The National Catholic Register reports on U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch’s efforts to find “common ground” between President Donald Trump and the usurper in the Vatican, Leo XIV (Robert Prevost), following disagreements over the Iran War. Burch emphasized shared goals of “protecting the innocent” and stated his diplomatic role is to “remind stakeholders of what unites us and what must never divide us.” The article also covers Bishop Michael Duca’s call for peace and caution against treating the “pope” as a partisan figure, alongside the USCCB’s post on X explaining just war doctrine after Vice President JD Vance challenged Leo XIV’s statements. This entire narrative is a masterclass in the conciliar revolution’s reduction of the Faith to naturalistic diplomacy and moral equivalence, utterly abandoning the supernatural mission of the true Church.
The Diplomacy of the Abomination: Seeking “Common Ground” with Worldly Power
The very premise of Ambassador Burch’s mission, as presented by the National Catholic Register, is a profound betrayal of the Church’s divine constitution. His stated goal is to “remind stakeholders of what unites us and what must never divide us” between the President of the United States and Leo XIV. This is not diplomacy in the service of Christ’s Kingdom; it is the diplomacy of the abomination, seeking “common ground” on purely naturalistic and political terms, utterly devoid of the supernatural truths that define the true Church.
The Church, established by Christ as a perfect society, demands for itself by a right belonging to it, which it cannot renounce, full freedom and independence from secular authority, and that in fulfilling the mission entrusted to it by God – to teach, govern, and lead all to eternal happiness, those who belong to the Kingdom of Christ – it cannot depend on anyone’s will (Pius XI, encyclical Quas Primas). The true Church does not seek “common ground” with worldly powers on their terms; she proclaims the absolute sovereignty of Christ the King over all nations and every aspect of human life, demanding obedience to His laws. The state must leave the same freedom to the members of Orders and Congregations, both male and female, who are indeed the most valiant helpers of the Pastors of the Church and contribute most to the expansion and establishment of Christ’s Kingdom (Pius XI, encyclical Quas Primas).
Burch’s assertion that “Both men are driven by an unshakable belief in protecting the innocent” is a classic example of the conciliar revolution’s moral equivalence. It places a worldly leader, whose authority is temporal and whose actions are judged by naturalistic standards, on the same plane as the Vicar of Christ (or, in this case, the usurper claiming that office). The true Church’s mission is not merely “protecting the innocent” in a temporal sense, but saving souls, leading them to eternal happiness, and ensuring the reign of Christ in all spheres of life. This reduction of the Church’s mission to a humanitarian or political agenda is a direct fruit of the modernist apostasy, which denies the supernatural order and substitutes it for a naturalistic humanism.
The Usurper’s “Peace” and the Betrayal of Just War Doctrine
The article highlights Leo XIV’s calls for peace between the U.S. and Iran, and his warnings against nuclear proliferation. While peace is a noble aspiration, the true Church’s understanding of peace is rooted in the order established by God, not merely the absence of conflict. Peace is only possible in the kingdom of Christ (Pius XI, encyclical Quas Primas). The conciliar sect’s calls for “peace” often lack the theological depth and moral clarity of pre-conciliar teaching, frequently reducing it to a secular ideal of coexistence rather than the tranquility of order that comes from submission to God’s law.
The USCCB’s post on X, explaining just war doctrine after Vice President JD Vance challenged Leo XIV, is a further example of the conciliar revolution’s evasion of true moral authority. While the Catechism of the Catholic Church (even the post-conciliar version, which itself is problematic) outlines conditions for a just war, the true Church’s teaching on war is far more stringent and rooted in the primacy of the spiritual. The Church has always taught that “all citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war” and that “the strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration.” However, the conciliar sect often presents these conditions as mere “prudential judgments” for secular authorities, rather than binding moral laws that the Church has the duty to proclaim and enforce.
The true Church, before the conciliar revolution, would have unequivocally condemned aggressive war and demanded that all nations submit to the moral law of Christ the King. The annual celebration of this solemnity will also remind states that not only private individuals, but also rulers and governments have the duty to publicly honor Christ and obey Him: for it will remind them of the final judgment, in which Christ, whom not only was cast out of the state, but was also forgotten and ignored through contempt, will very severely avenge these insults, because His royal dignity demands that all relations in the state be ordered on the basis of God’s commandments and Christian principles, both in the issuing of laws and in the administration of justice, as well as in the education and formation of youth in sound doctrine and purity of morals (Pius XI, encyclical Quas Primas). The conciliar sect’s approach is a cowardly retreat from this prophetic witness, preferring “dialogue” and “encounter” with worldly powers over the uncompromising proclamation of truth.
The Bishop’s Pastoral Abdication: “Not a Politician” as an Evasion of Duty
Bishop Michael Duca’s message, “Blessed are the Peacemakers,” while containing some orthodox-sounding phrases, ultimately serves as a pastoral abdication in the face of modernist apostasy. His warning against treating the “pope” as a “partisan political figure” and his emphasis that the “pope” is “not a politician” are, in this context, a subtle evasion of the true issue. The problem is not that Leo XIV is a “politician,” but that he is a modernist usurper whose teachings and actions are contrary to the Faith.
Duca’s assertion that the “pope” is “the vicar of Christ, entrusted with proclaiming the Gospel ‘in season and out of season,’ challenging all people — regardless of nation or office — measure their words and actions against the truth of Jesus Christ revealed in the Gospels” is a hollow platitude when applied to a manifest heretic and apostate. A manifest heretic, by that very fact, ceases to be Pope and head, just as he ceases to be a Christian and member of the body of the Church (St. Robert Bellarmine, De Romano Pontifice). Leo XIV, as a product and promoter of the conciliar revolution, has repeatedly demonstrated his adherence to modernist errors, making him a manifest heretic who has lost his office ipso facto.
Duca’s call to “pray for peace” and “hearts open to conversion” is laudable in itself, but it lacks the necessary condemnation of the specific errors and apostasies that are the root cause of the world’s disorders. The true Church’s prayer for peace is always coupled with a call to conversion to the one true Faith and submission to Christ the King. The conciliar sect’s prayers for peace are often divorced from this essential supernatural dimension, reducing them to mere wishes for temporal tranquility.
His exhortation to “respond as a witness” and “preach the Gospel not only with words but with lives marked by listening, mutual respect, and charity — especially toward those with whom you disagree” is a hallmark of the false ecumenism and religious indifferentism condemned by the pre-conciliar Magisterium. The Church is not called to “listen” to heresy or show “mutual respect” for doctrines that deny the truth of Christ. She is called to proclaim the truth with clarity and charity, even if it means condemning error and those who propagate it. The Church is an enemy of the progress of natural and theological sciences when they contradict revealed truth (Proposition 57, Lamentabili sane exitu).
The Symptomatic Silence: What the Article Omits
The most glaring omission in this article, and indeed in the entire narrative it presents, is any mention of the true Church’s mission: the salvation of souls through the preaching of the Gospel, the administration of the sacraments, and the establishment of the social reign of Christ the King. There is no mention of the necessity of conversion to the Catholic Faith, the only true religion, for eternal salvation. There is no condemnation of the modernist errors that have infiltrated the conciliar sect and led to the current crisis.
The article’s focus on “common ground” and “dialogue” between worldly leaders and the usurper in the Vatican is a direct reflection of the conciliar revolution’s embrace of religious liberty, false ecumenism, and the democratization of the Church. The true Church, before 1958, unequivocally condemned these errors. The Church has not the power of defining dogmatically that the religion of the Catholic Church is the only true religion (Proposition 21, The Syllabus of Errors). This proposition, condemned by Pope Pius IX, is a cornerstone of the pre-conciliar Magisterium and stands in stark contrast to the conciliar sect’s embrace of religious pluralism.
The article’s silence on the true nature of the crisis in the Church – the apostasy of the conciliar usurpers – is its most damning feature. It treats the occupant of the Vatican as a legitimate interlocutor, rather than a manifest heretic who has lost his office. This silence is complicity in the greatest deception in the history of the Church.
Conclusion: The Triumph of Naturalism over Supernatural Faith
The National Catholic Register article, and the statements of Ambassador Burch and Bishop Duca, are symptomatic of the profound theological and spiritual bankruptcy of the conciliar revolution. They represent a complete abandonment of the Church’s supernatural mission in favor of a naturalistic humanism that seeks “common ground” with worldly powers on their terms. The true Church, the pillar and ground of truth (1 Tim. 3:15), cannot compromise with error or seek accommodation with those who deny her divine constitution and mission.
The faithful must reject this false diplomacy and return to the unchanging teachings of the pre-conciliar Magisterium. They must recognize that the conciliar sect is not the true Church, but a modernist counterfeit that has betrayed Christ and His Gospel. The only path to true peace and salvation is through the integral Catholic Faith, the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and the social reign of Christ the King. Ad maiorem Dei gloriam!
Source:
US Ambassador Burch Pledges to Focus on Common Ground Between Trump and Pope Leo XIV (ncregister.com)
Date: 17.04.2026