VaticanNews portal reports on June 26, 2026, that inmates at a prison in Lublin, Poland, are earning university degrees from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL), with seven more prisoners completing bachelor’s theses in Family Studies. The program, launched in 2013, has so far graduated 63 inmates, with international interest from Rome’s prison authorities. Fr. Mirosław Kalinowski, who supervised the theses, called the studies “both a reward and a sound method of re-education,” while noting that 80 percent of participants do not return to crime. This celebration of criminal rehabilitation through academic achievement, reported by the Vatican’s own media arm, perfectly encapsulates the conciliar Church’s inversion of priorities: the transformation of Catholic institutions into instruments of naturalistic humanism while the supernatural order is abandoned.
The Glorification of Criminals in Lieu of the Conversion of Souls
The article presents, without any apparent sense of contradiction, the conferral of academic degrees upon incarcerated criminals as an achievement worthy of the Catholic name. The inmates are described as having “a very good diploma result” and “a high grade average in Family Studies.” Fr. Mirosław Kalinowski, identified as both “professor and priest,” expressed “tremendous joy” at “the tangible results of our work.” One inmate declared: “I feel proud. It was hugely stressful, but also a great joy. I am moved that I am doing something with my life. My sentence is such that I will still have time to complete a master’s degree while in custody.”
This entire narrative operates within a purely naturalistic framework. The goods celebrated — academic achievement, reduced recidivism, personal fulfillment, social reintegration — are entirely temporal and earthly. Not a single word is spoken of the state of the soul, of the necessity of confession and contrition, of the eternal destiny that hangs in the balance for every man, whether behind bars or occupying a university lectern. The supernatural order — the very reason for the Church’s existence — is conspicuous by its total absence.
The Abandonment of the Supernatural Mission
The true purpose of every Catholic institution, and indeed of the Church herself, is the salvation of souls through the preaching of the Gospel, the administration of the sacraments, and the inculcation of the virtues of faith, hope, and charity. As Pope Pius XI declared in the encyclical Quas Primas: “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.”
What mission is being fulfilled here? The “teaching” consists of secular academic disciplines — “Family Studies” — taught to men and women who have violated the natural law in the most grievous manner. The “governance” consists of collaboration with the penal system to produce “re-educated” citizens. The “leading to eternal happiness” is replaced by the leading to a bachelor’s degree and the prospect of not reoffending. This is not the mission of the Church; it is the mission of a secular social work agency operating under Catholic branding.
The program is named after John Paul II — that is, after Karol Wojtyła, the very architect of the conciliar revolution, the antipope who systematically dismantled Catholic doctrine on faith and morals, embraced false religions at Assisi, and whose entire pontificate was a sustained act of apostasy from the Catholic faith. That a program of this nature should bear his name is not coincidental; it is entirely consistent with the Wojtylian project of reducing the Church to a humanitarian NGO engaged in “dialogue” with the world.
The Linguistic Corruption: “Re-education” as Apostasy
Fr. Kalinowski’s language is revelatory. He describes the program as “both a reward and a sound method of re-education.” The term “re-education” is borrowed directly from the lexicon of secular penology and progressive social engineering. It presupposes that the criminal is not a sinner in need of conversion but a maladjusted individual in need of behavioral modification. The Catholic concept of penance — which involves the interior acts of contrition, confession, and satisfaction, oriented toward the restoration of the soul to the state of grace — is entirely absent.
Furthermore, the claim that “80 percent of them do not return to crime” is presented as the measure of success. But by what standard is “not returning to crime” the criterion of a program operating under the Catholic name? A man may refrain from theft or murder while remaining in mortal sin, steeped in pride, envy, and blasphemy. The true measure of success for any Catholic endeavor is the sanctification of souls and their progress toward eternal salvation. That this metric is not merely omitted but entirely unthinkable within the framework of this article demonstrates the depth of the apostasy.
The Inversion of Catholic Priorities
The article notes that the program has attracted interest from prison authorities in Rome, who are considering launching similar studies in cooperation with LUMSA University. This is the “Church” of Leo XIV — the conciliar sect — exporting its model of Catholic humanitarianism to the Eternal City itself. The successors of Peter, who once sent martyrs to the Roman coliseum, now send professors to the prisons. The faith that moved mountains and converted empires is reduced to a diploma program in Family Studies.
Pope Pius IX, in the Syllabus of Errors, condemned the proposition that “the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). This program is precisely such a reconciliation — the capitulation of a Catholic institution to the world’s values, methods, and measures of success. The “progress” celebrated here is purely material: reduced recidivism, academic credentials, social reintegration. The “liberalism” is the indifferentism that treats all pursuits as equally worthy of Catholic endorsement, provided they produce statistically measurable benefits.
The Silence on the State of the Soul
What is most damning about this article is what it does not say. There is no mention of the sacraments — no indication that these inmates are being prepared for confession, that their confessions are being heard by validly ordained priests, that they are being given the opportunity to receive the Holy Eucharist. There is no mention of catechesis, of instruction in the Catholic faith, of the necessity of baptism or the remission of the eternal punishment due to sin. There is no mention of the supernatural virtues, of the necessity of sanctifying grace, of the reality of hell.
This silence is not accidental. It is the hallmark of the conciliar Church, which has systematically replaced the supernatural order with naturalistic humanism. The “Catholic” university in question is not Catholic in any meaningful sense; it is a secular institution that retains the Catholic label while operating according to the principles of the world. As St. Pius X warned in Lamentabili sane exitu, the modernists — whose spirit pervades every conciliar institution — treat “dogmas, sacraments, and hierarchy, both in concept and in reality, as merely modes of explanation and stages in the evolution of Christian consciousness” (Proposition 54). The reduction of a Catholic university to a provider of secular degrees to criminals is the logical terminus of this evolution.
The Scandal of “Family Studies” for Criminals
The specific discipline in which these inmates graduated — “Family Studies” — is itself a cruel irony. Many of these criminals have, by their own actions, destroyed families, violated the natural law, and committed acts that have caused immeasurable harm to spouses, children, and communities. To offer them academic credentials in “Family Studies” without first demanding that they confront the gravity of their sins, make satisfaction to God through true repentance, and repair the spiritual damage they have caused is not mercy; it is a mockery of justice.
The Catholic understanding of justice — both commutative and distributive — demands that sin be atoned for, that the order of divine justice be restored. The conciliar Church, by contrast, offers academic degrees as a substitute for penance, as though the conferral of a bachelor’s thesis could compensate for the violation of God’s law. This is the theology of the Antichrist: the replacement of divine justice with human approval, of supernatural grace with natural achievement, of the cross with the diploma.
Conclusion: The Paramasonic University
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, by operating this program and celebrating its results, has demonstrated that it is no longer a Catholic institution in any meaningful sense. It is a paramasonic structure — an organization that uses the Catholic name to advance the world’s values, that measures success by secular statistics, and that has entirely abandoned the supernatural mission of the Church.
The true Catholic response to crime is not academic “re-education” but the preaching of conversion, the administration of the sacraments, and the restoration of the soul to the state of grace. Until the institutions occupying the Vatican return to this mission — which is the mission of the true Church, enduring in the faithful who profess the integral Catholic faith — every “Catholic” achievement celebrated by the conciliar sect is merely another milestone on the road to apostasy.
[Antichurch] Catholic University Honors Criminals While the Faith Burns
VaticanNews portal reports on June 26, 2026, that inmates at a prison in Lublin, Poland, are earning university degrees from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL), with seven more prisoners completing bachelor’s theses in Family Studies. The program, launched in 2013, has so far graduated 63 inmates, with international interest from Rome’s prison authorities. Fr. Mirosław Kalinowski, who supervised the theses, called the studies “both a reward and a sound method of re-education,” while noting that 80 percent of participants do not return to crime. This celebration of criminal rehabilitation through academic achievement, reported by the Vatican’s own media arm, perfectly encapsulates the conciliar Church’s inversion of priorities: the transformation of Catholic institutions into instruments of naturalistic humanism while the supernatural order is abandoned.
The Glorification of Criminals in Lieu of the Conversion of Souls
The article presents, without any apparent sense of contradiction, the conferral of academic degrees upon incarcerated criminals as an achievement worthy of the Catholic name. The inmates are described as having “a very good diploma result” and “a high grade average in Family Studies.” Fr. Mirosław Kalinowski, identified as both “professor and priest,” expressed “tremendous joy” at “the tangible results of our work.” One inmate declared: “I feel proud. It was hugely stressful, but also a great joy. I am moved that I am doing something with my life. My sentence is such that I will still have time to complete a master’s degree while in custody.”
This entire narrative operates within a purely naturalistic framework. The goods celebrated — academic achievement, reduced recidivism, personal fulfillment, social reintegration — are entirely temporal and earthly. Not a single word is spoken of the state of the soul, of the necessity of confession and contrition, of the eternal destiny that hangs in the balance for every man, whether behind bars or occupying a university lectern. The supernatural order — the very reason for the Church’s existence — is conspicuous by its total absence.
The Abandonment of the Supernatural Mission
The true purpose of every Catholic institution, and indeed of the Church herself, is the salvation of souls through the preaching of the Gospel, the administration of the sacraments, and the inculcation of the virtues of faith, hope, and charity. As Pope Pius XI declared in the encyclical Quas Primas: 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.
What mission is being fulfilled here? The “teaching” consists of secular academic disciplines — “Family Studies” — taught to men and women who have violated the natural law in the most grievous manner. The “governance” consists of collaboration with the penal system to produce “re-educated” citizens. The “leading to eternal happiness” is replaced by the leading to a bachelor’s degree and the prospect of not reoffending. This is not the mission of the Church; it is the mission of a secular social work agency operating under Catholic branding.
The program is named after John Paul II — that is, after Karol Wojtyła, the very architect of the conciliar revolution, the antipope who systematically dismantled Catholic doctrine on faith and morals, embraced false religions at Assisi, and whose entire pontificate was a sustained act of apostasy from the Catholic faith. That a program of this nature should bear his name is not coincidental; it is entirely consistent with the Wojtylian project of reducing the Church to a humanitarian NGO engaged in “dialogue” with the world.
The Linguistic Corruption: “Re-education” as Apostasy
Fr. Kalinowski’s language is revelatory. He describes the program as “both a reward and a sound method of re-education.” The term “re-education” is borrowed directly from the lexicon of secular penology and progressive social engineering. It presupposes that the criminal is not a sinner in need of conversion but a maladjusted individual in need of behavioral modification. The Catholic concept of penance — which involves the interior acts of contrition, confession, and satisfaction, oriented toward the restoration of the soul to the state of grace — is entirely absent.
Furthermore, the claim that “80 percent of them do not return to crime” is presented as the measure of success. But by what standard is “not returning to crime” the criterion of a program operating under the Catholic name? A man may refrain from theft or murder while remaining in mortal sin, steeped in pride, envy, and blasphemy. The true measure of success for any Catholic endeavor is the sanctification of souls and their progress toward eternal salvation. That this metric is not merely omitted but entirely unthinkable within the framework of this article demonstrates the depth of the apostasy.
The Inversion of Catholic Priorities
The article notes that the program has attracted interest from prison authorities in Rome, who are considering launching similar studies in cooperation with LUMSA University. This is the “Church” of Leo XIV — the conciliar sect — exporting its model of Catholic humanitarianism to the Eternal City itself. The successors of Peter, who once sent martyrs to the Roman coliseum, now send professors to the prisons. The faith that moved mountains and converted empires is reduced to a diploma program in Family Studies.
Pope Pius IX, in the Syllabus of Errors, condemned the proposition that “the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). This program is precisely such a reconciliation — the capitulation of a Catholic institution to the world’s values, methods, and measures of success. The “progress” celebrated here is purely material: reduced recidivism, academic credentials, social reintegration. The “liberalism” is the indifferentism that treats all pursuits as equally worthy of Catholic endorsement, provided they produce statistically measurable benefits.
The Silence on the State of the Soul
What is most damning about this article is what it does not say. There is no mention of the sacraments — no indication that these inmates are being prepared for confession, that their confessions are being heard by validly ordained priests, that they are being given the opportunity to receive the Holy Eucharist. There is no mention of catechesis, of instruction in the Catholic faith, of the necessity of baptism or the remission of the eternal punishment due to sin. There is no mention of the supernatural virtues, of the necessity of sanctifying grace, of the reality of hell.
This silence is not accidental. It is the hallmark of the conciliar Church, which has systematically replaced the supernatural order with naturalistic humanism. The “Catholic” university in question is not Catholic in any meaningful sense; it is a secular institution that retains the Catholic label while operating according to the principles of the world. As St. Pius X warned in Lamentabili sane exitu, the modernists — whose spirit pervades every conciliar institution — treat “dogmas, sacraments, and hierarchy, both in concept and in reality, as merely modes of explanation and stages in the evolution of Christian consciousness” (Proposition 54). The reduction of a Catholic university to a provider of secular degrees to criminals is the logical terminus of this evolution.
The Scandal of “Family Studies” for Criminals
The specific discipline in which these inmates graduated — “Family Studies” — is itself a cruel irony. Many of these criminals have, by their own actions, destroyed families, violated the natural law, and committed acts that have caused immeasurable harm to spouses, children, and communities. To offer them academic credentials in “Family Studies” without first demanding that they confront the gravity of their sins, make satisfaction to God through true repentance, and repair the spiritual damage they have caused is not mercy; it is a mockery of justice.
The Catholic understanding of justice — both commutative and distributive — demands that sin be atoned for, that the order of divine justice be restored. The conciliar Church, by contrast, offers academic degrees as a substitute for penance, as though the conferral of a bachelor’s thesis could compensate for the violation of God’s law. This is the theology of the Antichrist: the replacement of divine justice with human approval, of supernatural grace with natural achievement, of the cross with the diploma.
Conclusion: The Paramasonic University
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, by operating this program and celebrating its results, has demonstrated that it is no longer a Catholic institution in any meaningful sense. It is a paramasonic structure — an organization that uses the Catholic name to advance the world’s values, that measures success by secular statistics, and that has entirely abandoned the supernatural mission of the Church.
The true Catholic response to crime is not academic “re-education” but the preaching of conversion, the administration of the sacraments, and the restoration of the soul to the state of grace. Until the institutions occupying the Vatican return to this mission — which is the mission of the true Church, enduring in the faithful who profess the integral Catholic faith — every “Catholic” achievement celebrated by the conciliar sect is merely another milestone on the road to apostasy.
Source:
Prisoners earn degrees at the Catholic University of Lublin (vaticannews.va)
Date: 26.06.2026