The Usurper “Pope” Leo XIV Continues the Conciliar Revolution with Illegitimate Episcopal Appointments
Factual Summary of the Article
The Vatican News portal reports that on February 25, 2026, the Bishop of Rome, “Pope” Leo XIV, appointed four new auxiliary bishops for his diocese: Stefano Sparapani, Alessandro Zenobbi, Andrea Carlevale, and Marco Valenti. All four were previously parish priests within the Diocese of Rome, holding various administrative and pastoral roles. The article provides their birthdates, educational backgrounds (including studies at the Pontifical Lateran University and La Sapienza), dates of priestly ordination (all between 1986 and 1998), and lists of their previous positions. The announcement is framed as a routine administrative update within the post-conciliar governing structure.
Multi-Layered Critique from the Perspective of Integral Catholic Faith
1. Factual Level: The Nullity of the Appointments
The foundational fact is that “Pope” Leo XIV is not the legitimate Vicar of Christ. The line of post-conciliar popes, beginning with Angelo Roncalli (“John XXIII”), are manifest heretics who have publicly and persistently taught errors condemned by the Church. As St. Robert Bellarmine definitively taught, a manifest heretic ceases to be a member of the Church and therefore cannot be its head: “A manifest heretic cannot be Pope. It cannot be objected that the character remains in him, because if he remained Pope because of the character, since it is indelible, he could never be deposed. Therefore, the Fathers teach universally that a heretic, because of heresy and independently of excommunication, is deprived of all jurisdiction and power.” (De Romano Pontifice, II:30). The 1917 Code of Canon Law, Canon 188.4, confirms this principle of ipso facto loss of office: “Every office becomes vacant by the mere fact… if the cleric: …4. Publicly defects from the Catholic faith.” The public, systematic, and persistent propagation of Modernist errors by the conciliar popes constitutes such a public defection.
Therefore, the appointments made by “Leo XIV” are radically null and void. They are acts of a private individual occupying a see to which he has no right. The men appointed, regardless of their personal qualities, receive no jurisdiction or sacramental grace through this act. They are incorporated into the paramasonic structure of the post-conciliar church, not the hierarchical, apostolic Church of Christ. The entire exercise is a theatrical performance within a schismatic body.
2. Linguistic and Rhetorical Level: The Language of Naturalistic Administration
The article’s tone is that of a corporate press release or a diocesan newsletter. It employs the neutral, bureaucratic language of human resources management: “appointed,” “auxiliary bishops,” “parish priests,” “positions held,” “Episcopal Vicar,” “Prefect.” This sterile vocabulary is meticulously devoid of any supernatural terminology. There is no mention of:
* The sacramental character of episcopal ordination and its purpose for sanctifying and governing the Mystical Body of Christ.
* The defense of the faith as the primary duty of a bishop (Canon 375, 1917 CIC).
* The necessity of being in a state of grace to exercise sacred ministry.
* The sacrifice of the Mass and the salvation of souls as the ultimate ends of the episcopacy.
* Any reference to God’s law, divine revelation, or the kingdom of Christ as the framework for their future governance.
This silence is not accidental; it is the very essence of Modernism. Pope St. Pius X, in Pascendi Dominici gregis, described the Modernist as one who “regards the external works of religion… as a series of symbols and allegories.” The article treats the episcopacy as a purely functional, administrative office within a human religious organization. The omission of the supernatural is the loudest declaration of apostasy. It reveals a mindset that sees the Church as a natural society promoting human values, not the Sacrament of Salvation instituted by Christ.
3. Theological Level: Contradiction with the Social Kingship of Christ
Pius XI, in the encyclical Quas Primas, instituted the feast of Christ the King precisely to combat the secularism and laicism that had infected society and, tragically, the thinking of many within the Church. The Pope declared that the “plague” of the modern world is the denial of “Christ the Lord’s reign over all nations.” He warned that when “God and Jesus Christ… were removed from laws and states… the foundations of that authority were destroyed.” The article’s subject—the appointment of bishops—is the most concrete act of ecclesiastical governance. In the true Church, bishops are appointed to teach, sanctify, and rule in the name of Christ the King. Their authority is derived from Him and must be exercised in complete submission to His law.
The article presents these appointments as mere administrative shuffling within the Diocese of Rome. There is not a single word about the bishops’ duty to:
* Proclaim the exclusive reign of Christ over individuals, families, and states (Quas Primas).
* Defend the immutable rights of the Church against the encroachments of the secular state, as condemned in the Syllabus of Errors (e.g., Errors 19, 20, 24, 41, 42, 44, 55).
* Uphold the divine constitution of the Church against the errors of national churches, episcopal collegiality, and the reduction of the papacy to a primacy of honor (Syllabus, Errors 35, 36, 37).
* Guard the purity of the faith against the poison of Modernism, which “reduces the whole scheme of religion to a system of mere human sentiment” (Lamentabili Sane Exitu, Prop. 26).
Instead, the focus is on their prior roles as “parish priests” and “Episcopal Vicars” in a diocese that has been a primary engine of the conciliar revolution. These men have been formed in and have served the very structures that promote ecumenism, religious liberty, and the “dialogue” with the world condemned by Pius IX. Their appointment is not a reinforcement of the City of God but a consolidation of the City of Man in ecclesiastical guise.
4. Symptomatic Level: The Fruit of the Conciliar Apostasy
This article is a perfect microcosm of the post-conciliar “church.” It demonstrates:
* **The Hermeneutics of Continuity in Action:** The seamless presentation of a “Pope” making “episcopal appointments” uses traditional terminology to describe a radically different reality. The substance is gone; only the empty shell of the form remains. This is the Modernist strategy of “evolution” disguised as tradition.
* **The Primacy of the Human Element:** The entire narrative is about human careers, academic credentials (a degree in Art History is highlighted as a qualification!), and administrative competence. The spiritual, doctrinal, and pastoral qualifications for governing souls—firmness in faith, horror of heresy, zeal for souls—are entirely absent. This is the “cult of man” condemned by Pius XI.
* **The Abomination of Desolation:** The Diocese of Rome, the See of Peter, is being shepherded by an antipope and staffed by men selected according to the criteria of the conciliar sect. This fulfills the prophecy of the “abomination of desolation” standing in the holy place (Matt. 24:15). The very center of Catholic unity has become the epicenter of apostasy.
* **The “Two Lucias” Syndrome Applied to Hierarchy:** Just as the Fatima file suspects a replacement of the visionary, the entire post-conciliar hierarchy is a substitution. It is a parallel, counterfeit structure that occupies the buildings but lacks the authority, grace, and mission of the true Church. These four men are part of this counterfeit hierarchy.
5. The Omissions That Scream Apostasy
The article’s most damning feature is what it does not say. In any legitimate announcement of episcopal appointments from the pre-conciliar Church, one would expect:
* A reaffirmation of the bishop’s duty to guard the deposit of faith and condemn error.
* A reminder of the bishop’s responsibility to ensure the purity of doctrine in seminaries and universities.
* A citation of the bishop’s role in promoting the liturgical worship of God according to the unchangeable rites of the Church.
* An emphasis on the bishop’s obligation to uphold the laws of God and the Church against the errors of the age listed in the Syllabus.
The complete silence on these matters is not neutrality; it is a positive denial. It aligns perfectly with the Modernist proposition condemned by St. Pius X: “The Church has no right to pass judgment on the philosophical and theological sciences” (Lamentabili, Prop. 11) and “The decrees of the Apostolic See and of the Roman Congregations impede the true progress of science” (Prop. 12). The article assumes the “progress” of the secular sciences (like Art History) is a qualification for the episcopate, while the “science” of theology and canon law, as defined by the Magisterium, is irrelevant.
Conclusion: A Ritual of the Neo-Church
This press release is not news about the Catholic Church. It is a ritual performance of the conciliar sect, reinforcing its own structures with personnel loyal to its modernist, naturalistic, and apostate program. The men appointed are not bishops of the Catholic Church. They are functionaries of the “Church of the New Advent,” a paramasonic structure that occupies the Vatican and propagates the errors of Modernism, ecumenism, and religious liberty.
The true Catholic, adhering to the faith of all time, must reject these appointments and the authority that made them. He must pray for the end of this terrible deception and for the restoration of the visible, hierarchical Church of Christ, where bishops are chosen for their uncompromising fidelity to Tradition and their fervent desire for the public reign of Christ the King over all nations. Until then, we are in the time of the “abomination of desolation.” The only response is the witness of integral Catholic faith, in opposition to this and all such acts of the apostate hierarchy.
Source:
Pope nominates four auxiliary bishops for Diocese of Rome (vaticannews.va)
Date: 25.02.2026