission that the conciliar sect has abandoned the Catholic understanding of papal authority. The Pope does not “discern” or “listen” in the manner of a corporate manager seeking input from his employees. He teaches with the authority of Christ, and the faithful are bound to obey. As Pope Leo XIII wrote in Satis Cognitum, “The Church is not a community of equals in which all the faithful have the same rights. It is a society of unequals, not only because among the faithful some are clerics and some are laymen, but because there is in the Church a power from God by which to some is given the right and the power to teach, to judge, to govern, and to others it is not given.”
The Omission of Doctrine: The Hallmark of Modernism
The article is replete with the language of “renewal,” “mission,” and “hope,” but there is not a single mention of the supernatural mission of the Church. Bishop Stephen Lee Bun-sang of Macau speaks of “missionary renewal” and “apostolic zeal,” but what does this mean in practice? The article is silent. There is no mention of the necessity of baptism, the importance of the sacraments, the reality of sin, the need for repentance, or the threat of eternal damnation. Instead, we are offered vague platitudes about “spreading the Gospel” and “feeling the mercy of God.”
This is the hallmark of Modernism: the reduction of the Gospel to a naturalistic message of social progress and human fulfillment. As Pope St. Pius X wrote in Pascendi Dominici Gregis, “The Modernists… have no difficulty in reconciling their Catholic conscience with their liberal and Protestant ideas, because they hold that the faith of the Church is not a truth revealed by God, but a certain interpretation of religious facts, which the human mind has worked out with great effort” (Proposition 22). The bishops of Hong Kong and Macau are not interested in preaching the Gospel of Christ; they are interested in promoting the gospel of synodality, which is the gospel of the Antichrist.
Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing, Auxiliary Bishop of Hong Kong, speaks of “hope” and “being connected with the universal Church.” But what is this “universal Church” that he refers to? It is not the Catholic Church, which is the one true Church founded by Christ. It is the conciliar sect, which is a counterfeit church, a “synagogue of Satan” (Apocalypse 2:9). The “hope” that Bishop Ha speaks of is not the hope of eternal life, which is the theological virtue by which we trust in God’s promises and look forward to the beatific vision. It is a naturalistic hope, a hope for a better world, a hope for “missionary discipleship” and “renewal.” This is the hope of the Modernists, who, as Pope St. Pius X wrote, “hold that the faith of the Church is not a truth revealed by God, but a certain interpretation of religious facts, which the human mind has worked out with great effort” (Proposition 22).
The Anniversary Celebrations: A Tribute to the Past, Not the Future
The article notes that the Diocese of Macau is celebrating 450 years since its foundation, and Hong Kong is commemorating the 80th anniversary of its elevation to a diocese. These anniversaries should be an occasion for thanksgiving and reflection on the rich history of the Catholic Church in these regions. However, the bishops have chosen to use these celebrations as an opportunity to promote the conciliar agenda.
Bishop Lee speaks of “gratitude for the generations of missionaries who carried the Gospel from Macau across Asia.” This is a noble sentiment, but it is hollow when divorced from the true mission of the Church. The missionaries of the past were not interested in “synodality” or “discernment.” They were interested in saving souls. They preached the Gospel, administered the sacraments, and established the Church. They did not seek to “renew” the Church or to “walk together” with the faithful. They sought to convert the faithful to the true faith and to lead them to eternal life.
The “renewal” that Bishop Lee speaks of is not a return to the sources of the faith, as the Modernists claim. It is a further departure from the faith, a deepening of the apostasy that began with the Second Vatican Council. As Pope St. Pius X wrote in Lamentabili Sane Exitu, “The pursuit of novelty in the investigation of the foundations of things leads in our times to deplorable consequences, abandoning all restraint. It causes the heritage of humanity to be rejected, and often leads to the most grievous errors, which become particularly pernicious when they concern sacred sciences, the exposition of Holy Scripture, and the principal mysteries of Faith” (I. On the False Striving for Novelty).
The Ad Limina Visit: A Pilgrimage to the Abomination of Desolation
The ad limina visit is a traditional practice in which the bishops of the world visit the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome and meet with the Pope. In the past, this visit was an occasion for the bishops to report on the state of their dioceses and to receive guidance from the Holy Father. However, in the conciliar sect, the ad limina visit has become a mere formality, a chance for the modernist prelates to network with one another and to receive the approval of the antipope.
The article describes the visit as a “moment of deep communion with the universal Church.” But what is this “universal Church” that the bishops are in communion with? It is not the Catholic Church, which is the one true Church founded by Christ. It is the conciliar sect, which is a counterfeit church, a “synagogue of Satan” (Apocalypse 2:9). The bishops of Hong Kong and Macau are not in communion with the true Church; they are in communion with the abomination of desolation that has taken over the Vatican.
Cardinal Chow’s statement that the visit “assures us that we are part of the Church” is a clear indication that the bishops are aware of their isolation from the true Church. They are not part of the Catholic Church; they are part of the conciliar sect, which is a counterfeit church, a “synagogue of Satan” (Apocalypse 2:9). The “assurance” that they receive from the antipope is not the assurance of faith, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the assurance of the world, the assurance of those who have abandoned the faith and embraced the spirit of the age.
The Silence on China: A Betrayal of the Faithful
The article mentions that the bishops of Hong Kong and Macau have “longstanding contacts with mainland China” and that they shared their “experience, perceptions, understanding” with the antipope regarding “matters concerning the Church in China.” This is a clear reference to the persecution of the Catholic Church in China, where the faithful are suffering for their faith at the hands of the communist regime.
However, there is no mention of the persecution, no mention of the martyrs, no mention of the heroic witness of the faithful in China. Instead, we are offered vague platitudes about “sharing perspectives” and “experiences.” This is a betrayal of the faithful in China, who are suffering for their faith and who look to the Church for support and guidance.
The Catholic Church has always taught that the faith is worth dying for, and that martyrdom is the highest witness to the truth. As Pope St. Cyprian wrote, “The whole body of the Church is one, and yet it is spread abroad through the increase of its fruitfulness into a multitude; even as the rays of the sun, though there be one light, are diffused over many places, and the branch from a tree is a multiplicity of one root.” The bishops of Hong Kong and Macau have abandoned the faithful in China, choosing instead to promote the conciliar agenda and to curry favor with the antipope.
Conclusion: The Triumph of Modernism
The article is a testament to the triumph of Modernism in the Catholic Church. The bishops of Hong Kong and Macau are not Catholic bishops; they are modernist prelates who have embraced the errors of the conciliar revolution. Their “synodality” is a mask for apostasy, their “renewal” is a departure from the faith, and their “hope” is a naturalistic substitute for supernatural faith.
The Catholic Church is not a democracy, where decisions are made by consensus and “discernment.” It is a hierarchical society, where the Pope, as the Vicar of Christ, teaches, governs, and judges with supreme authority. The bishops are not equals; they are assistants to the Pope, bound to submit to his authority and to teach in his name.
The faithful must not be deceived by the jargon of synodality and renewal. They must hold fast to the faith of their fathers, the faith of the Catholic Church, which is the one true faith, the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). They must reject the conciliar sect and all its works, and they must pray for the restoration of the true Church, the Church of Christ, which will triumph in the end, despite the apostasy of the present age.
Source:
Hong Kong and Macau bishops reflect on synodality and hope during ad limina visit (vaticannews.va)
Date: 20.06.2026