In his General Audience of February 11, 2026, Leo engaged in a time honored conciliar pastime, setting the truth aside in order to express solidarity with the Protestants.
I have little doubt that some of what Leo had to say about Sacred Scripture will disturb those who have never closely considered the Council’s actual teaching.
An article / script appears below the video.
TRANSCRIPT
At his General Audience of Wednesday, February 11, Leo continued his slow walk through the Constitution on Divine Revelation of Vatican II, Dei Verbum.
He began by doing his best Captain Obvious imitation, saying of the Bible:
In today’s catechesis we will look at the profound and vital link that exists between the Word of God and the Church…
Now, don’t get me wrong: I do not mean to suggest that what Leo said is obvious to him, at least not in the sense that it really is obvious.
I’ll explain what I mean by that in a moment, but first please allow me to tell you what I think Leo was actually attempting to convey.
As I’ve pointed out many times, ecumenism was the driving force behind much of the Second Vatican Council’s activities. Throughout the conciliar text, one will find evidence of the Council’s deep desire to express solidarity with the Protestants.
For example: While the phrase “People of God” as it appears in the Council documents is often assumed by the naive to refer to the Catholic faithful, it’s actually a reference to all baptized individuals including the heretics and schismatics. In fact, as we’ll discuss moving forward, Leo does the same.
Bearing in mind the ecumenical fervor of the Council and the putative popes that followed, it seems reasonable to understand that this is Leo’s motive for beginning his Audience by declaring the profound and vital link that exists between Scripture and the Church. In other words, it’s an ecumenical gesture meant to express solidarity with Bible-only heretics.
He’s telling the Protestants: Look, brothers, we’re all about the Bible too!
So, what is the Captain Obvious part that Leo didn’t, and likely would not dareto, point out?
The most fundamental link that exists between the Bible and the Church lies in the fact that the only reason anyone – heretics included – can be certain that the Holy Bible is the inspired Word of God and not just a collection of some really good books – is because the teaching authority of the Catholic Church, vested in her by Christ Himself, determined as much.
In other words, the Bible to which the Protestants claim to cling is very much a Catholic book, the legitimacy of which is derived directly from the Holy Catholic Church. (For the time being, we’ll set aside the violence done to the Sacred Scripture by the scoundrel Martin Luther.)
Leo continued his conciliar comedy club routine, saying:
The Church is the rightful home of Sacred Scripture. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Bible arose from the people of God, and is destined for the people of God. In the Christian community it has, so to speak, its habitat…
There it is, as promised, the People of God! Recall what I stated just a moment ago: “The People of God” in Council speak refers to every single solitary baptized individual. This is perfectly obvious to anyone who takes the time to carefully examine the conciliar text.
So, with this in mind, consider what Leo is suggesting when he says that the Bible arose from the People of God. Again, this is another example of sidling up to the heretics.
I can tell you firsthand, having engaged many Protestants over the years, that this exact statement – the Bible arose from the people of God – is their go-to response to the question:
From where did the Bible come?
The point of that question when attempting to enlighten a Protestant, of course, is to help them to see and appreciate the indispensable role of the Church’s divinely given teaching authority in determining which books are Sacred Scripture and which ones are not.
The Protestant misconception, however, is that the books that make up the Bible somehow came to be recognized as such by the “People of God,” or to put it another way, the Bible organically took shape within the Christian community itself.
Leo actually invoked both manners of speaking! He said that the Christian community is the Bible’s habitat.
Let’s not be naïve: By “Christian community,” Leo is including the Anglicans, the Luherans, the Methodists, the Baptists… you name it.
How can we know this?
Like all of his post-conciliar predecessors, Leo has previously invoked the phrase “Christian community” to refer to the totality of baptized non-Catholics broadly speaking.
For example, in his recent so-called Apostolic Letter [sic] commemorating the Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Leo waxed ecumenical as he spoke about “the one universal Christian community,” saying:
Truly, what unites us is much greater than what divides us!
This is a profoundly revealing statement. Think about it: What sorts of things divide us?
We are divided by our faith in the Blessed Sacrament, our reliance on the Sacrament of Confession, the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, etc.
To the conciliar mind, clearly expressed by Antipope Leo XIV, such things as these really aren’t all that great!
The Bible has the Christian community as its habitat, Leo tells us.
At this we might ask: What is a habitat?
It is a place where something naturally lives and thrives.
So, you tell me, does the Bible naturally live and thrive in communities where the name of Christ is blasphemed in support of homosexuality, divorce, contraception, and even abortion?
Or how about where in those places where the Blessed Virgin Mary is treated as a mere vessel, where the priesthood and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass are ridiculed, and where the Most Holy Eucharist is mocked?
According to Leo, this is the Bible’s habitat.
But wait, Leo’s defenders might say, he did say that the Church is the rightful home of Sacred Scripture.
Yes, he did say this, right before he said that the Christian community is the Bible’s habitat.
Is he contradicting himself? No, he’s not. He’s actually expressing a core conciliar belief.
Pay close attention: He said, the Church is the Bible’s home. The Christian community is the Bible’s habitat. In other words, he is suggesting is that the Christian community is part of the Church!
To be sure, he isn’t making anything up here, he’s simply unpacking the Council which – speaking of the heretics – stated in the Decree on Ecumenism:
For men who believe in Christ and have been truly baptized are in communion with the Catholic Church.
As if Leo hadn’t given the heretics enough to cheer about, he went on to quote the Council directly – Dei Verbum 21 to be specific – saying:
“The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table both of God’s word and of Christ’s body.” (DV 21)
Ask yourself, does the Catholic Church venerate the Bible “just as she venerates” the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist?
Let me ask this another way: Have you ever been to Bible Adoration” Has your parish or any Catholic community ever engaged in a 40 Hour Devotion with the Bible placed adoringly on the altar?
Bear in mind, Leo is quoting Dei Verbum accurately, and it’s yet another blatant lie intended as an overture to Protestants, an attempt to make it seem as if we share common liturgical ground with them when in fact no such ground truly exists.
In the Blessed Sacrament, as the Council of Trent teaches, the Author of sanctity Himself is truly, really, and substantially present. Our Lord is not only the Author of sanctity, He is the Author of Sacred Scripture as well. As such, the consecration of the Most Holy Eucharist is, of course, the centerpiece of the Church’s liturgy.
For the Protestant, the centerpiece of their liturgy, the focal point around which the entire service revolves, is the Bible, which they misinterpret in order to justify their bankrupt theology.
Leo reassured the heretics on this note as well, saying of the Bible:
It is the only Word that is always new: revealing the mystery of God to us.
In other words, Divine Revelation continues via the Bible.
If this is so, especially given that Leo didn’t dare underscore the inextricable connection between the Church’s teaching authority and Sacred Scripture, how can we criticize those so-called “Christian Communities” that insist that the Bible presently reveals that God is now OK with gay marriage, ordaining lesbian ministers, contraception, you name it?
Toward the end of his Audience, Leo said:
Indeed, we live surrounded by so many words, but how many of these are empty!
On this point, having listened to Leo’s commentary of Sacred Scripture, I think we all agree.
Until next time…
