Diane Montagna reports (main excerpt):
A letter from the Vatican Secretariat of State to the organizers of the annual Ad Petri Sedem pilgrimage, obtained by this journalist, confirms reports that the pilgrims were barred from entering St. Peter’s Basilica in procession to pray at the tomb of the Apostle.
The letter, dated 30 September 2026, is signed by Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, Substitute for General Affairs, and addressed to the pilgrimage’s chaplain, Abbé Claude Barthe. Written in French, it reads:
“Dear Father, in reply to your letter of 8 September, concerning the international pilgrimage Ad Petri sedem, I inform you that it is not possible to respond favorably to your request. Please accept, dear Father, the expression of my religious and devoted regard.”
Having already been denied permission to celebrate a solemn Mass in the Basilica, the organizers asked instead for permission to enter St. Peter’s in procession, to pray for Pope Leo XIV at the Confession, i.e., just above the tomb of St. Peter, and to adore the Blessed Sacrament at the Altar of the Chair.
Their request noted that the Basilica’s sacristy had said 1 p.m. would be possible, provided the Secretariat of State granted permission. [source]
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We are speechless. No words left from us. Yet, there are appropriate words to express our being treated as lepers, and they are those of the great Pope Benedict XVI:
[S]hould not the great Church also allow herself to be generous in the knowledge of her great breadth, in the knowledge of the promise made to her? Should not we, as good educators, also be capable of overlooking various faults and making every effort to open up broader vistas? And should we not admit that some unpleasant things have also emerged in Church circles? At times one gets the impression that our society needs to have at least one group to which no tolerance may be shown; which one can easily attack and hate. And should someone dare to approach them – in this case the Pope – he too loses any right to tolerance; he too can be treated hatefully, without misgiving or restraint.
Dear Brothers, during the days when I first had the idea of writing this letter, by chance, during a visit to the Roman Seminary, I had to interpret and comment on Galatians 5:13-15. I was surprised at the directness with which that passage speaks to us about the present moment: "Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another." I am always tempted to see these words as another of the rhetorical excesses which we occasionally find in Saint Paul. To some extent that may also be the case. But sad to say, this "biting and devouring" also exists in the Church today, as expression of a poorly understood freedom. Should we be surprised that we too are no better than the Galatians? That at the very least we are threatened by the same temptations? That we must always learn anew the proper use of freedom? And that we must always learn anew the supreme priority, which is love? [source]
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We are lepers. We are hated. We are despised. We are left out. We are the outcasts. WE ARE THE "PERIPHERIES", and Jesus is closer to us because of that. And we are to suffer His fate at the hands of the Grand Inquisitor Parolin:
" 'It is Thou! ... Thou!' ... Receiving no reply, he rapidly continues: 'Nay, answer not; be silent! ... And what couldst Thou say? ... I know but too well Thy answer.... Besides, Thou hast no right to add one syllable to that which was already uttered by Thee before.... Why shouldst Thou now return, to impede us in our work? For Thou hast come but for that only, and Thou knowest it well. But art Thou as well aware of what awaits Thee in the morning? I do not know, nor do I care to know who thou mayest be: be it Thou or only thine image, to-morrow I will condemn and burn Thee on the stake, as the most wicked of all the heretics; and that same people, who to-day were kissing Thy feet, to-morrow at one bend of my finger, will rush to add fuel to Thy funeral pyre... Wert Thou aware of this?' he adds, speaking as if in solemn thought, and never for one instant taking his piercing glance off the meek Face before him." (Dostoevky, The Brothers Karamazov)
