Under a scorching sun in Taxila, Pakistan, approximately 500 adherents of the conciliar sect gathered on July 4, 2026, for a pilgrimage to the archaeological site of Sirkap, where apocryphal tradition claims St. Thomas the Apostle preached. The event, reported by the National Catholic Register (EWTN News), featured a Novus Ordo service celebrated by “Father” Yousaf Yaqoob of the “St. Francis Xavier Parish” in Gujranwala, while “Archbishop” Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi issued a message praising the “witness” of St. Thomas. Pilgrims collected twigs and stones from a supposed “throne of St. Thomas” as “souvenirs and blessings,” paying 1,700 Pakistani rupees each for the excursion. This spectacle manifests the total theological bankruptcy of the post-conciliar sect: invalid sacraments, apocryphal superstition, naturalistic piety, and ecumenical compromise with Anglicanism — all under the gaze of a UNESCO World Heritage designation.
The Nullity of the “Mass” and the Invalidity of the “Priesthood”
The central act of this pilgrimage was the celebration of the Novus Ordo Missae by “Father” Yousaf Yaqoob. From the perspective of integral Catholic doctrine, this rite is not the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass but a Protestantized memorial service, stripped of the propitiatory character defined by the Council of Trent (Sess. XXII, can. 1: “If anyone says that in the Mass a true and proper sacrifice is not offered to God… let him be anathema”). The 1969 Missal of Paul VI — the first antipope of the conciliar line — replaced the Canon Romanus with fabricated “Eucharistic Prayers,” abolished the Confiteor of the priest distinct from the people, and oriented the “presider” toward the congregation (versus populum), thereby destroying the theocentric orientation of the Sacrifice. As Cardinal Ottaviani and Cardinal Bacci warned in their 1969 Critical Study, the Novus Ordo represents “a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Mass.”
Moreover, “Father” Yaqoob was almost certainly ordained according to the 1968 Pontifical Romanum of Paul VI, which altered the essential form and intention of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The traditional rite specifies the transmission of the power to offer the Sacrifice and to forgive sins (“Accipe potestatem offerendi sacrificium Deo…”); the new rite speaks vaguely of “presiding over the people of God.” Defect of form and intention invalidates the sacrament. Consequently, no valid priesthood, no valid Eucharist, no Real Presence. The faithful present were subjected to idolatry — adoring bread that remains bread — and deprived of the fructus sacramenti. As Pius XII taught in Mediator Dei (1947), the liturgy is not a “field for experimentation” but the lex orandi expressing the lex credendi. The conciliar sect’s liturgy expresses a false faith; therefore, its “Mass” is a simulacrum.
Apocryphal Legends Elevated Above Scripture and Tradition
The article explicitly cites the Acts of Thomas — a third-century Gnostic apocryphon condemned by the early Church — as the source for the Taxila narrative: the palace-building episode, the resurrection of King Gondophares’ brother Gad, and the “throne” at Sirkap. The Gelasian Decree (496) lists the Acts of Thomas among “apocrypha quae non recipienda”. St. Epiphanius (Panarion, Haer. 47) and St. Augustine (De Consensu Evangelistarum) reject its historicity. Yet the conciliar sect presents this Gnostic fable as “Christian tradition,” and its “archaeology department” preserves a “local tradition” of a stone throne and “brick baptismal basins” still used for baptisms.
This is archetypal Modernist evolutionism condemned by St. Pius X in Lamentabili Sane Exitu (1907): Proposition 52 — “Christ did not intend to establish the Church as a community lasting for centuries on earth, as He believed in the imminent coming of the heavenly kingdom” — and Proposition 54 — “Dogmas, sacraments, and hierarchy… are merely modes of explanation and stages in the evolution of Christian consciousness”. By treating a Gnostic romance as historical fact and incorporating it into “pilgrimage,” the sect manifests the Modernist heresy that truth evolves and that popular piety can create its own sacred history independent of the Magisterium. The “Throne of St. Thomas” becomes a locus of superstitious fetishism: pilgrims gathering twigs and stones as “souvenirs and blessings” (“Our hearts are filled with pride, passion, and honor”) — naturalistic sentimentality replacing supernatural faith. As St. Thomas Aquinas teaches (Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 92, a. 1), superstition is a vice opposed to religion by excess, offering divine worship to what is not God or in a manner not due. Collecting pebbles from an apocryphal “throne” is textbook superstition.
Ecumenical Compromise with Anglicanism: The Taxila Cross
The article notes that in 1935, a “Taxila Cross” was discovered and “presented to the Anglican bishop of Lahore” and now resides in the “Cathedral Church of the Resurrection in Lahore” — an Anglican cathedral. This is not a mere historical footnote; it is a confession of indifferentism. The Syllabus of Errors (1864) condemns Proposition 18: “Protestantism is nothing more than another form of the same true Christian religion, in which form it is given to please God equally as in the Catholic Church” (Encyclical Noscitis, Dec. 8, 1849). By delivering a purported Christian relic to a heretical prelate — one who denies the Mass, the Papacy, the Sacraments, and the Communion of Saints — the conciliar sect (or its predecessors in the region) acknowledged the Anglican sect as a legitimate custodian of Christian heritage. This is communicatio in sacris with heretics, forbidden by divine law (Canon 1258, 1917 Code: “It is not lawful for the faithful to assist in any active manner at the sacred rites of non-Catholics”) and by the immutable principle extra Ecclesiam nulla salus. The preservation of the cross in an Anglican cathedral to this day is a standing monument to the apostasy of the conciliar hierarchy from the unity of the Faith.
Naturalistic Anthropocentrism: “Pride, Passion, Honor” and UNESCO Validation
The choir leader Sagar Rahat’s testimony reveals the anthropocentric core of conciliar piety: “Our hearts are filled with pride, passion, and honor simply by standing at a place visited by one of Christ’s apostles.” Not fear of the Lord, not compunction for sin, not desire for grace — but pride, passion, honor. These are the concupiscentia oculorum et superbia vitae (1 Jn 2:16). The pilgrimage is framed as a tourist excursion: eight buses, a fee of 1,700 rupees covering “transportation, refreshments, and visits to Sirkap and Shahdara Valley, a popular tourist destination,” complaints about lack of shade and warm water. The site’s UNESCO World Heritage status is cited as a credential. The Kingdom of Christ is reduced to a cultural heritage site.
Pius XI in Quas Primas (1925) — provided in the context — declares: “If men were ever to recognize Christ’s royal authority over themselves, both privately and publicly, then unheard-of blessings would flow upon the whole society… For this reason, the feast of Christ the King… will address the needs of the present times and provide a special remedy against the plague that poisons human society. And this plague is the secularism of our times, so-called laicism.” The Taxila pilgrimage is laicism in religious disguise: a secular outing sacralized by invalid rites and apocryphal legends, devoid of the reign of Christ over intellect, will, and heart. The “Archbishop” Arshad’s message — “profess our faith courageously… persevere despite opposition” — is vacuous rhetoric; it omits the necessity of the Catholic Church for salvation, the Social Kingship of Christ, the condemnation of false religions (Islam dominates Pakistan), and the duty to reject the conciliar sect as the abomination of desolation (Mt 24:15).
Historical-Critical Relativism: “Historians Continue to Debate”
The article concludes: “Although historians continue to debate the historical details of the apostle’s visit, the tradition remains an important part of South Asia’s Christian heritage.” This is the voice of Modernist historicism, condemned in Lamentabili Proposition 12: “An exegete who wishes to fruitfully engage in biblical studies should especially reject any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Holy Scripture, which he should interpret just like other purely human documents” and Proposition 61: “It can be proclaimed without contradiction that no chapter of Holy Scripture… contains doctrine fully consistent with the doctrine of the Church on the same matters.” The conciliar sect subjects Apostolic tradition to the judgment of secular “historians,” treating the depositum fidei as a hypothesis. This is the hermeneutic of rupture applied to the very foundations of the Church in India. The true Catholic stance, per Vatican I (Dei Filius, Ch. 3), is that the Magisterium is the proximate rule of faith, not historical criticism. By yielding to “historians,” the sect denies the certitude of faith.
Simony and Commercialization of the Sacred
The parish charged each pilgrim 1,700 Pakistani rupees (approx. $6) for “transportation, refreshments, and visits.” While covering costs is not per se simoniacal, the context — a “pilgrimage” packaged with a tourist destination (Shahdara Valley), marketed by a “parish,” presided over by an invalid “priest,” at an apocryphal site — reveals a mercantile spirit. Our Lord drove the money-changers from the Temple (Jn 2:16): “Make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise.” The Council of Trent (Sess. XXV, Decree on Reform, Ch. 9) forbids demanding payment for spiritual functions. Here, the “spiritual function” is invalid, the “grace” is simulated, and the fee is for a religious-touristic product. This is the simonia spiritualis of the conciliar sect: selling counterfeit grace.
The Symptomatic Level: Fruits of the Conciliar Revolution
This event in Taxila is not an anomaly; it is the logical fruit of Vatican II. The Declaration on Religious Freedom (Dignitatis Humanae) legitimizes the public exercise of false religions (Islam in Pakistan); the Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio) drives the delivery of relics to Anglicans; the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium) produces the invalid Novus Ordo; the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) redefines the Church as “People of God,” enabling lay “choir leaders” to define piety as “pride, passion, honor.” The “Archbishop” Arshad, appointed by the antipope Francis (Jorge Bergoglio) and now serving under antipope Leo XIV (Robert Prevost), is a usurper of jurisdiction. As the Defense of Sedevacantism file demonstrates from Bellarmine, Wernz-Vidal, and Canon 188.4: a manifest heretic loses office ipso facto. The conciliar “bishops” are manifest heretics (religious freedom, ecumenism, collegiality, new Mass); therefore, they possess no jurisdiction, no authority to teach, govern, or sanctify. The faithful in Taxila are sheep without a shepherd (Mt 9:36), led by wolves in miters.
Conclusion: Return to the Catacombs of Tradition
The Taxila pilgrimage exposes the conciliar sect for what it is: a paramasonic structure (per the False Fatima Apparitions analysis of Masonic operations) simulating Catholicism while propagating apocryphal superstition, invalid sacraments, ecumenical indifferentism, naturalistic anthropocentrism, and Modernist historicism. The true Catholics of Pakistan — if any remain — must flee these assemblies (Apoc 18:4: “Go out from her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins”), seek out validly ordained priests (consecrated in the traditional rite before 1968, maintaining the true Faith), and assist at the True Mass of the ages. The reign of Christ the King (Quas Primas) is not built on UNESCO sites, Gnostic thrones, or Anglican cathedrals, but on the Unbloody Sacrifice of Calvary, the infallible Magisterium, and the unchangeable dogmas of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Non praevalebunt (Mt 16:18).
Source:
Under a Scorching Sun, 500 Pilgrims Mark St. Thomas Feast in Pakistan (ncregister.com)
Date: 06.07.2026