VaticanNews portal (January 16, 2026) promotes Jordan as a “fifth Gospel” and “eighth sacrament,” quoting “Cardinal” Pierbattista Pizzaballa’s claim that pilgrimage sites constitute an “eighth sacrament” enabling physical encounter with Christ. The article emphasizes archaeological sites like Aqaba’s 3rd-century church ruins and the alleged baptismal location at Al-Maghtas while praising Muslim-majority Jordan’s “peaceful coexistence” and Christian minority’s societal participation. This saccharine presentation conceals grave doctrinal corruption beneath its surface.
Sacramental Heresy Disguised as Piety
The blasphemous assertion that pilgrimage constitutes an “eighth sacrament” directly violates the infallible definition of the Council of Trent: “If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord… or that there are more or less than seven… let him be anathema” (Session VII, Canon I). By equating physical travel with sacramental grace, Pizzaballa reduces the Holy Mysteries to sentimental tourism. His statement that “everyone can be perfectly Christian without going to the Holy Land” while paradoxically claiming pilgrimages strengthen faith exemplifies Modernist contradiction – affirming dogma while undermining its necessity.
The article’s description of Eucharistic celebration among Aqaba’s ruins as evidence of Jordan’s tolerance ignores the grave scandal of permitting the Unbloody Sacrifice in profane spaces. The 1917 Code of Canon Law explicitly forbade Mass “in temples or oratories of heretics or schismatics” (Canon 823 §2) and required consecrated altars (Canon 1197). This sacrilegious “Mass” performed amidst pagan archaeological debris embodies the conciliar sect’s desacralization of worship.
Naturalism Replaces Supernatural Faith
Nowhere does the article mention the sacraments’ necessity for salvation or the Church’s missionary mandate. Instead, it praises Jordan’s Christians for “feel[ing] like full-fledged citizens” while constituting a mere 4% of the population – a tacit endorsement of silent coexistence with Islamic dominance. Pius XI’s Quas Primas condemned such naturalism: “When God and Jesus Christ were removed from laws and states… the foundations of authority were destroyed” (1925). The article’s focus on archaeological sites as “Christian memories” reduces faith to historical curiosity, neglecting the munus regale of Christ the King demanding conversion of nations.
Pizzaballa’s reduction of the Holy Land to “a fifth Gospel” inverts divine revelation. As the Holy Office decreed in Lamentabili Sane (1907), Modernists hold that “Revelation was merely man’s self-awareness of his relationship to God” (Proposition 20). This aligns with Pizzaballa’s claim that physical sites enable “encounter with Jesus Christ and His humanity,” implicitly denying the sufficient grace of valid sacraments administered by the Church.
Omitting the Church’s Crucible in Islamic Lands
The article whitewashes Islam’s historical hostility toward Christianity. No mention is made of:
- The 629 Battle of Mu’tah where Muslims slaughtered Byzantine Christians in Jordan
- Caliph Umar’s destruction of Petra’s Christian churches in 638
- Centuries of dhimmi oppression under Islamic rule
Instead, readers are fed the fable of uninterrupted “peaceful coexistence.” Pius IX’s Syllabus condemned the error that “the Roman Pontiff can… come to terms with progress, liberalism, and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). By presenting Jordan’s subjugation of Christians under multiculturalist platitudes, the article advances the conciliar sect’s surrender to Islamic supremacy.
Archaeological Idolatry Over Ecclesial Mission
The obsessive focus on ruins and mosaics exemplifies Modernism’s materialist hermeneutic. St. Pius X warned in Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907) that Modernists reduce faith to “experience” grounded in “religious sense.” Nowhere does the article mention:
- The necessity of valid holy orders for sacraments
- The Church’s exclusive authority to interpret Scripture
- Jordan’s apostolic link through Eastern Catholic patriarchates
Instead, Byzantine baptisteries and Nabataean cisterns become false relics for ecumenical theater. As the False Fatima Apparitions document observes, such “spectacular acts” displace the Mass’s centrality. The article transforms pilgrimage into a Gnostic quest for hidden knowledge through archaeological sites rather than sanctifying grace through the sacraments.
Conclusion: Syncretic Apostasy in Desert Guise
This Jordan promotion epitomizes the conciliar sect’s apostasy. By equating sacraments with geography, praising Islamic coexistence over conversion, and replacing doctrine with archaeology, VaticanNews propagates the “synthesis of all errors” Pius X condemned. The true Church continues in those who reject this Modernist parody, clinging to the immutable Faith and valid sacraments outside the occupied Vatican structures.
Source:
Holy Land: A fifth Gospel that begins in Jordan (vaticannews.va)
Date: 16.01.2026