Jack Figge, a young journalist for the conciliar publication The Pillar, publishes a farewell essay announcing his departure for the propaedeutic year of a conciliar seminary. The piece recounts his trajectory from a desire for “Catholic internet stardom” to an appreciation for “people in the trenches” — “bishop” Andrew Cozzens, Tim Glemkowski, Jason Shanks, the “Airstream Sisters” (Daughters of Divine Love), “priest” Robert Fath, and layman Eddie Cotter — who allegedly evangelize through physical presence, soup kitchens, and Eucharistic processions. Figge contrasts these “trench” workers with “Catholic influencers” like Fr. Mike Schmitz, framing the distinction as a discovery of the “physical, tangible Church.” The article is saturated with the vocabulary of the conciliar revolution: “encounter,” “accompaniment,” “Eucharistic Revival,” “synodality” (implied), and a purely horizontal, sociological vision of the Church’s mission.
This sentimental narrative masks a catastrophic theological reality: a young man enters an invalid seminary of the sect occupying the Vatican, celebrating a naturalistic activism that has replaced the supernatural Kingship of Christ and the propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass.
The Invalid Seminary and the Extinction of the Priesthood
Figge announces his entry into the “propadeutic year of seminary formation” with the request: “Please pray for me!” From the perspective of integral Catholic faith, this is not a vocation to the priesthood but an enrollment in a factory of null ordinations. The “seminary” he enters belongs to the conciliar sect — the ecclesia novae adventus — which since the usurpation of John XXIII has promulgated a new rite of ordination (Pontificale Romanum 1968) that is defectus formae and defectus intentionis, as demonstrated by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s resistance and the theological certainty that the new rite omits the essential sacrificial language of the traditional form. Pope Pius XII, in Sacramentum Ordinis (1947), defined the matter and form of Holy Orders with dogmatic precision; the post-conciliar reform abolished the subdiaconate, altered the imposition of hands, and substituted a vague “prayer of consecration” for the definitive form. No valid priesthood emerges from these structures. Figge’s “formation” will be an indoctrination into the heresies of Vatican II: religious liberty, false ecumenism, collegiality, and the New Mass. As the Defense of Sedevacantism file establishes, citing St. Robert Bellarmine: “A manifest heretic cannot be Pope… a non-Christian in no way can be Pope… he who is not a Christian is not a member of the Church, and a manifest heretic is not a Christian.” The “bishops” ordaining in these seminaries are manifest heretics by their adherence to the conciliar magisterium; they possess no jurisdiction, no sacramental power, and no mission from Christ. Figge is not entering the sacerdotium Christi; he is entering a Masonic-controlled simulacrum, forewarned by the Syllabus of Errors (Prop. 37, 53) against “national churches withdrawn from the authority of the Roman Pontiff” and the suppression of religious orders by civil power — here, the pseudo-church’s own pseudo-authority.
The ‘Trenches’ Myth: Naturalism Masquerading as Evangelization
The central rhetorical device of Figge’s essay is the opposition between “Catholic influencers” and “people in the trenches.” He writes: “The most impactful work in the Church doesn’t happen on social media or on a huge stage, it’s in the trenches of parish life, making soup for 30 kids every Wednesday night, inviting them to go deeper with the Lord.” This is pure naturalism. The Syllabus of Errors (Prop. 58) condemns the proposition: “No other forces are to be recognized except those which reside in matter, and all the rectitude and excellence of morality ought to be placed in the accumulation and increase of riches by every possible means, and the gratification of pleasure.” Figge’s “trenches” are purely material: soup, coffee hours at -30°F, snowmobile rides, “welcoming the National Eucharistic Revival.” There is zero mention of the Unbloody Sacrifice of Calvary, the Confessional, the Divine Office, the conversion of souls from sin to grace, the Four Last Things, the necessity of baptism extra quam nullus omnino salvatur, or the Social Kingship of Christ over nations. Pius XI in Quas Primas declares: “His reign encompasses not only Catholic nations… but His reign encompasses also all non-Christians, so that most truly the entire human race is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ.” Figge’s “trenches” are a Corporal Works of Mercy NGO, stripped of the Spiritual Works that give them supernatural merit. Eddie Cotter’s soup is not “evangelization”; it is social work. Without the Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus, without the True Mass, without the True Priesthood, it is opus operatum humanum, meriting nothing eternal. The “Airstream Sisters” and the “Eucharistic Revival” processions carry a “consecrated host” from a Novus Ordo “mass” — a Protestantized memorial meal, invalid in form and intention, constituting idolatry (Cum ex Apostolatus Officio). To adore that “host” is to adore bread.
The ‘Eucharistic Revival’: Idolatry of the Novus Ordo
Figge repeatedly references the “National Eucharistic Revival” and the “Eucharistic Congress” in San Angelo, Texas, as highlights of his reporting. He writes of Catholics “who couldn’t contain their joy as they talked about the joy of welcoming the National Eucharistic Revival to their small Texas town.” This “Revival” is the flagship project of the conciliar “bishops” (USCCB) to revive belief in the “Real Presence” within the Novus Ordo. It is a diabolical masterstroke. The Novus Ordo Missae (1969), fabricated by the Freemason Bugnini and his committee, altered the Canon Romanus, suppressed the Offertory (the oblation of the Victim), replaced the Verba Christi with a narrative, and oriented the “presider” versus populum. The Defense of Sedevacantism file cites Pope Paul IV’s Bull Cum ex Apostolatus Officio: “…if at any time it shall appear that any Bishop… or even the Roman Pontiff… has defected from the Catholic Faith or fallen into some heresy: (i) his promotion or elevation… shall be null, void, and of no effect.” The architects of the New Mass were manifest heretics (Bugnini, the “bishops” who approved it). The “Eucharist” of the New Mass is not the Body of Christ. The “Revival” is a revival of idolatry. Figge’s joy at the “Eucharistic Congress” is the joy of the Israelites before the Golden Calf. Lamentabili Sane Exitu (Prop. 45, 46) condemns the Modernist denial of the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist and the institution of the priesthood; the conciliar sect embodies these condemnations. Figge’s “trenches” lead not to the Cross but to the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place (Matt. 24:15).
The Celebrity/Influencer Dichotomy: A False Opposition Within the Sect
Figge constructs a narrative of personal maturation: he rejected the “Catholic celebrity” path (offered by an unnamed outlet emphasizing “conservative angle, then a Catholic one”) for the “authentic” path of The Pillar and the “trenches.” This is a dialectical trap. Both poles — the “influencer” (Fr. Mike Schmitz, Matt Fradd) and the “trench worker” (Cozzens, Glemkowski, Cotter) — are equally agents of the conciliar sect. Schmitz promotes the New Mass, “Eucharistic Revival,” and a therapeutic deism; Cozzens leads the “Revival” as “bishop” of Crookston; Glemkowski runs the “National Eucharistic Congress” apparatus. They share the same false theology, the same invalid sacraments, the same heretical “pope” (Leo XIV / Robert Prevost). Figge’s “conservative vs. Catholic” distinction reveals the sect’s internal partition: “conservative” = political right-wing Modernism; “Catholic” = left-wing Modernism. Both are Modernism, the “synthesis of all heresies” (St. Pius X, Pascendi). Lamentabili (Prop. 59, 60) condemns: “Christ did not proclaim any specific, all-encompassing doctrine suitable for all times and peoples… Truth changes with man.” Figge’s “broadened view of the Church” is the acceptance of this evolutionism. He admits: “I realized there’s a lot more to the Church than the latest celebrity priest talk… There are people in the trenches sharing the love of Christ.” This “love of Christ” is a vague philanthropy, the caritas of the Civitas Terrena, not the Caritas Christi urget nos (2 Cor. 5:14) rooted in the Sacrifice of the Cross.
The Silence on Dogma, the Mass, and the Social Kingship of Christ
The gravest accusation is what Figge omits. In a 1,500-word essay on “the Church,” “evangelization,” “seminary,” and “vocation,” the following words never appear: Tridentine Mass, Latin Mass, Tradition, dogma, heresy, schism, sede vacante, infallibility, papacy, Virgin Mary, Rosary, Confession, Purgatory, Hell, Judgment, Sin, Grace, Supernatural, Kingship of Christ, Social Reign, Quas Primas, Syllabus, Pascendi, Cum Ex Apostolatus Officio. This silence is the argumentum ex silentio of apostasy. The Syllabus (Prop. 21, 22, 23) condemns the denial of the Church’s right to define dogma and the subjection of ecclesiastical power to civil authority. Figge’s “Church” is a voluntary association for social betterment. He writes: “the Church is not lived online, rather it is a physical tangible Church, at the service of man, for the salvation of man.” This is anthropocentric inversion. The Church is at the service of God, for the glory of God (Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam), and the salvation of man is a consequence of that glory, not the primary end. Pius XI in Quas Primas teaches: “The state is happy not by one means, and man by another; for the state is nothing else than a harmonious association of men… Let rulers of states therefore not refuse public veneration and obedience to the reigning Christ.” Figge’s “trenches” have no public veneration, no obedience to Christ the King, no confrontation with the laicism Pius XI calls “the plague that poisons human society.” His Alaska “coffee hour” and Ohio “soup” are the opium of the people administered by the conciliar sect to distract from the abomination of desolation in the sanctuary.
The Pillar as Organ of the Conciliar Sect
Figge praises The Pillar for funding his trips and enabling “serious and faithful Catholic journalism.” The editors’ note confirms: “Paying Pillar subscribers help make that happen… work we can all be proud of.” The Pillar is a controlled opposition outlet within the conciliar sect. It promotes the “hermeneutic of continuity,” defends the validity of the Novus Ordo, attacks sedevacantism, and provides a platform for the “trench” narrative that legitimizes the sect’s structures. It is the “Catholic” angle Figge initially rejected, now refined. Its “journalism” is the propaganda fidei of the antichiesa. Figge’s trajectory — from “conservative” outlet to The Pillar to conciliar seminary — is the standard cursus honorum of the sect’s managerial class. He will emerge a “priest” of the New Rite, celebrating the New Mass, preaching the “Eucharistic Revival,” and perpetuating the Great Apostasy foretold by St. Paul (2 Thess. 2:3) and the Third Secret of Fatima (suppressed by the sect, as documented in the False Fatima Apparitions file: “Stage 3 (1958-2000): Takeover of the narrative by modernists, concealment of the Third Secret, ecumenical reinterpretation”).
Conclusion: A Vocation to the Abyss
Jack Figge’s essay is a confessio of the conciliar religion: sentimental, activist, silent on dogma, centered on homo not Deus. His entry into the conciliar seminary is not a step toward the altar of God but a descent into the sanctuary of the adversary. The “trenches” he romanticizes are the trenches of the Church Militant only in a metaphor twisted to serve the Church of the New Advent. True trenches are the catacombs where the True Mass is offered by valid priests, where the Syllabus is the battle plan, where Quas Primas is the standard, where Cum ex Apostolatus Officio is the canon law, and where the faithful “fight bravely and always under the banner of Christ the King” (Pius XI, Quas Primas). Figge has chosen the broad way (Matt. 7:13). Let no faithful Catholic pray for his “vocation” in the conciliar sect; pray rather for his conversion to the integral Faith, the True Mass, and the recognition of the Sede Vacante — before he receives the character indelebilis of a null ordination and becomes a minister of sacrilege. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? The true guardians are the remnant bishops and priests holding fast to Tradition, Traditio, Veritas. Non praevalebunt.
Source:
Jack Figge: Thank you, the trenches, and see-you-later (pillarcatholic.com)
Date: 01.08.2026