Roberto De Mattei on Leo XIV: Unity, Vatican II, and a Risky Repeat of Benedict

Speculation around Leo XIV and the course of his papacy continues relatively unabated. The first Pope from the U.S. has so far conducted a pontificate marked by notable discretion, especially when contrasted with that of his predecessor. 

For many Vatican analysts Leo’s major appointments in the Roman Curia will be the most telling, but so far he has only filled the prefect position which was made vacant by his own election. In the face of this relative silence, therefore, and the implicit continuation of some of the Francis-era elements, many have sought to describe Leo as a Francis II while others sought (especially early on) to claim him as an ardent champion for the cause of tradition. 

For Professor Roberto de Mattei, Leo is neither. The prominent Church historian and veteran of the Rome scene argued that the Pope displays some characteristics of John Paul II along with Benedict XVI, but that he is fundamentally his own man.  

Interviewed by this correspondent for Pelican+, de Mattei urged caution and nuance when trying to understand Leo:  

“The first point I would like to stress is that the thesis of those who judge Leo XIV to be a progressive in line with his predecessor seems to me just as superficial as that of those who would like to turn him into a conservative or traditionalist Pope. In my opinion, he reconnects—albeit with the new characteristics of his own personality—to the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He is therefore, at least up to this point, neither a Francis nor a Saint Pius X.” 

Leo’s various addresses and speeches have highlighted the themes of unity, while also urging a

Paywall: https://x.com/pelicanbriefhq/status/2024164027790716955?s=46&t=IydJ-X8H6c0NM044nYKQ0w

New Network Offers Lifeline to Converts From Islam to the Catholic Faith

Lay-run St. Nicholas Tavelić network quietly forms 300-strong underground community of ex-Muslims seeking sacraments, catechesis and a truly Catholic home.

A portrait of St. Nicholas Tavelić, a 14th‑century Croatian Franciscan martyr who is the namesake for a network that supports Muslim converts (photo: Courtesy of TavNet)

Edward Pentin WorldFebruary 17, 2026

A new support network for converts to the Catholic faith from Islam is flourishing as increasing numbers of Muslims turn to Christ, with many parishes struggling to offer the catechumens the help they need.

The “St. Nicholas Tavelić Network for Morisco Catholics” — TavNet for short — is a lay-run Catholic missionary network that since 2024 has served converts living in Muslim-majority communities or societies where ordinary parish structures cannot easily reach them.

 More: https://x.com/crean_fr/status/2024134412284071971?s=46&t=IydJ-X8H6c0NM044nYKQ0w

Papal Lenten Retreat: “On Consideration”

Photograph: CS-BB.

By Bishop Erik Varden 

27 February 2026

From the tenth conference of this week’s Lenten Retreat. Italian text below.

St Bernard wrote a treatise On Consideration. It enjoyed the widest circulation of any of his works. This may seem odd, for the text is in essence a letter addressed to a specific person in a singular predicament. Bernard wrote it for a confrère of his, an Italian monk named Bernardo dei Paganelli who, already a priest of the church of Pisa, had entered Clairvaux in 1138.

In 1145 Paganelli became Pope Eugene III.

While contemplation deals with truths already known, consideration, in Bernard’s vocabulary, seeks truth in contingent human affairs, where it can be difficult to notice. It can be defined as ‘thought searching for truth, or the searching of a mind to discover truth.’ 

Considering the problems of the Church, Bernard offers no institutional remedies. He rather advises Eugene to surround himself with good people. The better the Church’s central offices are run, the greater the benefit will be for the Church worldwide. 

The qualities Bernard asks him to look out for and cultivate are immortal. Needed are collaborators ‘of proven sanctity, ready obedience, and quiet patience; […] catholic in faith, faithful in service; inclined towards peace, and desirous of unity; […] farsighted in counsel, […] industrious in organisation […], modest in speech’.

Such people ‘habitually devote themselves to prayer, and in every undertaking place more confidence in it than in their own industry or labour. Their arrival is peaceful, their departure unassuming.’

In so far as the Church operates in these terms will she reflect the organisation of the angels’ hierarchies. Whoever considers her then will see her principal mission: that of giving God glory.

To consider earthly necessities rightly, we must seek, through them, what is above. This is not, Bernard tells Eugene, somehow to ‘go into exile: to consider in this way is to return to one’s homeland’

More: https://coramfratribus.com/life-illumined/on-consideration/

BREAKING: Pro-abortion Notre Dame professor withdraws from institute role after fierce criticism from bishop, cardinals

 Getty Images

Story by Rachel del Guidice

An abortion rights advocate who was appointed to lead the University of Notre Dame’s Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies has decided "not to move forward" with her appointment.

In a Thursday message obtained by Fox News Digital, Mary Gallagher, professor of global affairs and the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, wrote, "Dear Keough School community, Today I would like to share that Professor Susan Ostermann, a member of the Keough School faculty who was recently appointed director of the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, has decided not to move forward as director." 

In the message, Gallagher also said, "Susan is a respected scholar of South Asian politics and regulatory governance whose research and teaching reflect the intellectual rigor and interdisciplinary excellence at the heart of both the Liu Institute and the Keough School of Global Affairs. I am grateful for her willingness to serve and for the thoughtfulness with which she approached this decision." 

Putting the need for Sacraments, and the Priesthood, first

Even organizations such as the US Navy with limited worldly objectives seem to understand the importance of putting the needs of the organization first better than the Church.

The need of a young girl to be seen on the altar, or for her parents to see her there, does not come before the needs of the church for the Sacraments, in particular the Eucharist, and therefore of the priesthood, and therefore also of vocations.

In a state of emergency, and of war, the people always understood the need for sacrifices, the wishes of an individual coming after the needs of the rest. 

Papal Lenten Spiritual Exercises: “…present mediocrity and despair, not least my despair at my own persistent failures, need not be final…”

Bishop Erik Varden on the fourth day of the Lenten Spiritual Exercises for the Holy Father and the Roman Curia says:

“The Church reminds women and men of the glory secretly alive in them. She shows us that present mediocrity and despair, not least my despair at my own persistent failures, need not be final; that God’s plan for us is infinitely lovely; and that God, through Christ’s Mystical Body, will give us grace and strength, if only we ask.

The Church manifests the radiance of ‘hidden glory’ in her saints. They stand as proofs that even illness and degradation may be means providence uses to realise a glorious purpose, bestowing strength on the feeble and making them radiant. The Church channels ‘hidden glory’ in her sacraments. Any Catholic knows what light can break forth in the confessional, in an anointing, at an ordination or a wedding. Most splendid, and in some ways most veiled, is the glory of the Holy Eucharist. What priest, after offering Mass, has not felt what a great musician once said about an instrument in a bright communication of beauty, healing, and truth: ‘death would really be no tragedy: [for] the best of that which is at the centre of human life has been seen and lived through’, his heart on fire with glorious wonder?”

Source: https://x.com/catholicsat/status/2026754475348869260?s=46&t=IydJ-X8H6c0NM044nYKQ0w

YESTERDAY: Quentin Deranque traditional rite funeral

 

Today the funeral of Quentin Deranque took place, killed by the French extreme left at the hands of the terrorist movement ANTIFA, in a private ceremony reserved for family members.

℣. Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine.  

℟. Et lux perpetua luceat ei.  

Requiescat in pace.  

Amen.

Source: @SiateSanti on Twitter/X.

3:18 pm 2/24/26