Leo XIV’s Preface Exposes Modernist Subversion of True Spirituality
The Catholic News Agency portal (December 19, 2025) reports that “Pope Leo XIV” has written a preface to Brother Lawrence’s The Practice of the Presence of God, calling it “one of the texts that has most shaped my spiritual life.” The antipope describes this 17th-century work as presenting “a type of prayer and spirituality where one simply gives his life to the Lord and allows the Lord to lead,” claiming it overcomes “all moralism and every reduction of the Gospel to a mere set of rules.” This endorsement constitutes a radical departure from Catholic ascetic theology in favor of subjectivist pietism.









