There is something unnervingly consistent about the modern Church’s behavior: whether it’s Pope Leo XIV gifting chasubles while preaching vague spiritualities, bishops blessing drag queens during Mass, or the federal government wiretapping priests who dare to remain silent in the confessional. Across all fronts, liturgical, doctrinal, political, the true faith is being buried under a mountain of euphemism, sentimentality, and soft totalitarianism. And yet we are told that this is progress. That this is the “synodal way.” The “Church of listening.”
It’s time to examine this “listening” Church and to ask who is doing the listening, and who is being silenced.
Leo XIV: Preaching the Gospel of Hospitality, Not Conversion
On July 20th, Leo XIV preached at the Cathedral of Albano and again during his Angelus at Castel Gandolfo. The central theme? Hospitality. Abraham’s welcome of the three visitors. Martha and Mary. Listening and serving. Contemplation and action. All fine scriptural subjects, but what’s notable is what Leo does not say.
Nowhere in the homily or Angelus do we hear about sin, repentance, or conversion. Nowhere is Jesus presented as judge or savior. Instead, we’re told to slow down, enjoy summer, take a vacation, learn to “receive hospitality,” and appreciate “the joy of seeing others.” This is Christianity as an Airbnb review.
Even when Leo quotes Saint Augustine, he doesn’t quote the Doctor of Grace on sin, the two cities, or the final judgment. Instead, we’re given a vision of the Christian life as vaguely sacrificial, definitely therapeutic, and entirely compatible with upper-middle-class summer travel. Jesus becomes a lifestyle consultant.
The climax of the Angelus is particularly revealing. Leo praises Mary for welcoming Jesus into her womb, and then pivots, without irony, to say the Church must be “a home open to all.” We are given the standard postconciliar bait-and-switch: the Virgin’s Fiat is repackaged as synodal inclusivity, with no doctrinal strings attached.
This is not the Catholic Church of the martyrs and missionaries. It is the Church of Oprah. It asks nothing, demands nothing, and therefore converts no one.
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