BREAKING: Vatican letter leaves door open for Summorum Pontificum Mass to return to St Peter’s

Further details have emerged on the decision not to hold this year’s Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage Mass at St Peter’s.The restriction applies to the pilgrimage Mass itself, not to celebrations of the traditional Latin Mass in the basilica, where a daily TLM already takes place and solemn High Masses according to the older rite can still be requested.

A one-page letter dated 7 August, sent to the organisers through the Apostolic Nunciature, now gives further clarity on the scope of that decision.

It was signed by Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State and his  wording leaves open a future return to the basilica rather than closing the door permanently.

Organisers approached the Papal Household in December, April and June. Permission was not granted for 2026

Read the full insight on  @RealAdVaticanum

Bishop Eleganti warns against ‘decline of the Petrine office’

 

AdVaticanum

Aug. 11, 2026

 Bishop Marian Eleganti has questioned whether increasingly informal papal encounters risk obscuring the distinct dignity and purpose of the Petrine office

Bishop Marian Eleganti has criticised the growing informality surrounding the papacy, arguing that private audiences with public figures risk obscuring the authority and distinct purpose of the Petrine office. The former Bishop of Chur made the criticism in a piece entitled the Decline of the Petrine Office?, which was published on 10 August on various Catholic blogs. 

The comments follow Pope Leo XIV’s private meeting with the American musician, poet and artist Patti Smith at the Apostolic Palace on 31 July. The 40-minute meeting, attended by Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro, was documented by official Vatican photographs and video. Pope Leo and Smith were both born in Chicago, and the encounter attracted attention because of Smith’s longstanding relationship with the Catholic Church and her previous meetings with Pope Francis.

Bishop Eleganti wrote that the meeting itself was apparently harmless and that he assumed the conversation consisted largely of courtesies rather than matters of significance for the Church. The circumstances of the meeting, however, led him to question why recent popes have increasingly engaged in informal encounters, spontaneous interviews and highly publicised meetings with figures from entertainment and culture.

The former Bishop of Chur argued that such appearances can reinforce the impression that the Pope is simply another figure within the international establishment rather than the holder of a unique ecclesial office. “In the end such a reception appears to many as a trivialisation of what these persons stand for,” Bishop Eleganti wrote. “In this way the pope himself obscures the position of the Church and even gives scandal to the faithful.”

More: https://x.com/realadvaticanum/status/2087090745224368400?s=46&t=IydJ-X8H6c0NM044nYKQ0w

“Fear not, little flock”: the kingdom here is comfort in travail

From the Holy Gospel according to Luke

Luke 12:32-35
At that time, Jesus said unto His disciples: Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And so on.

Homily by the Venerable Bede, Priest at Jarrow, and Doctor of the Church.
Bk. iv. Ch. 54 on Luke xii.
The elect are called a little flock, perchance because the reprobate are far more in number than they, but, more probably, because they love to be lowly, since it is God's will that however much His Church should grow in numbers, she should grow with lowliness even unto the end of the world, and should enter lowly into that kingdom which is hers by His promise. That kingdom He promiseth to her here, when He biddeth her to seek only the kingdom of God, and, to comfort her in her travail, He doth so sweetly and so graciously say that her Father will give it to her.

Sell what ye have and give alms. Fear not, He saith, lest, while ye fight for the kingdom of God, ye should lack such things as are needful for this life, nay rather, sell even that which ye have, and give alms. This doth, whosoever for the Lord's sake leaveth all that he hath, and then worketh with his hands, that so he may have to eat, and withal to give alms. In this doth the Apostle boast himself, saying I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel, as ye yourselves know for these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak. Acts xx. 33, 34, 35.

Provide yourselves bags which wax not old that is to say, by almsgiving, the reward thereof remaineth for ever. Nevertheless, we must not think here that this commandment forbiddeth the Saints to keep money for their own use, and for helping of the poor. The Lord Himself, to Whom Angels ministered, had a bag, and kept therein that which the faithful people gave unto Him John xii. 6, to relieve therewith the need of His disciples, and other poor folk. But we are commanded not to serve God for gain, nor to work unrighteousness for fear of poverty.

Artificial intelligence has succeeded in fully deciphering a charred papyrus scroll from Herculaneum

The news went almost completely unnoticed in the French media, overshadowed by the World Cup and the wildfires: artificial intelligence has succeeded in fully deciphering a charred papyrus scroll from Herculaneum, as fragile as cigarette ash, without unrolling it or even touching it! It revealed a philosophical treatise on Stoicism. It took a wealth of ingenuity and technology to achieve this result. The dream has thus become reality: soon, we’ll be able to read in record time the hundreds of scrolls from that library incinerated by Vesuvius 2,000 years ago, and Greco-Latin literature will be enriched by that many unpublished texts—new tragedies or epics, perhaps. In this depressing summer, here’s a true ray of light. Long live science!

Museo Archeologico di Napoli

Source: @william_marx

Report claims Vatican firmly voted against Medjugorje in 2016

Michael Haynes

A new report by an Italian Vatican journalist claims to reveal the overwhelmingly negative opinion by the Vatican’s doctrinal office regarding the alleged visions at Medjugorje, detailing a vote which had hitherto remained secret. 

In a blog post published on August 6, David Murgia presented details of a September 2016 vote by members of the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding Medjugorje. The vote, occurring within an ordinary session of the DDF’s activity, was for the thirty-three members to state their opinions on the phenomenon of Medjugorje, where since June 1981, alleged apparitions of Our Lady have been taking place. According to Murgia, the DDF vote considered the question: can what happened in Medjugorje be considered supernatural in origin, must it be considered non-supernatural, or is there still insufficient evidence to make a definitive judgment? 

Catholic Herald, paywall 

“Islam is a monstrous fantacism”

CARDINAL ROBERT SARAH:

“Islam is a monstrous fanaticism which must be fought with force & determination. The West must understand this."

Church teaching on “The Universal Destination and the Private Ownership of Goods”

Are we attempting to change the catechism again?

A Cardinal said the following at a Labor Day weekend Mass:

 “No one intrinsically owns anything, all things that come as a gift from God belong to all of us…everyone has a right to part of the world’s bounty…when we work, we are co-creators with God.” “The labor market is going to dramatically change in the next 20 years. Certain sectors will be wiped out by AI. Millions of workers who have jobs now, will not have those jobs 10 years from now.”

Here is what the Catechism has to say about private property as well as the universal destination of all goods:

PART THREE SECTION TWO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS CHAPTER TWO YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF ARTICLE 7 THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT 

I. THE UNIVERSAL DESTINATION AND THE PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF GOODS

2402 In the beginning God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits.186 The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race. However, the earth is divided up among men to assure the security of their lives, endangered by poverty and threatened by violence. the appropriation of property is legitimate for guaranteeing the freedom and dignity of persons and for helping each of them to meet his basic needs and the needs of those in his charge. It should allow for a natural solidarity to develop between men.

2403 The right to private property, acquired by work or received from others by inheritance or gift, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. the universal destination of goods remains primordial, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right to private property and its exercise.

2404 "In his use of things man should regard the external goods he legitimately owns not merely as exclusive to himself but common to others also, in the sense that they can benefit others as well as himself."187 The ownership of any property makes its holder a steward of Providence, with the task of making it fruitful and communicating its benefits to others, first of all his family.

2405 Goods of production - material or immaterial - such as land, factories, practical or artistic skills, oblige their possessors to employ them in ways that will benefit the greatest number. Those who hold goods for use and consumption should use them with moderation, reserving the better part for guests, for the sick and the poor.

2406 Political authority has the right and duty to regulate the legitimate exercise of the right to ownership for the sake of the common good.188