EWTN News portal reports that three influential American cardinals — Robert McElroy, Joseph Tobin, and Blase Cupich — appeared on CBS’s “60 Minutes” to discuss the state of the conciliar sect under the usurper Leo XIV, touching on rising conversions, patriotism, the Iran war, and immigration enforcement. The cardinals presented a vision of “Church” stripped of all supernatural content, reduced to a humanitarian NGO concerned with “moral leadership,” “flourishing,” and political activism — a vision perfectly consistent with the post-conciliar apostasy condemned by every pope up to Pius XII.
The “Hunger for Meaning” Without the Supernatural Order
When asked about the reported rise in young people entering the conciliar structures, Cardinal Cupich offered a diagnosis that is revealing precisely in its omissions: “there really is a deep hunger in the hearts of young people for something that can help them with the meaning of life” and “a woundedness on the part of young people that they are seeking healing for.”
This is the language of psychology, not theology. Not once does Cupich mention the most fundamental truths: that man’s raison d’être is the vision of God (visio beatifica), that the wounds he speaks of are the wounds of original sin and actual sin, and that the only true healing is found in the sacraments of the true Church — Baptism, Confession, and the Most Holy Eucharist — administered within the unchanging Catholic faith. The “meaning of life” is not an abstraction; it is the supernatural end for which every soul was created, as the Catechism of the Council of Trent teaches: man was made to know, love, and serve God in this life and to be happy with Him forever in the next.
Cupich’s language is indistinguishable from that of a secular therapist or a Protestant community organizer. This is the fruit of the conciliar revolution: the reduction of the Faith to a vague spiritual “hunger” that can be satisfied by anything — the New Mass, a feel-good homily, or a social justice initiative — rather than the objective deposit of faith handed down from the Apostles.
Cardinal McElroy similarly spoke of “moral leadership in the world” as the draw for young people, without once defining what morality is or its source. For the Catholic Church before 1958, morality was not a matter of “leadership” or “aspirations” but of divine law, revealed by God and taught infallibly by the Magisterium. As Pope Pius XI declared in Quas Primas, Christ the King has authority over all men and all nations, and His law — not human “moral leadership” — is the standard by which all things must be judged. The omission of any reference to the supernatural moral order, the Ten Commandments, or the teaching authority of the true Church is not accidental; it is the hallmark of Modernism, which, as St. Pius X taught in Pascendi Dominici Gregis, seeks to strip the faith of everything supernatural and reduce it to a purely natural phenomenon.
Patriotism Without Christ the King
The cardinals’ discussion of patriotism in light of America’s 250th anniversary is perhaps the most revealing segment of the entire interview. Cardinal McElroy stated: “We love our country because of what it aspires to be… because of its aspirations of democracy, justice, equality, of freedom.” Cardinal Cupich added that patriotism is “about being united in the common task of creating the opportunities for everyone to flourish.”
Not a single word about Christ the King. Not a single acknowledgment that the United States, like every nation, is subject to the royal authority of Jesus Christ and must order its laws and institutions according to divine law and Catholic principles. This is the very error that Pius XI condemned in Quas Primas: “the plague that poisons human society… the secularism of our times, so-called laicism, its errors and wicked endeavors.” Pius XI explicitly warned that when Christ is removed from laws and states, “the foundations of that authority were destroyed, because the main reason why some have the right to command and others have the duty to obey was removed.”
The cardinals’ vision of patriotism is purely naturalistic — a civic religion of “democracy, justice, equality, and freedom” that could be uttered by any secular liberal. It is the patriotism of the French Revolution, not of Catholic Christendom. The true Catholic understanding of patriotism, as taught by the Church before 1958, is that love of country must be subordinated to the love of God and the recognition of Christ’s kingship over all nations. As Leo XIII wrote in Immortale Dei, the state must profess the Catholic religion as the religion of the state, and any other arrangement is an offense against God and harmful to the common good.
The cardinals’ silence on this point is not merely an omission; it is a public repudiation of the social reign of Christ the King — the very doctrine that Pius XI made the centerpiece of his pontificate. This is the conciliar sect in its purest form: a “Church” that speaks the language of the world, not the language of the Gospel.
The Iran War: “Moral Leadership” Without Moral Theology
When asked about the war with Iran, Cardinal McElroy offered a superficial treatment of just war theory, stating that “Catholic faith teaches us there are certain prerequisites for a just war” and that the current conflict does not meet them. He then added, remarkably, that the Iranian regime “should be removed” but called the war “a war of choice” and expressed concern about “war after war after war.”
This is not Catholic moral theology; it is political commentary dressed in ecclesiastical language. The just war doctrine, as developed by St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas and codified in Catholic teaching, requires not merely “focused aims” but a rigorous set of conditions: just cause, legitimate authority, right intention, probability of success, proportionality, and last resort. McElroy’s treatment reduces this rich moral framework to a vague disapproval of “war after war” — a sentiment that could be found in any pacifist editorial.
More troubling is the cardinal’s admission that he believes the Iranian regime “should be removed.” By what authority? The Catholic Church has always taught that the deposition of sovereigns is a matter of the highest prudence and must be undertaken only under the most extraordinary circumstances, with due regard for the common good and the avoidance of greater evils. For a cardinal of the conciliar sect to casually endorse regime change — while simultaneously condemning the war that might achieve it — is a contradiction that reveals the incoherence of the post-conciliar “magisterium.”
Cardinal Cupich’s criticism of the “gamification” of war on social media, while perhaps well-intentioned, is a distraction from the real moral questions at stake. The Church’s role is not to critique the aesthetics of war coverage but to teach clearly and authoritatively on the moral law — something these cardinals conspicuously fail to do.
Immigration: The Conciliar Sect’s Substitute for the Faith
The cardinals’ discussion of immigration enforcement reveals the full extent to which the conciliar sect has replaced the supernatural faith with a political agenda. Cardinal Tobin criticized ICE tactics, saying that when immigrants “have to hide their identities,” this “can actually violate other guarantees of our Constitution and Bill of Rights.” Cardinal McElroy noted that attendance at Spanish Masses in his archdiocese dropped 30% due to fear and said: “There is a roundup of people throughout the country, people who have been living good, strong lives… That’s what our objection is.”
Let us be clear: the Catholic Church has always taught that nations have the right — indeed, the duty — to control their borders and to regulate immigration in accordance with the common good. This is not a matter of “left” or “right” but of Catholic social teaching as articulated by popes from Leo XIII to Pius XII. The Church also teaches that immigrants deserve to be treated with dignity and charity — but this does not negate the sovereign right of a nation to enforce its laws.
What is striking about the cardinals’ statements is not their pastoral concern for immigrants — which is legitimate — but their complete silence on the spiritual condition of the people they claim to shepherd. Not once do they mention the salvation of souls, the necessity of conversion to the Catholic faith, the danger of mortal sin, or the importance of the sacraments. Their “pastoral concern” is entirely horizontal — concerned with earthly welfare, constitutional rights, and political outcomes — with no reference to the supernatural order.
This is the conciliar sect’s characteristic substitution: the replacement of the Church’s primary mission — the salvation of souls through the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments — with a program of social and political activism. As St. Pius X warned in Pascendi, the Modernists “would have the Church… become a mere philanthropic institution” — and this is precisely what the conciliar sect has become.
Cardinal McElroy’s admission that he “believes in strong borders” while simultaneously condemning enforcement actions is a perfect illustration of the conciliar method: the appearance of balance and nuance, but in reality, a refusal to teach clearly and authoritatively on any moral question. This is not the voice of the Church; it is the voice of a political lobby.
The Usurper Leo XIV: “The Right Man at This Time”
Cardinal Tobin’s praise of the usurper Leo XIV — “I believe that Pope Leo is the right man at this time” — is a reminder that the entire edifice of the conciliar sect rests on the claim that the occupant of the Vatican is the Vicar of Christ. This claim is, as the sedevacantist position demonstrates from Bellarmine, Wernz and Vidal, Canon 188.4, and Cum ex Apostolatus Officio, untenable in light of the manifest heresy and apostasy of every Vatican occupant since John XXIII.
The cardinals’ interview on “60 Minutes” is not a sign of the Church’s vitality; it is a sign of the conciliar sect’s complete capitulation to the world. Every topic discussed — conversions, patriotism, war, immigration — was treated in purely naturalistic terms, with no reference to the supernatural order, the sacraments, the moral law, or the social reign of Christ the King. This is the “Church” of the New Advent: a humanitarian organization with a religious veneer, speaking the language of the world and calling it the Gospel.
As Pope Pius IX declared in the Syllabus of Errors, proposition 80 — that “the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” — is condemned. The cardinals’ performance on national television is a living illustration of this condemned proposition: the conciliar sect has reconciled itself entirely with the world, and the world loves it for it.
Source:
‘60 Minutes’ takes stock of Catholic Church under Leo with top cardinals (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 13.04.2026