Bishop Strickland on Pope Leo's Encyclical, the SSPX and More!

Añadido: 2026-06-04

[00:00:07]Praise be Jesus Christ. This is Father John Levelvel with another episode of Hope in the Desert. We have a special episode. And if you've noticed that it's not coming out at the normal time. We thought it was so important that we release it a little bit earlier on Pelican. But without further ado, I would like to introduce my guest for this show. very honored to have back on his excellency Bishop Strickland, the Bishop Emmeritus of Tyler, Texas. Your Excellency, welcome to the show.

[00:00:36]>> Thanks, Father John.

[00:00:38]>> When we booked this episode just not even 48 hours ago, uh we were going to talk about your response to the Pope's latest and first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitatis. Uh before we get into that though, we did get breaking news yesterday that the society of St. Pius I 10th has announced the four priests that they are going to consecrate bishops. It is one Swiss, one American and two Frenchmen. It needs to be said that one of the Frenchmen, in fact the youngest of all four, is currently teaching at the society's American Seminary in Virginia. With that said, you and Bishop Schneider seem to be the only bishops uh throughout the world that have given really a positive perspective on what's going on. Now I say that because I don't think anybody would disagree including the society that this is grave times that they do not make this choice lightly. But for the sake of my viewers, can you give your thoughts not only on the society's decision to consecrate bishops but from what we've heard now the four bishops that are coming in? Not that you and I really know them very well cuz we're not society members. But what are your thoughts especially as we look back of how similar it is to the consecrations of 1988 um with the four with one being quite young. They seem to be in a position that they are doing this not because they think they have the right to ordain or consecrate bishops but because there seems to be a necessity. What do you think your excellency?

[00:02:32]Well, thanks, Father John. It is a critical question for the church and the world at this time because as goes the church, so goes the world. And we're seeing so much of the truth of that. It It's interesting as you asked the question um I literally am brought to uh as a judge in a tribunal when you're writing a case, you uh say with God before my eyes. I mean that is the tradition and to me that's the perspective that we have to keep going back to with God before our eyes with Jesus Christ his son light of the world in that context this uh decision of the uh society is difficult but necessary and needs to be supported I believe uh they everything that I've read from the the leadership of the society at this point has been measured and really in that focus with God before our eyes and that is what we seem to too easily forget as a church and certainly as humanity in the world today. Many people reject God. Many people mock Jesus Christ. But we know that he is Lord of the universe, the the son of God. He's come to redeem us. And that is what I believe the society of St. Pius I 10th imperfectly. We're all sinners. We all are failed in one way or another, but they are doing their best to stand with God before their eyes and honor Jesus Christ and the church that he's established. And I would even say, Father John, um, honor the the office, the Petrine office. Uh, and that may sound, you know, totally antithetical for people that are listening, but I really believe that h placing God before our eyes, being faithful to Jesus Christ and his truth, being faithful to his church is honoring the Petrine office.

[00:04:51]And I pray I always prayed for Pope Francis. I continue to pray for him. I pray for Pope Leo. But when the Petron office isn't clearly without any confusion, just absolutely clearly standing with their eyes before God and Jesus Christ as the focus, then we owe it to the man who presently occupies the Petron office, Pope Leo, and any man who comes after him. We owe it to them as we did with Pope Francis to lovingly, charitably, but clearly speak the truth of the faith. And I believe that that is what the society is about. Certainly a lot of the focus is on the liturgy which is absolutely appropriate but there are other elements of the church and her broken state that the society is troubled by and unwilling to just say well the pope said this is what we should do and just sort of buckling to that. It's a difficult time uh as you said it's a critical time but we do have to keep examining our conscience and I I mean I I constantly am asking myself is there another way?

[00:06:14]Is there a way for me personally as one successor of the apostles for one as one bishop can I take a different path and you know from what in prayer and in doing my best to be faithful to Christ I say no I have to oppose some of these things that are happening in the modern church and I believe that uh the society of St. Pines the 10th is doing the same thing. As far as the men chosen, as you said, I've never met them. I I really have no idea who they are. But knowing that focus of the society of Pis I 10th, I believe that they are choosing men who are faithful to Christ with their eyes before God and doing their best to uphold this beautiful Catholic faith, the tradition through the ages that is too easily put aside, too easily forgotten in our time. it ultimately and I know Father John we both know that the church will not be forgotten the church will not fail the church will not collapse as many have made it clear that's their aim to get rid of this problem that is the Catholic Church they won't accomplish that but they can in worldly terms accomplish a lot of harm and lead a lot of the flock astray and I believe that that is exactly what's happening So I support the uh societ society of St. Pines I 10th with that focus of looking to God, looking to fidelity to Christ. Certainly, you know, they're probably better ways they could do it, but they're doing the best they can. And with what is coming out of the Vatican daily these days with a clear confusion of cenidality and all of that we need people like those who are involved with St. P the society of St. Pius the 10th. We need bishops like Bishop Athanasia Schneider unwilling to simply say, well, the authority is spoken and so we must be obedient. We have to be obedient ultimately to God and to truth. And that is a that is a a difficult position to be in because as a a cradle Catholic, as a boy and a man formed in the Catholic faith, of course we obey and honor the papacy.

[00:08:58]But honoring the papacy at this time means saying respectfully, lovingly, in full charity, holy father, come back to the plum line of truth that is Jesus Christ.

[00:09:15]You're you're absolutely correct. And one thing that I noticed about the four priests that were chosen to be consecrated, in fact, my producer Matias texted me yesterday and said, "Why did they pick a seminary recctor?" And just because of his youthfulness, he doesn't realize that actually many seminary recctors uh both before the council and after the council uh are usually chosen to be bishops. Um the uh uh recctor of my seminary, Mount St. Mary's in Emittsburg, Maryland, was uh Father Kevin Rhodess. And I had the chance to be under him for a couple of years. He eventually was consecrated for the dascese of Harrisburg and is currently the bishop of Fort Wayne in South Bend.

[00:10:03]I think in many ways he could be considered one of the better bishops in the USCCCB along with yourself along with uh Archbishop Cordleó and many others. U not that there's a great many others but there are some that are trying to do the Lord's work and we have to give credit where credit is due but I knew before the names were even announced that they more than likely were going to pick men that were polygots. that means that they know uh at least a few languages. Um it was probably going to be very much French Swiss centered as we see three out of the four priests come from Switzerland and France. Uh but at the same time I think they're looking for people that are going to be teachers. And what we we have to realize in all the debates about what a bishop is, even what a priest is, is that a bishop is first and foremost the teacher of his dascese. He's the father of his dascese. And the society, what they're trying to do, you're a canonist. You you have seen this throughout most of your priesthood. Uh correct me if I'm wrong. You were only a priest for three years when the first consecrations took place in 1988.

[00:11:20]the this is society never set out to set up a parallel hierarchy. They didn't establish dasceses. They didn't even establish parishes in the traditional sense. They have chapels. They for the most part call their mass centers chapels and they leave it at that. They want to make it quite clear that these men have no jurisdiction whatsoever.

[00:11:48]um that they are simply consecrating bishops in order to continue to have the priesthood, in order to continue to have confirmations. Now, I'm going to tell everyone priests especially in emergency do have faculties to confirm and they could be delegated by their ordinary in order to confirm. All right? But it is really a sacrament that is reserved to the order of bishops. And I want to read while we're still on the subject of the society, your opening paragraph of your response to the Pope's encyclical. And you say this, "As a successor of the apostles, I have a solemn duty not only to preach the gospel, but also to help the faithful to discern the spirits of the age in the light of the unchanging truth entrusted to the church by our Lord Jesus Christ." St. Paul exhorted Timothy to preach the word by instant in season and out of season reprove and treat rebuke in all patience and doctrine. That duty belongs to every bishop charged with guarding the deposit of faith. And I'd mention that because even though you are now the bishop emmeritus of Tyler, even though now you're considered retired, there are many people who think that you should just simply shut up and and mind your own business. All right? But you can't do that because it goes beyond jurisdiction. It goes to your very office as a bishop that you have a duty to proclaim this. No matter what they might say or no matter what uh they might take away from you, you realize you are ordained to do this. And I think that's where the bishops from the society are coming at, both the ones about to be consecrated, the ones that were almost 40 years ago, and Archbishop Lev himself, they're not trying to set up a rival hierarchy. You're not trying to set up a rival hierarchy. And let's be fair, Bishop Schneider is only an auxiliary uh in Kazakhstan. You know, he is not an ordinary, nor is he claiming to be. But what you see with all of you is that you're trying to say, "Look, we are called to be these bishops and despite the fact that we do not have jurisdiction per se, we still because of our office have a duty to go out and to proclaim that mission." Am I correct in that uh assessment?

[00:14:20]>> Absolutely, Father John. And I I really appreciate what you've just said in these last few minutes because there there's still many people that believe, oh well, Bishop Strickland, he's not a bishop any longer because he was removed from the b the dascese of Tyler. There it's accurate that I was removed as the ordinary of the dascese of Tyler and I respected that. I mean that was in the the um authority of Pope Francis. Popes name bishops to various locations and make them ordinaries or auxiliaries. Uh but the office of bishop once I was consecrated or ordained a bishop I have that responsibility that mantle placed on my shoulders just like the bishop of Rome or the bishop of whatever dascese or arch dascese in the world. bishops all have the same basic call and that is why I mean as you said I think Rome wanted me to shut up but I can't I I have to live the responsibility that I've been given um and what I would encourage those who are listening to realize all of us as the baptized we've been indelibly marked in Christ hopefully most of us are confirmed And that is another indelible character that that confirms us and completes us as members of the mystical body of Christ.

[00:15:57]I have the additional mantle of priesthood and episcopacy.

[00:16:02]So that is a weighty responsibility and really father John that is what motivates me. I have to speak up not disrespectfully, not in a way that attacks or like you said tries to people have I mean I'm from a very non-atholic area and some of the non-atholics said ah Bishop Strickland you're great you need to start your own church and absolutely that is not what I intend to do want to do or can do there's only one church established by Jesus Christ but because I know that I have the respons responsibility to be faithful to him. He is Lord of the church. The pope is the vicor of Christ. And all of us as human beings need to be humble enough to adjust our path when we're wandering from the the plum line of truth that is Jesus Christ. And so I have the obligation to speak up to my brother bishops and say brothers let us come back to Christ. He is Lord. He is the one that requires the obedience of all of us. And that is what we need to remember and that is too much of what's been forgotten in the church today.

[00:17:24]>> Absolutely. I couldn't agree with you more as we take a look and actually the reason why I wanted you to come on uh was that you I'm I was impressed at how quickly you read the encyclical. Um it's not even been out a full 48 hours as we rec record record this show, but you had same day you had a response and it's about 11 pages. I encourage everyone to go over to pillarsof faith.net.

[00:17:51]Uh we'll make sure that that link is in the show notes as we did with the last episode. That is your website, your excellency.

[00:17:59]And uh it's interesting because you titled it a Catholic discussion of the encyclical letter Magnifica Humanitatis.

[00:18:09]And uh one way you could translate that is magnificent humanity.

[00:18:15]And in 11 pages you break down the concerns that you have. You also praised some things. Could you give us a summary of that, please?

[00:18:26]>> Yes, thank you, Father John. And really I would go back to the title of the the uh statement that I put out a Catholic approach, a Catholic review that we have to remember who the Catholic Church is, what she is about, who her founder is, and her very purpose.

[00:18:52]The Catholic Church exists, as we both know, for the salvation of souls.

[00:18:58]And to me that is the deepest concern I have with this um latest encyclical, the first encyclical from Pope Leo the 14th.

[00:19:12]Um because that is where to me it becomes vague is the church's purpose. If you read this encyclical, if you knew nothing else of the Catholic Church, if you had just fallen from out of the universe and just only read this, I don't believe you would have a clear understanding that the whole purpose of the church is the salvation of every soul. Not building a better world, not getting along better, not having more harmony in human communities. All of that is good and necessary and in many ways is part of the mission of the church. But to me, the bottom line is forgetting that the church exists for the salvation of souls. That is always job one. And I don't see that clearly illustrated.

[00:20:12]That's where Yeah. I mean, when we see that, we need to support it. And where c where the encyclical speaks of Jesus Christ and appropriately reminds us that he is lord and savior of all then we say yes plus mark give it a thumbs up. But where it begins to talk about s solving the problems of the world by better conversations among people. Certainly we need better conversations. We need better communication.

[00:20:48]But the church should always be clearly focused on that salvation of souls and therefore on the divine mission that is out of this world that is beyond anything that we will ever accomplish in this world. And losing that perspective is what to me is the bottom line concern I had um with again reading this document in isolation from anything else we know about the church. I don't believe it clear makes it laser clear that what does this entity exist for?

[00:21:27]For union with God, the salvation of our souls and everlasting life. that I believe revelation has shown us and many of the saints speak of and the the mystical really I would say book or of revelation all of those that imagery reminds us the the the kingdom of God is so far beyond we are called to it what a wondrous gift to be created in the image and likeness of God but it is beyond this world and there's too much in this encyclical that seems to almost deify the world and living in harmony in the world seems to be the ultimate goal really. Father, I've as both of us I'm sure have prayed and reflected a lot in these years about what's going on. And I think that what we have to remember if we can look to the great saints, the saints built a better world here only because they knew the very best world we can build here is only a mere shadow of what God has in store for us if we will follow his son. That is the perspective of the saints. And that should be the perspective of the church always. Yes. We we care for the poor. We build hospitals. We we care for all those in need. We try to eliminate violence and war that harms the little ones. But always with that perspective, the little ones are called to everlasting life with God, to the salvation of their souls. It's not just about building a better world here. And to me, that's where the the struggle that I had with reading the encyclical is it's too much focused on building a better world. A better world will come when the church does her job and focuses humanity on the salvation of our souls.

[00:23:43]>> I couldn't agree with you more. And one thing that I would like and encourage all of my listeners to get is by Tan Publications, the popes against the modern eras. And it's 16 papal documents from the 19th and 20th century. And what we have to realize, and I think this is where despite having some good things in it, where this encyclical kind of drops the ball, is we could have easily, the holy father could have easily for his first encyclical wrote a followup to Quas Primis, which was the great encyclical of Pope Pius the 11th issued a hundred years ago in 1925 on the reign.

[00:24:31]of Christ the King and the importance of putting Christ the King at the center of our lives and you get the impression from reading this encyclical all right that I mean just even from the title that it's really a very much anthropocentric uh man centered type of document and you could have talked about the dangers of AI while promoting at the same time and reassuring people of quas freedom. Now, I'm going to tell everyone not all of these encyclicals are easy to read. Even for uh men like Bishop Strickland and myself who've studied theology, okay?

[00:25:13]There's some heavy things in some of these encyclical. Some of them are very easy to read. All right? So, but the importance is is that there's not a word salad going on as it seems to be over the last couple of pontificates. And I don't mean that as a criticism. I think there is a lot of verbiage. Our good friend and mutual supporter Eric Sammons, the editor and chief of Crisis magazine, he laid it out uh on X the other day. Uh make incyclical short again. I mean this was a document he also said that could have taken 80% of it away and still got the basic message across. I mean there was a lot of that and I want to read this to you and again I encourage everybody to read what Bishop Strickland said but Father John Zuldorf um the great uh priest with the great blog Father Z um he said this and he's known for his pith he is certainly very good at it uh he says this I read the new encyclical it is not without problems there are some inconsistencies in it demonstrating that it was a committee work they all are but also that the editor wasn't very good. I was disappointed at the overriding anthropocentric turn and the seeming watering down about abortion as being quote gravely wrong end quote rather than intrinsically evil. I don't see how the church's just war doctrine can be thinned out into an outdated given the fact that states have a right to defend its citizenry at several levels and that force must be used to end obvious evil.

[00:26:58]I'm reminded of Pope Francis once saying that there should never be bombing and then soon after saying that the allies should have bombed the tracks leading to the concentration camps. As a Latinist, I note that whoever worked on this does not understand the impact of nove in res nove as seriously negative connotation, not neutral. And that the name of the document quattroesimo ano is throughout called quatroesimma ano. Really, it is fun to see Tolken quoted, but one wonders if the author of that section realizes that Gandalf is a fictional character. I also wonder if the contributor to the theme of Nehemiah knew that the workers rebuilding the walls were also armed. Also, how did Nehemiah, who essentially engaged in ethnic cleansing and the disfigurement of those who married outsiders as a paragon of cidality? I could go on.

[00:28:01]However, there were some interesting passages and some fair warnings about the unbridled use of AI by those who are not responsible to anyone else. And yet, the encyclical, if I got this right, suggests strong oversight by the state.

[00:28:16]And then he questions and says, "Oh, China." And uh we we have to realize that it seems like and we've seen this especially during co that it is almost a surrender of the church to the state as long as that state all right is more leftleaning and it it it's kind of scary because the church seems to be losing the the voice that it once had even in this country and and I I just I feel so sad about it because the bishops as we were just saying a few minutes ago, need to stand up and say, "No, we need to proclaim Christ as king." We need to realize the importance of making this society, whether it's a republic, whether it's a monarchy, we have to realize that we have to have God at the center, not man. Again, your excellency, what can we do as simple priests? Many of us uh that listen to this show are canceled priests, but also to the ley that are just scratching their heads in confusion over the last 60 years or so of of just really modernism run a muck. What can we do in order not only to better ourselves but to better the society we live in?

[00:29:39]Well, really, Father John, it's so such a simple answer that I have.

[00:29:46]What can we do? That I'm sure a lot of people say, "Oh, well, he he just doesn't know or doesn't have a good idea." But what can we do?

[00:29:56]Remember the reality, the truth of Jesus Christ. Remember who he is. Lord of the universe, God's divine son incarnate among us. remember the the truth and the power of the sacraments. Remember that the Eucharist is really him, body and blood, soul and divinity. So what can we do? We can deepen our faith. If it's not that strong, make it stronger and we need to continue to learn. Um that I tell that to people all the time as I travel in various parts of the country.

[00:30:34]People ask me that same question. What can we do? Follow Christ and learn your faith more deeply. I continue to learn and to deepen my understanding of the faith. And we should all be on that path because if we remember who God is, infinite goodness, infinite truth, infinite beauty, we will never plum the depths of who God is. And so his church is at least approaching with our frail humanity that wondrous truth. That is the mission of the church guiding us to the salvation of our souls. And so the church should be an institution that is deep and steeped in the truth of God so completely like you mentioned those papal documents that are hard to understand. It should be hard to understand and ultimately all of that brings us to the reality we will never fully understand. I mean St. Thomas Aquinas I quote him all the time. One of the best things he said uh toward the end of his life was compared to who God is compared to what I've written about in the Suma theologica.

[00:31:51]It's all straw compared to the reality I'm trying and the suma is straw but that is wisdom from St. Thomas Aquinas.

[00:32:00]We always have to remember that and to think that we've got it figured out. And I think that's the whole AI culture is the idea that we can figure out all things and we can get machines and algorithms to to figure out everything and to fix our world. That is false and it's dangerous. And I'm glad Pope Leo has made an attempt to address AI, but we need to go back to Christ and to the main purpose of the church. And I hope and pray that future writings will make it clear that the answer to to AI is the answer to all human struggles to look to Christ. He's the light of our lives. He is the gateway. There is no other. And all of that needs to be crystal clear to people in the church and to all humanity really. Father, uh what constantly recurs to me and you know I I pray for Poplio I pray for all of those who are in the like you said I don't have any jurisdiction anymore but I do have the responsibility to speak the truth as a bishop and part of the truth going back to the societ society of St. Pines the 10th. Yes, the liturgy is critical because it is how we know Christ. We receive him. We are fed by him in the world today. We can't lose that thread that that essential golden thread of what his eucharistic face is in our lives. But in addition to that and really surrounding the whole controversy about the liturgy is this the council the second Vatican council and the un swerving the the just outright total endorsement. It's almost the the the beatatification if you can beatify a council. It it makes it as if sec the second Vatican council is the end all and the beall of Catholicism.

[00:34:12]It is a valid council that occurred in the mid 20th century, but it had flaws that need to be corrected, that need to be clarified. And even worse, post counsel really the worst happened after the the fathers of the council, the bishops of the world after they went home. Then it it is basically record now. It's not mute rumors or ideas or some author talking about. It is the record that nefarious forces took the reigns of authority with the liturgy and so many things in the church and began to water down began to divert began to lessen the the significance of the church's mission of the salvation of souls. So I pray that the liturgy absolutely needs to be focused on and brought back into what it is, a celebration of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the son of God. But accompanying that and really surrounding the liturgy is a a clear and honest evaluation of the second Vatican council that doesn't throw it out and say, "Oh, it was it wasn't a council at all." It was a council of the church. But there are serious statements there that opened doors and opened windows to misunderstandings to a watering down that needs to be clearly corrected. Pope Leo I 14th has said, you know, again, he speaks as if the council is where the church began. We need to look to the 2,000-year history of the church, the deposit of faith, the magisterial teachings through the ages that have gone deeper and understood more clearly. And like you said, those encyclicals that warn us about modernism in the times that we're in and the second Vatican council that occurred in this fog of modernism is not the end all and the beall. And until we have a Vatican that's willing to say that, we are going to continue to struggle against forces that are telling us the church is just about this world. The focus of the church is about, you know, making this world a better place, a brotherhood of man. And we need to lay down anything that others in the world aren't comfortable with because the the ultimate goal is the brotherhood of man.

[00:36:57]That is not the Catholic Church. The ultimate goal is the salvation of our souls. And the way Christ refused to deny the truth that he is in order to gain followers, we have to have that same attitude. We can't water down the Catholic teaching, the truth of Christ, in order to get more people in the club.

[00:37:22]It's about the salvation of our souls, and the only path to that is Jesus Christ.

[00:37:29]>> I I couldn't agree with you more. Um I uh about to turn 46 years old this summer and one thing that I noticed about one of the new bishops uh in fact the youngest he is the same age of my first high school students because in my dascese the newly ordained in addition to being parochial vicers had to teach part-time at the local Catholic high school. Bishop Thomas Doran who ordained me was adamant that um new priests teach in the high schools. And thank God he did that because I learned more the four or five years teaching in high school than I learned uh all the years in seminary. And I I mention that because you and I while we would be considered old by uh many of the youth, we grew up in the postvatican 2 world and we have seen the destruction firsthand and it's great. In fact, this morning cuz we're filming this on Ember Wednesday during the Pentecost octave in the traditional calendar. Um, Pope Leo today had a general audience and really pushed for an understanding that the rubrics need to be followed.

[00:38:55]But it's going to fall in my opinion on deaf years just as what Pope Francis said about following the rubrics of the novasordo is so important. He said this in Tradition Custodus of all places that the the rubrics must be followed. uh Pope Leo again, and I'm paraphrasing, came out and said that there there must be given due dignity to this. But unless they're going to enforce it, it it really falls on deaf ears. And even if they did enforce it, and this is just my personal opinion, now that I even though I grew up in the Novasordto, I embrace traditionalism. I now as a council priest, I have the great joy of doing this. My private masses every day are are the traditional mass. I know you have learned how to celebrate the traditional mass and I think that we both can say why on earth did we get rid of this all right now we could debate all we want maybe this should be in the vernacular or that should be in the vernacular but even if they were the richness of these prayers that comes from the mass of all ages the traditional Latin mass especially in this Pentecost octave I'm thinking to myself if anyone says that the church before Vatican 2 didn't have a firm understanding of the role of the Holy Ghost in the church that they don't fully understand what the church is. And we have to realize that, you know, we're going to celebrate this weekend uh Holy Trinity. And I kind of laugh when priests say to me, I I hate preaching on Holy Trinity. And I say, why? I said, I think it's a beautiful time to preach because it reminds us that the even though we received on Pentecost the gifts of the Holy Ghost, our commissioning, our confirmation which we receive in the sacraments, it's a reminder to us that Holy Trinity reminds us that it is still a mystery. Going back to what you just said, yes, the documents should be hard.

[00:41:02]We're talking about something that are hard truths, but a realization that if we embrace it with the eyes of faith, with love, real love, not the emotion love, but with real love, we're going to understand it. We might not be able to explain it to others, but we're going to see that. That's what true orthodoxy brings is the ability for us to grasp and the realization that when it comes to his mystery, especially with the trinity, it doesn't matter how much we learn. It doesn't matter how much we grasp because it's going to go out infinitum. There's always going to be a part of God that man, even when we make it to heaven, is not going to fully understand.

[00:41:47]And that's that's that is not a bad thing. That shows the uh wonderfulness of God that he is so great that we're going to spend heaven getting to know God and it's going to go out infinitum.

[00:42:02]And I think we have to realize that and we have to realize it's not about the reason. It's not about even the science.

[00:42:10]It's about staying focused on the faith in love. And that's how we come to understand things. And I think that's why again traditionalists we have a lot to learn in my opinion of of getting that message out. But we have to realize that when when we when we talk about these things it's not just about the liturgy. It's not just about out orienting on the tongue or kneeling. All of those are important. It is about making Christ the center of our lives again. And with that said, we're coming sadly to the end of this episode. I want to thank you, your excellency, for uh taking the time, especially on short notice to speak about these things. Um just like to know, I think my viewers would like to know too, what are your plans coming up this summer, this year, and any final uh words of wisdom that you would like to impart to us? The floor is yours.

[00:43:06]>> Well, thanks, Father. Um, well, as far as plans, I I do have a busy summer.

[00:43:12]There's lots of activities with pillarsof faith.net is the website that I'm developing, and we're continuing to do a lot with that. I'm actually going to Keto, Ecuador in July. I don't know if you're familiar with our lady of good success. an amazing appearance of the blessed virgin Mary there to a nun shortly after Guadalupe in 1571 is where these these visions began and interestingly she said to Mother Mariana that this message is not for the 16th century it's for the 20th and 21st century for our time and it has some hard-hitting messages so I'm going to keto to explore and hopefully understand more clearly the significance of this uh these messages of Mary to Mother Mariana there in Keto, Ecuador.

[00:44:13]Um there's an Alaskan cruise that our pillarsof faith.net is doing in August.

[00:44:19]If people are interested, they can find out about it on the website. So I do a lot of traveling and do my best to I you know like you said father I think there are a lot of people that say I wish Bishop Strickland would just go away would quit piping up every time he feels the need to. But um as long as the Lord gives me breath, I feel the obligation to speak up hopefully in charity and respect. But the deepest respect for anyone is to share the truth and to speak the truth. So I intend to continue um and I will do my best to do it in humility, always recognizing like we've said, I don't have a I don't know all truth. You don't know all truth. We need to in humility approach the Lord of all truth. That is Jesus Christ guiding us to the father and the spirit, the trinity. And beautifully we celebrate it in the novasordo calendar, the holy trinity. We need to celebrate God as a loving father who is beyond us but loves us profoundly and wants to share his everlasting life with us. That's what the church is about.

[00:45:39]>> Yes. And we didn't really touch on this, but it's good for people to know. You know, Pope Leo says the church doesn't have a monopoly on the truth. And okay, that might be >> Yeah, exactly. I said, okay, that could be taken in different ways, but let's at least in English, I wouldn't have used that phrase because yes, the church does have an monopoly on the truth. It is the fullness of the truth as the mystical body of Christ. That doesn't mean that every member uh has the fullness of truth. I am far from it and I will never actually have it as I was just saying a moment ago and as you just said. Uh but I do encourage everyone to go over to pillarsof faith.net. Also, if you would like to help and continue to see programs like this, please go to unprofitableservants.org in order to help the canceled priests.

[00:46:29]We have several priests that are in need. In fact, we have more priests in need right now than donations coming in.

[00:46:36]Good problem to have, but it's still a problem and we could certainly use everyone's help when it comes to that.

[00:46:42]On behalf of Miiah 7, my producer, I am Father John Levelvel. Until next time, God bless.