Dominic J. Grigio, “Why I Wrote The Disastrous Pontificate”—Exclusive for Rorate

Prefatory note: On January 7, 2026, a major new book, The Disastrous Pontificate: Pope Francis' Rupture from the Magisterium, was released by Os Justi Press. Endorsed by a constellation of luminaries including Rev. Gerald E. Murray, Edward Feser, Eduardo Echeverria, Philip F. Lawler, John Rist, Michael Sirilla, Claudio Pierantoni, and Josef Seifert, the work has already attracted international attention for its comprehensive research and bold claims. Today, in an exclusive for Rorate Caeli, the author, Dominic Grigio, tells us why he wrote it. If you'd like to hear it being read aloud, go here, or scroll to the bottom.—PAK

During his last general audience before his abdication Pope Benedict XVI declared his confidence in the barque of the Church weathering the storms of history, ‘Nor does the Lord let it sink; it is He who guides it, surely also through those whom He has chosen.’^[1] Yet amid the escalating crises of his successor's pontificate, it seemed to me that the barque was being deliberately steered onto the rocks. Good and faithful Catholics—those who simply cherished the Traditional Latin Mass and the Church's perennial doctrines and moral teachings—were being cast overboard, incurring scornful ire and punitive measures merely for their fidelity.

Guest Article: “Is Jorge Bergoglio a Strategist? A Reply to Caminante-Wanderer”

Readers will recall the unparalleled theological analysis of the Francis pontificate by Vigilius, first published here on July 10, 2024. Today, we are pleased to publish a follow-up (in a translation authorized by the author; original German here), in which Vigilius explains why he respectfully disagrees with the eminent Argentinean commentator about the theological program of the present pope. —PAK

Is Jorge Bergoglio a Strategist? A Reply to Caminante-Wanderer

Roberto de Mattei interviewed by La Verità - A Sharp Analysis of the End of the Francis Pontificate: "What is not conditional, and is irreversible, is the promise of Mary."

Roberto de Mattei, historian and former vice president of the National Research Council, directs the Fondazione Lepanto, the monthly Radici Cristiane, and the press agency CorrispondenzaRomana.

 

After recalling that no one can sing victory over a pile of rubble, Pope Francis reiterated that war destroys both winners and losers. These are the positions of the realist school of international relations: war may be legitimate, but it is “a form of moral failure,” as for example George Kennan wrote.

“The pope has never been a Tolstoyan pacifist. Over Leo Tolstoy he has always preferred Fyodor Dostoevsky, an author who shows the tragic aspect of reality. My impression, however, is that the war has definitively dissolved the utopia of human brotherhood set out in the encyclical Fratellli tutti.”

Do you see a change of perspective?

“War is like death. It is an indelible part of man’s destiny. The idea of a universal brotherhood is absent from the Gospel and is not a Christian value.”

But Christ asked us to love one another.

Guest Op-Ed: When bishops knew how to respond to a pope suspected of heresy

by the Rev. Deacon Nick Donnelly

In his recent letter to the College of Cardinals Cardinal Brandmüller wrote that all cardinals must consider how they will react to ‘any heretical statements or decisions of the [Amazonian] synod.’ In the past, it wouldn’t have been necessary to ask this question because the bishops of the Western Church had a reputation for robustly reacting against heresy. 

A case in point is how the bishops reacted to the mere suspicion that Pope Vigilius (537-555 AD) was sympathetic towards the Monophysite heresy that sought to undermine the Council of Chalcedon. 

Pope Vigilius was already unpopular with many in Rome and the Western Church for conniving with the Monophysite Empress Theodora in the deposition and death of his predecessor, Pope Silverius (536-537 AD). Pope Silverius had earned the hostility of the heretics for refusing to restore the deposed and excommunicated Monophysite Patriarch of Constantinople. Vigilius secured the papacy by expressing sympathy for the Monophysite cause.  

Guest Op-Ed: "Discerning the false prophets at the Amazonian Synod" - by Nick Donnelly

 by the Rev. Deacon Nick Donnelly

As we await the Amazonian Synod we would do well to pay special heed to one of sacred Scripture’s and sacred Tradition’s insistent warnings — we must be on our guard against individuals who seek to pass off their own words as the word of God. The history of the ecclesia dei includes dark periods when false prophets and heretics sought to deceive the faithful that they spoke the word of God.  However, darkness does not have the final say — the history of the Church also contains glorious moments when such deceptions were resisted, exposed and defeated, ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’ (Jn 1:5.)

Old Testament warnings against false prophets

The Lord God warned Jeremiah about the egotistical deceptions of false prophets:

The prophets are prophesying lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.’ (Jer 14:14).

"You know, as Catholics we've been awfully quiet all these years. I am so tired of you, liberal church in America!"

Has the largest Catholic television network in the United States, EWTN, "gone rogue"? 

You would think so, judging from the increasingly vocal attacks of the extreme liberals, the Modernists and heretics who support every Francis move, against this great work of evangelization created almost ex nihilo by Mother Angelica. We know so many Traditional Catholics who began their journey to, or back to, the Church with EWTN. Unfortunately, it has very rarely featured the Traditional Mass (probably due to pressures and circumstances beyond its control), but the work it promotes is mostly solid.

In its news programs, EWTN has retained an informed and measured view of the insanity promoted by and under the current Pontiff. Many good people have been pushed over the edge by the bizarre behavior, words, and documents produced by Francis or under his name. It is good that EWTN retains enough independence to portray things as they are: after all, the Catholic Church is not a cult under a capricious figure, but a bulwark of Truth, reason, and reasonableness. 

For the Record: “Declaration of the truths relating to some of the most common errors in the life of the Church of our time”

Explanatory note

In our time the Church is experiencing one of the greatest spiritual epidemics, that is, an almost universal doctrinal confusion and disorientation, which is a seriously contagious danger for spiritual health and eternal salvation for many souls. At the same time one has to recognize a widespread lethargy in the exercise of the Magisterium on different levels of the Church’s hierarchy in our days. This is largely caused by the non-compliance with the Apostolic duty - as stated also by the Second Vatican Council - to “vigilantly ward off any errors that threaten the flock” (Lumen gentium, 25).

Our time is characterized by an acute spiritual hunger of the Catholic faithful all over the world for a reaffirmation of those truths that are obfuscated, undermined, and denied by some of the most dangerous errors of our time. The faithful who are suffering this spiritual hunger feel themselves abandoned and thus find themselves in a kind of existential periphery. Such a situation urgently demands a concrete remedy. A public declaration of the truths regarding these errors cannot admit a further deferral. Hence we are mindful of the following timeless words of Pope Saint Gregory the Great: “Our tongue may not be slack to exhort, and having undertaken the office of bishops, our silence may not prove our condemnation at the tribunal of the just Judge. (…) The people committed to our care abandon God, and we are silent. They live in sin, and we do not stretch out a hand to correct.” (In Ev. hom. 17: 3. 14)

[IMPORTANT] Guest Op-Ed - Bishop Schneider: On the question of a heretical pope

Note: We urge everyone to reprint, post and share this important Op-Ed -- published first here at Rorate Caeli -- far and wide. And we urge you to keep reading beyond the "Read more" link as His Excellency lays out a plausible case for future binding canonical norms to address a "heretical or a manifestly heterodox pope":

By Bishop Athanasius Schneider

Special to Rorate Caeli

March 20, 2019

On the question of a heretical pope

The issue of how to handle a heretical pope, in concrete terms, has not yet been treated in a manner which approaches anything like a true general consent in the entire Catholic tradition. So far, neither a pope nor an Ecumenical Council has made relevant doctrinal pronouncements nor have they issued binding canonical norms regarding the eventuality of how to handle a heretical pope during the term of his office.

There is no historical case of a pope losing the papacy during his term of office due to heresy or alleged heresy. Pope Honorius I (625 - 638) was posthumously excommunicated by three Ecumenical Councils (the Third Council of Constantinople in 681, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, and the Fourth Council of Constantinople in 870) on the grounds that he supported the heretical doctrine of those who promoted Monotheletism, thereby helping to spread this heresy. In the letter with which Pope Saint Leo II (+ 682 - 683) confirmed the decrees of the Third Council of Constantinople, he declared the anathema on Pope Honorius (“anathematizamus Honorium”), stating that his predecessor “Honorius, instead of purifying this Apostolic Church, permitted the immaculate faith to be stained by a profane treason.” (Denzinger-Schönmetzer, n. 563)

The Liber Diurnus Romanorum Pontificum, a miscellaneous collection of formularies used in the papal chancery until the eleventh century, contains the text for the papal oath, according to which every new pope, upon taking office, had to swear that he “recognized the sixth Ecumenical Council, which smote with eternal anathema the originators of the heresy (Monotheletism), Sergius, Pyrrhus, etc., together with Honorius." (PL 105, 40-44)

In some Breviaries until the 16^th or the 18^th centuries, Pope Honorius was mentioned as a heretic in the lessons of Matins for June 28th, the feast of Saint Leo II: “In synodo Constantinopolitano condemnati sunt Sergius, Cyrus, Honorius, Pyrrhus, Paulus et Petrus, nec non et Macarius, cum discipulo suo Stephano, sed et Polychronius et Simon, qui unam voluntatem et operationem in Domnino Jesu Christo dixerunt vel praedicaverunt.” The persistence of this Breviary reading through many centuries shows that it was not considered scandalous by many generations of Catholics, that a particular pope, and in a very rare case, was found guilty of heresy or of supporting heresy. In those times, the faithful and the hierarchy of the Church could clearly distinguish between the indestructibility of the Catholic Faith divinely guaranteed to the Magisterium of the See of Peter and the infidelity and treason of a concrete pope in the exercise of his teaching office.

For the Record: Msgr. Bux questions Ratzinger's resignation, Bergoglio's legitimacy

We post this now as an important part of the record during the reign of Bergoglio. While we discussed this on Twitter a few days ago, we are just now able to post this on the blog. Long-time readers know we have followed the "Good Bux" for many years (click the tags at the bottom of the post to read more). 

What the Msgr. is speaking to, the validity of Benedict's abdication, and naturally following the legitimacy of Bergoglio's election, is no longer now reserved to online chat rooms and church basement coffee hours. What has been hidden for five years in the shadows is now illuminated and out in the open. 

We take no position on this here at Rorate -- other than sunlight is always the best disinfectant. 

From PJ Media, with original interview from Aldo Maria Valli:

To address the current crisis, he suggested that an examination of the “juridical validity” of Pope Benedict’s XVI’s resignation was in order to “overcome problems that today seem insurmountable to us.” The theologian consultor to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints was implying that further study of the situation could reveal that Francis is not and has never been a valid pope, but is, in fact, an antipope who could be removed from the papacy, thus nullifying his "insurmountable" errors.

Pope Francis the Problem

In the print edition of today's USA Today, online here, is a sad commentary by Melinda Henneberger, a former Vatican correspondent for the New York Times, where she announces her apostasy.

Henneberger, who is known to be center-left (dissident on, for instance, Humanae Vitae, but sympathetic toward limited pro-life causes) via her many years of writings, blamed her apostasy decision on "these men" and "the men who run the church" while avoiding any blame toward the man who runs the Church.

Who runs the Church?  Who is the Supreme Pontiff?  Who blocked the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week from moving forward with a plan to get serious about the abuse crisis?  Even Tom Reese, S.J. (deemed too liberal for America magazine), called the move this week a "disaster" that would result in "terrible public relations for the pope."

The Francis Effect: A beautiful apology to traditional Catholics

Many of us have been heartened by the recent words of Msgr. Charles Pope. This interview, admission and apology to traditional Catholics everywhere is a wonderful example of how the current, rotten pontificate has brought together faithful Catholics whose disagreements were once a major obstacle.

There has been a lot of this lately. While many who have criticized traditional Catholics over the years have apologized, we were very heartened by the gracious words of Taylor Marshall:

This is how men of good will act toward one another. This is how all serious Catholics must begin to unite. This is how we survive, as a remnant in the words of Msgr. Pope, during this most awful time in the Church under a dictator pope and a cadre of rotten bishops.

Wuerl I, Wuerl II and Wuerl III

Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Donald Cardinal Wuerl as archbishop of Washington, nearly three years after Wuerl submitted it upon turning 75.

Far from a dismissal or firing of any kind, Wuerl and Francis managed to turn the action into a retirement party.  In the pope's "beautiful letter" (Wuerl's words this morning in a 6:09 a.m. listserv email) to the outgoing archbishop, Wuerl was praised by Francis:

"You have sufficient elements to 'justify' your actions and distinguish what it means to cover up crimes or not to deal with problems, and to commit some mistakes. However your nobility has led you not to choose this way of defense. Of this I am proud and thank you."

The Archdiocese of Washington has created a tribute page to Cardinal Wuerl, highlighting all of the archbishop's accomplishments and defending his reputation.  All that is missing is the presentation of a gold watch during a luncheon to celebrate such a successful career heading into retirement.

Op-Ed: "The City of Light under the Regime of Darkness: Historical Meditation on Current Events" (by John C. Rao)

The City of Light and the Regime of Darkness:

Historical Meditation on Current Events

by Dr. John C. Rao

Monday, August 28th, the Feast of St. Augustine, followed hard upon the Sunday statement of Archbishop Viganò regarding papal delinquency in the chastisement of episcopal evildoers. Mulling over the possibility of some providential connection of the annual commemoration of the Doctor of the Church and the ex-nuncio’s document brought to mind the Bishop of Hippo’s City of God. It did so because this work, published in the early fifth century, one of the many tragic eras in the history of Western Christendom, is of continuing significance to all of us living through what is without a doubt the worst of such periods of trial to date. Its significance comes both from the circumstances surrounding its publication as well as the substance of the arguments to be found therein.

Separating the Wuerls from the Men

As bishops continue to issue statements responding to the Vigano letter, Rorate has begun to compile the supporters of the letter from within Church hierarchy in a post.

One new statement deserves highlighting, from Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.  Summarizing what so many Catholics are thinking right now, of Pope Francis' rare no-comment, and charge to let secular media discredit the Vigano letter, Paprocki today wrote:

"When asked about this aboard the papal plane on his return flight from Ireland on August 26, Pope Francis said, 'Read the statement carefully and make your own judgment. I will not say a single word on this.'  Frankly, but with all due respect, that response is not adequate."

The first year of the Bergoglio pontificate

Contrast the statements of Bishop Paprocki, Cardinal Burke, Bishop Morlino, Bishop Strickland, Bishop Konderla, Bishop Olmsted and even Cardinal DiNardo to that of Pope Francis and his closest allies.

A RORATE Editorial: Francis Must Go

In the two years that led to the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI from the papacy, many strange things happened: leaks, a Secretary of State (Cardinal Bertone) who seemed intent on making things difficult for the pope, and a crisis that seemingly had left his control. Only seemingly: what was actually happening was that the large group of Cardinals involved in what would become known as the "St-Gallen Mafia" were plotting to force Pope Ratzinger's departure in a see of problems, forcing the election of the "anti-Ratzinger" -- indeed, the anti-Ratzinger they had promoted in the previous conclave, Cardinal Bergoglio of Buenos Aires.

It all went exactly as planned. Benedict XVI became, or was, convinced that he would not be able to fix things and left. And Bergoglio, the Horror, was elected. The Horror was how we characterized the Pontificate that was about to begin, on the very day of Bergoglio's election.

And how we were criticized and vilified for it! In fact, if you go back and read that post by a dear Argentinian friend, that followed on the footsteps of our intense coverage of the Church in Argentina since our founding, you will see that the current Pope is not accused of heresy. Never once! He is not accused of apostasy. We were wrongly charged with all evils, when in fact our concern, that proved absolutely true, regarding this Pope was his mix of the worst moral companions and his utter doctrinal confusion.

Alas, his friends, the same who got him elected, got the best of him. From the very beginning, as the damning written testimony by Archbishop Viganò (at the time, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States) makes clear, Francis used all means, including malice and deception, to help his friends, such as then-Cardinal McCarrick, and also Cardinal Danneels. And he used all means to punish those he saw as his enemies, such as Cardinal Burke, Archbishop Léonard of Brussels, and so many others.

Scalfari and the Pope: A farce that has to end

Riccardo Cascioli

La Nuova Bussola Italiana

March 30, 2018

The Pope who denies the existence of Hell. A thing of such magnitude that was then spread by newspapers throughout the world for hours and hours before the Holy See issued a denial of  Eugenio Scalfari’s words. Yet some things don’t quite add up in the Press Office’s communiqué...

What must a poor Catholic think, when connecting to Internet on Holy Thursday morning he finds that the Pope has told an old journalist friend that hell doesn’t exist and that the souls who don’t repent simply disappear? A Pope who denies two truths of the Faith: Hell and the immortality of the soul.  It cannot be, it has never happened in the history of the Church. And right at the beginning of the Paschal Triduum, when we relive the Sacrifice of Our Lord, Who came to save us from sin. Diabolical timing. If Hell doesn’t exist neither does salvation.   It matters little that it is not a magisterial text and that it’s the ‘usual’ article by the founder of the Repubblica, Eugenio Scalfari, who transcribed the sense of a conversation with Pope Francis at Santa Marta. The statement is of unprecedented magnitude and devastating consequences.

Pope Francis' modus operandi

Five years into the Bergoglio pontificate, Rorate is (finally!) far from alone in our reporting and analysis of Pope Francis. Several books exposing the behavior and methods used by Jorge Bergoglio have been, or are in the process of being, published.  Ross Douthat, the lone conservative columnist at the New York Times, has one such book in the works, which will be released next week.

Mr. Douthat had a column in the Sunday New York Times (largely an excerpt from his forthcoming book) exposing the myth that Francis would grow the Church (Mass attendance has been down under this pontificate), and examining how calling for a "truce" on hot-button issues has been part of a stealth agenda of incremental liberalization.

This paragraph is perhaps the most eloquent we have seen in a while, unmasking the tactics of Bergoglio:

Guest Op-Ed: Remaining faithful to Christ

By Veronica A. Arntz

Highlights from Cardinal Sarah and Fr. Thomas Weinandy

This past week, there were two announcements about pieces of literature that left the liberals quaking (and complaining loudly). The first is a preface, written by Cardinal Robert Sarah, for a new book on Communion, who called for a return to receiving Communion on the tongue while kneeling, rather than in the hands while standing. While many readers of this blog already follow this request, we should rejoice at this call for greater reverence.

The second is an address, which was given by Fr. Thomas Weinandy, whose open letter to Pope Francis critiquing Amoris Laetita caused him to lose his position at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This address, given at the University of Notre Dame in Australia, questioned whether the current papacy is properly following the four marks of the Church.

Looking at highlights from these two addresses will be a good reminder for us that Christ is the Head of His Church, and all of us within the Church owe Him our complete and utter obedience: as St. Paul writes in the letter to the Colossians, “He is the head of the body, the Church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent” (Col 1:18, RSV2CE).

The Canonization of Vatican II: The case for Pacelli, revisited

Today, it was reported that Pope Bergoglio announced last week in his annual Lenten meeting with priests in Rome, that Paul VI will be canonized a saint this year.

As terrifying as this is, it should come as no shock. No matter how much damage they did, no matter how many souls they lost to Hell, no matter how much they destroyed the liturgy and, with it, the Faith, one thing is clear: Vatican II is being canonized via these failed pontiffs.

Since 1983, and the dissolution of the Devil's Advocate, Catholics of good will can honestly question these canonizations. What cannot be questioned, however, is the tragedy that is the case for sainthood for Pope Pius XII.

While the post-Concilliar popes (yes, all of them), left nothing but destruction, or at best the slowing of destruction in their wakes, the Church under Pope Pacelli flourished in every category.

And so we bring you this post, from 2014, as a reminder of what the last, saintly, Pre-Concilliar Pontificate accomplished in the United States:

Global scandal: Francis exposed as a liar by own advisers on abuse victim

From the Associated Press, in what is turning out to be the greatest scandal of a sorry Pontificate:

AP exclusive: despite denial, Pope got abuse victim’s letter

By NICOLE WINFIELD and EVA VERGARA

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis received a victim’s letter in 2015 that graphically detailed how a priest sexually abused him and how other Chilean clergy ignored it, contradicting the pope’s recent insistence that no victims had come forward to denounce the cover-up, the letter’s author and members of Francis’ own sex- abuse commission have told The Associated Press.

The fact that Francis received the eight-page letter, obtained by the AP, challenges his insistence that he has “zero tolerance” for sex abuse and cover-ups. It also calls into question his stated empathy with abuse survivors, compounding the most serious crisis of his five-year papacy.