Missionary Work Compromised by Modernist Heresies in Southern Mexico
EWTN News reports on Spanish missionary Christopher Hartley’s work in Guerrero, Mexico, emphasizing material dangers and spiritual challenges among Mixtec communities. The article describes Hartley’s ordination by the antipope John Paul II, his appeals for missionary funding ($154,000 project), and critiques of insufficient Church presence in remote areas. Hartley claims Mixtecs practice syncretism blending Catholic elements with pagan beliefs, requiring “urgent evangelization.”
Theological Bankruptcy of Post-Conciliar Missionary Methods
The article betrays the spiritual bankruptcy of neo-church missionary activity by omitting essential Catholic principles. Hartley’s supposed “mission” operates under the false premise that sacraments administered by priests ordained in Novus Ordo structures retain validity. The 1917 Code of Canon Law (Canon 2372) explicitly condemns participation in sacraments administered by those in communion with heretics. When Hartley celebrates “Masses” for syncretistic communities, he propagates sacrilege rather than salvation.
“Somehow, we can make ourselves understood,” he said.
This admission reveals the doctrinal indifferentism condemned by Pius XI in Mortalium Animos: “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.” True missionaries don’t compromise with pagan syncretism but eradicate it.
John Paul II’s Illegitimate “Ordination” and Its Consequences
The article casually mentions Hartley’s ordination by the apostate Wojtyła (“John Paul II”) as if it were legitimate. St. Robert Bellarmine’s De Romano Pontifice (II.30) establishes that manifest heretics cannot hold ecclesiastical office. Wojtyła’s denial of extra Ecclesiam nulla salus (Redemptor Hominis, 1979) and his Assisi abominations (1986) render Hartley’s ordination canonically invalid. The “missionary work” described is therefore spiritually sterile, incapable of transmitting grace through sacraments.
Syncretism Tolerated Instead of Condemned
Hartley’s observation that Mixtecs equate “the god of rain [with] the Sacred Heart of Jesus” exposes the catastrophic failure of post-conciliar evangelization. Contrast this with Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Quas Primas (1925): “When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.” Instead of demanding conversion, Hartley tolerates pagan sacrifices until recently permitted on “church” grounds.
Naturalism Replacing Supernatural Faith
The article’s focus on material needs (“$74,000 raised… residence for missionaries”) betrays the naturalistic shift condemned in Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors (Propositions 15-18). True missionaries prioritize dispensing sanctifying grace through valid sacraments over building projects. Hartley’s complaint that priests focus on “humanitarian issues as if the Church were a philanthropy” ironically describes his own operation, which accepts Protestant-style “evangelization” rather than demanding submission to Rome’s immutable doctrines.
Protestant Encroachment as Fruit of Apostasy
Hartley acknowledges Protestant gains while ignoring their cause: Vatican II’s Dignitatis Humanae heresy. As the Syllabus condemns in Proposition 77: “In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State.” When the Church abandons her exclusive claim to truth, souls naturally drift to Protestant sects. Hartley’s solution—begging for “more missionaries” from apostate structures—proves spiritually bankrupt.
Conclusion: Missionary Work Requires Return to Catholic Tradition
This missionary endeavor remains fundamentally compromised by its acceptance of conciliar heresies. Until Hartley renounces communion with antipopes, rejects Vatican II’s errors, and administers valid sacraments according to traditional rites, his work serves the anti-church rather than Christ the King. As Our Lord commanded: “Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19)—not building ecumenical “humanizing projects” for “ruined lives.”
Source:
Spanish priest calls for ‘more missionaries’ in ‘perilous’ southern Mexico (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 28.01.2026