[Antichurch] Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia: Every Step Toward Peace Is a Gift from God
EWTN News reports (June 25, 2026) — Bishop Aldo Berardi, Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia, spoke to ACI MENA about the situation of the Church in the Gulf region amid geopolitical tensions. He emphasized that “every step toward peace is a gift from God,” stressed the importance of prayer and solidarity, and described the Church’s mission as accompanying the faithful, building dialogue, and serving the poor. He invoked Our Lady of Arabia and the cultural diversity of the vicariate as signs of unity. The entire interview is a textbook example of modernist pastoral care stripped of supernatural doctrine, the true mission of the Church, and the kingship of Christ.
A “Pastoral” Devoid of the Supernatural: The Modernist Redefinition of the Church’s Mission
The interview with Bishop Berardi is a near-perfect specimen of post-conciliar naturalism. The Church’s mission is reduced to “accompanying the faithful,” “serving the poor,” and “building dialogue.” The supernatural destiny of man — eternal salvation, the state of grace, the necessity of conversion to the Catholic faith — is entirely absent. Not once does Bishop Berardi mention the most fundamental truths: that outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation (*Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus*), that the Mass is the unbloody perpetuation of the Sacrifice of Calvary, or that the primary mission of the Church is to teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19).
Instead, we are offered a horizontal, humanitarian “Church” whose purpose is to make people feel comfortable in their earthly sojourn. The bishop states: “The first thing [war] wounds is the human heart.” This is true in a natural sense, but the modernist uses this truth to obscure the far graver wound: **the loss of souls in mortal sin, which is infinitely worse than any physical suffering.** The Church has always taught that the salvation of souls is the *finis operis* — the ultimate end of all her works. Bishop Berardi’s silence on this matter is not an oversight; it is a doctrinal statement by omission.
The Hermeneutics of Dialogue as a Substitute for the Mandate of Evangelization
The bishop declares: “Peace is necessary for every part of the Church’s mission: proclaiming the Gospel, forming believers, serving the poor, and **building dialogue between Christians and Muslims.**” This is a modernist inversion of priorities. The Church’s mandate is to convert all peoples to the Catholic faith — not to “build dialogue” with false religions. The Syllabus of Errors of Pope Pius IX explicitly condemns the proposition that “the Church has not the power of defining dogmatically that the religion of the Catholic Church is the only true religion” (Proposition 21). The First Vatican Council defined that the Church is a true and perfect society, endowed with all necessary means to teach, govern, and sanctify — not to engage in interreligious dialogue as a constitutive element of her mission.
The phrase “building dialogue between Christians and Muslims” is particularly revealing. It presupposes that Islam — a heretical sect that explicitly denies the Divinity of Christ, the Trinity, and the Real Presence — is a legitimate interlocutor with whom the Church should engage as an equal. This is the very error condemned by Pius XI in *Quas Primas*: “The Church cannot depend on anyone’s will… it cannot be placed on the same level as other religions.” The true Church has always sought the conversion of Muslims, not dialogue with them. The Crusades, the missionary efforts of St. Francis Xavier, the prayers of St. Louis Marie de Montfort — all were directed at bringing non-Catholics into the one true fold. Bishop Berardi’s language is that of the post-conciliar sect, which has replaced the missionary mandate with the ecumenical agenda.
Our Lady of Arabia Without the Dogmas of Faith
The bishop invokes Our Lady of Arabia, describing her as “our mother, our protector, and the companion of millions of Catholics living far from their homelands.” He adds: “Mary herself experienced life as a refugee. She lived under occupation and remained standing at the foot of the Cross.” This is a selective, naturalistic reading of the Blessed Virgin. What is omitted? That Mary is the Mother of God (*Theotokos*), defined at the Council of Ephesus; that she was immaculately conceived; that she was assumed body and soul into heaven; that she is the Mediatrix of all graces and the Co-Redemptrix. These dogmas are the foundation of true Marian devotion. By reducing Mary to a “refugee” and “companion,” the bishop strips her of her divine maternity and her unique role in the economy of salvation. This is the modernist Mary — a humanitarian symbol, not the Queen of Heaven and Earth.
“A New Pentecost Every Day” — The Modernist Perversion of Catholic Unity
The bishop describes the cultural diversity of the vicariate as “a new Pentecost every day,” where “people of different nationalities, languages, and cultures come together in prayer… united by one baptism, one Eucharist, and one Lord.” This language is seductive but false. True unity in the Church is founded on one faith, one baptism, and one hierarchy — not on cultural diversity. The Pentecost described in Acts 2 was the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, who then went forth to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only Savior. The “new Pentecost” of Bishop Berardi is a horizontal, sociological phenomenon — a celebration of multiculturalism within the structures of the post-conciliar sect.
Moreover, the “Eucharist” he references is, in the context of the post-conciliar church, the Protestantized “New Mass” of Paul VI — a rite that the Catholic theologian and scholar of liturgy, Fr. Pierre-Marie Gy, O.P., noted was crafted to be acceptable to Protestants. The true Eucharist — the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as defined by the Council of Trent — is the unbloody perpetuation of the Sacrifice of Calvary, offered by a validly ordained priest acting *in persona Christi*. The post-conciliar “Mass” is, in many cases, a mere commemorative meal, a table of assembly, not a sacrifice. To speak of “one Eucharist” in this context is to speak of a counterfeit.
The Silence on the Kingship of Christ
Perhaps the most damning omission in the entire interview is the complete silence on the social kingship of Christ. Pius XI, in *Quas Primas*, taught: “The Kingdom of Christ embraces also all non-Christians, so that most truly the entire human race is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ.” He further declared: “When God and Jesus Christ were removed from laws and states… the foundations of that authority were destroyed.” Bishop Berardi speaks of “peace” as if it were a natural good achievable through human effort and diplomacy. But true peace — the peace of Christ — can only come through the recognition of His kingship over all nations. The bishop’s “peace” is the peace of the world, not the peace of Christ. It is the peace of naturalism, not the peace of the supernatural order.
The bishop states: “Every step toward peace is a gift from God.” But peace without Christ is not a gift — it is an illusion. The Church has always taught that true peace is a fruit of justice, and justice requires submission to the divine law. Without the recognition of the true God and His Church, there can be no lasting peace. The bishop’s statement is a capitulation to the modernist error that natural means alone can achieve peace — an error condemned by Gregory XVI in *Mirari Vos* and by Pius XI in *Quas Primas*.
The Migrant Worker as the New “Faithful” — The Proletarianization of the Church
The bishop’s flock consists of “about 2.2 million Catholics, in addition to members of other Christian communities. Most are expatriates and migrant workers from around the world.” This demographic reality is presented as a sign of vitality. But the question must be asked: What kind of Catholicism is being offered to these workers? Is it the fullness of Catholic doctrine — the necessity of confession, the Real Presence, the immorality of contraception, the reality of hell? Or is it a watered-down, naturalistic “pastoral care” that avoids all difficult truths in favor of “accompaniment” and “solidarity”?
The post-conciliar sect has consistently prioritized the “pastoral” over the “doctrinal,” as if doctrine were an obstacle to mercy rather than its foundation. The truth is that the most merciful thing the Church can do for her faithful — migrant workers or otherwise — is to teach them the fullness of the Catholic faith and lead them to sanctity. Bishop Berardi’s interview, with its complete absence of doctrinal content, suggests that the Church in Northern Arabia is offering a naturalistic humanitarianism, not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion: The Abomination of Desolation in the Gulf
The interview with Bishop Aldo Berardi is a microcosm of the post-conciliar apostasy. It presents a Church that has abandoned its supernatural mission, replaced doctrine with dialogue, reduced Mary to a refugee, and substituted the peace of Christ with the peace of the world. It is the Church of the New Advent — the abomination of desolation spoken of by Our Lord in Matthew 24:15. The true Church, founded on the rock of Peter, endures in the faithful who profess the integral Catholic faith and are led by bishops with valid sacraments and validly ordained priests. The structures occupied by Bishop Berardi and his ilk are not the Church of Christ — they are the synagogue of Satan, disguised in Catholic vestments.
Let us pray for the 2.2 million souls in Northern Arabia who are being fed stones instead of bread. Let us pray for the true Church to emerge from the ruins of the conciliar revolution. And let us pray for the conversion of those who, like Bishop Berardi, have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worship the creature more than the Creator.
Source:
Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia: Every step toward peace is a gift from God (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 25.06.2026