The Lepanto Institute’s report examines the fifth World Meeting of Popular Movements (WMPM), held October 21–24, 2025, at Spin Time Labs in Rome under the auspices of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. It argues that the WMPM, which began in 2014 under Pope Francis, has consistently served as a platform for uniting self-identified Marxist, Communist, and Socialist organizations under the moral authority of the Catholic Church. The 2025 gathering marked a significant escalation: for the first time, delegations of “popular movements” were officially accompanied by mandated representatives from local churches, diocesan Justice and Peace commissions, and episcopal conferences. This integration risks spreading Marxist ideologies, abortion advocacy, and LGBT activism directly into Catholic communities through synodal structures.
Pope Leo XIV, elected only five months earlier, addressed the WMPM and referenced his first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te on the Love for the Poor. In paragraphs 80–81 of the exhortation, he acknowledged that popular movements have often been “viewed with suspicion and even persecuted,” yet he urged their inclusion in building a “common destiny” alongside local, national, and international governing structures. During his address to participants, he echoed Francis’s slogan of “land, housing, and work” as “sacred rights,” declared “I am here. I am with you!” and praised the movements as “social poets,” “champions of humanity,” and “poets of solidarity.” He called their struggles “legitimate and necessary” and stated that the Church should “accompany” them, just as it once accompanied union leaders. The report views these statements as deeply troubling given the documented ideologies of the attendees.
The venue itself—Spin Time Labs—is emblematic of the event’s character. A squatter-occupied building whose eviction Pope Francis had previously blocked, Spin Time is an openly Marxist, “transfeminist” space that has hosted Communist Party events, pro-abortion marches with “Non Una di Meno,” transgender fundraising events, and vulgar nude performances such as “La Merda.” Photographic evidence shows WMPM coordinator Don Matteo Ferrari at one such performance, and images from the 2025 meeting itself depict Cardinal Czerny and Cardinal Baldassare Reina inside Spin Time amid Marxist and ANTIFA symbols and an obscene painting.
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