The cited article from The Pillar portal reports a significant increase in adult baptisms in several Australian dioceses, presenting this as a positive sign of spiritual renewal and the work of the Holy Spirit through the current church structures. It quotes post-conciliar figures like “Archbishop” Anthony Fisher OP and “Fr.” Jackson Saunders, who attribute the trend to people “searching for something they can trust” and experiencing a personal call. The narrative frames the entry of catechumens like Samuel Carden and John Box into the “Catholic Church” as a triumph of faith over atheism, culminating in their reception of the Eucharist. The article concludes with Saunders stating, “I really think people are searching for something they can trust and believe in more than ever… plain and simple – is God at work.”
This analysis will expose the profound theological and spiritual bankruptcy of this perspective, demonstrating that what is being celebrated is not a revival of Catholic faith, but a symptom of the apocalyptic apostasy foretold by St. Pius X. The “surge” is a tragic mirage, a counting of empty rituals performed within a structure that has severed itself from the supernatural life of the true Church.
The Fatal Omission: The Supernatural End of Baptism
The article’s entire narrative operates on a purely naturalistic and psychological plane. It describes a search for “something to trust,” a feeling of being “called,” and a sense of “coming home.” There is a total silence on the supernatural purpose of Baptism, which is to wash away original sin, incorporate the soul into the Mystical Body of Christ, infuse sanctifying grace, and seal the soul with an indelible character for eternity. This omission is not accidental; it is the hallmark of Modernism, which reduces religion to a human experience. As Pope Pius IX condemned in the Syllabus of Errors (Error #58): “Right consists in the material fact. All human duties are an empty word… Authority is nothing else but numbers and the sum total of material forces.” The article substitutes the material fact of “more people entering” for the supernatural reality of grace. The catechumens’ statements about “feeling a divine presence” or “finding answers” are treated as sufficient, when in reality, without the valid sacrament administered with the proper intention and in the true Church, these are merely natural religious sentiments, incapable of saving a soul.
Invalidity of the Sacraments in the Conciliar Sect
From the perspective of integral Catholic faith, the sacraments administered within the post-conciliar structures are, with very few exceptions, invalid or at least illicit. The changes to the rite of Baptism (and indeed all sacraments) after Vatican II introduced ambiguous formulas and a defective intention that departs from the Church’s constant doctrine. The 1917 Code of Canon Law (Canon 731) required the use of the precise form: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The post-conciliar rite’s emphasis on “community” and “journey” dilutes the sacramental action as an objective act of Christ. More fundamentally, the ministers (“Bishop” Fisher, “Fr.” Saunders) are, with rare exceptions, not validly ordained priests. The ordination rites of 1968 and later, particularly the omission of the essential matter and form of the priesthood as defined by Pope Eugene IV in Expositio adhibenda (1439) and reaffirmed by Pope Leo XIII in Apostolicae Curae (1896), render the ordinations ipso facto invalid. Therefore, the “Eucharist” Carden anticipates is not the Body and Blood of Christ, but a symbolic meal, and the “Baptism” he will receive is, at best, a null ceremony. The article celebrates the administration of nothing.
The Modernist “Church” as a Naturalistic Association
The language used by the article’s protagonists reveals the essence of the conciliar sect. “Archbishop” Fisher calls the increase “proof that the Holy Spirit is active and alive.” This is a blasphemous presumption. The Holy Spirit does not operate to sustain a structure that has officially embraced the errors condemned by St. Pius X in Pascendi Dominici gregis and Lamentabili sane exitu, such as the evolution of dogma (#54, #60), the subordination of Scripture to personal interpretation (#2, #4, #12), and the denial of the Church’s immutable nature (#52). “Fr.” Saunders says people are “searching for something they can trust and believe in.” This is the religion of human sentiment, condemned by Pius IX: “Human reason, without any reference whatsoever to God, is the sole arbiter of truth and falsehood” (Syllabus, Error #3). The “Church” he serves is not the societas perfecta founded by Christ, but a “democratic” and “evangelizing” NGO, as described in the documents of Vatican II, which Pius IX anathematized as “the synagogue of Satan” in his allocution Maxima quidem (June 9, 1862).
The Heresy of Implicit Faith and the Denial of the Social Kingship of Christ
The journeys described are individualistic quests for personal meaning. There is no mention of the social reign of Christ the King, the absolute duty of states and societies to recognize the Catholic faith as the sole religion, as dogmatically defined by Pope Pius XI in Quas Primas: “the entire human race is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ… Let rulers of states therefore not refuse public veneration and obedience to the reigning Christ.” The catechumens seek a “personal relationship” while their societies remain in apostate rebellion against God. This is the error of “indifferentism” condemned by Pius IX (Syllabus, Errors #15-17). Their conversion, if it remains within the conciliar sect, will be a conversion to a natural religion disguised as Catholicism, where the primary goal is personal fulfillment, not the submission of every intellect and will to the absolute sovereignty of Christ. As Pius XI thundered, when God is removed from public life, “the foundations of that authority were destroyed.”
The Symptom of Apostasy: Counting Numbers, Not Souls
The article’s excitement over statistics—”up by 35%”, “457 people”—is a stark indicator of the modernist infection. It treats the Church as a human institution measuring success by membership rolls, a practice condemned by Pope Pius X in Pascendi as the “evolution of Christian consciousness.” The true Church, as defined by the Council of Trent (Session 24, Chapter 1), is concerned with the salvation of souls, not institutional growth. The article never asks: Are these catechumens being taught the full, uncompromised Catholic faith as defined before 1958? Are they being warned that “religious liberty” is a condemned error? That “ecumenism” is a poison? That the “Mass” they will attend is a Lutheran supper? The answer is a resounding no. They are being initiated into a sect that teaches, as condemned by Pius IX, that “the Catholic religion is not the only religion of the State” (Syllabus, Error #77). Their “conversion” is a movement from one form of natural religion (atheism) to another (modernist Catholicism).
Conclusion: A Deception of the Antichrist
The “surge” reported is a masterpiece of diabolical deception. It uses the language of faith to celebrate the expansion of a structure that is, in the words of Pope Pius IX, “the synagogue of Satan.” The true Catholic Church, which endures in the faithful who profess the integral faith and are served by validly ordained bishops and priests (outside the conciliar structures), is a little flock (Luke 12:32), not a growing demographic. The article’s thesis—that this proves the Holy Spirit’s work—is heretical. It confuses the work of the spirit of the world, which fosters religious indifferentism and naturalistic piety, with the work of the Holy Ghost, who sanctifies souls only through the valid sacraments and integral doctrine of the one true Church. The “best decision” Samuel Carden believes he is making will, if he enters the conciliar sect, be the worst—placing his eternal soul in a state of mortal danger by participating in sacrilegious rites and believing a false gospel. The only “God at work” here is the God of the abomination of desolation, standing in the holy place of the Vatican, as prophesied by Daniel and explained by St. Pius X.
Source:
‘The best decision I’ve ever made’ – Australia sees surge in adults entering Church (pillarcatholic.com)
Date: 02.04.2026