By Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, Bishop Emeritus, September 12, 2025
Pillars of Faith is dedicated to upholding and sharing the truth of the Catholic Church with clarity, conviction, and purpose.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
What happened at St. Peter’s Basilica last weekend cannot be met with silence. Before the eyes of the whole world, the Holy Door – the sacred symbol of repentance and conversion in this Jubilee Year – was profaned. Groups openly advancing the LGBTQ agenda, contrary to God’s created order, adorned in rainbow banners and celebrating their rebellion against God’s law, marched through the very door that is meant to call sinners to repentance and new life in Christ.
This was no mere “pilgrimage.” It was a mockery of God, a desecration of the Holy Door, and a public scandal permitted by the highest authorities of the Church.
Where are the voices of the shepherds? There are over 5,000 Catholic bishops and over 400,000 priests in the world. Why are they not thundering in outrage? St. John Chrysostom once said, “I do not think there are many among bishops that will be saved, but many more that perish.” And Pope St. Gregory the Great warned: “No one does more harm in the Church than he who, having the title or rank of holiness, acts wickedly.”
And the Lord Himself declares, “But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth” (Apoc. 3:16).
Silence in the face of sacrilege is not prudence – it is betrayal. To allow such a public celebration beneath the very dome of St. Peter’s is to hand over the keys of the Kingdom to the spirit of Sodom.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, echoing two millennia of Sacred Tradition, teaches, “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” (CCC 2357).
There can be no indulgence without repentance. To walk through the Holy Door while openly rejecting God’s law is not mercy – it is sacrilege.
I join Bishop Athanasius Schneider in declaring this event an “abomination of desolation standing in the holy place” (cf. Matt. 24:15). I call upon Pope Leo XIV and the Vatican to issue a public act of reparation, as Pope John Paul II did in 2000 when he condemned the so-called “Gay Pride” march in Rome. Anything less is a grave dereliction of duty before God.
Let every faithful Catholic rise up in prayer, penance, and reparation. Let holy hours of Eucharistic adoration multiply across the world. Let the Sacred Heart of Jesus be consoled, for His house has been mocked and His Bride defiled.
Do not be deceived: mercy without truth is a lie, and truth without mercy is a weapon. The mercy of Christ always calls sinners to conversion, never to affirmation in sin. To those burdened by same-sex attraction or trapped in sinful unions, we extend the hand of Christ – but it is the hand that lifts you out of the pit, not one that blesses the chains that bind you.
Beloved in Christ, we are living through a time of trial foretold in Scripture. But we must not despair, “… Where sin abounded, grace did more abound” (Romans 5:20). Stand firm, be vigilant, and keep the faith.
I will not be silent while the House of God is profaned. The time for half-measures is over. Let the watchmen cry aloud, let the shepherds rise, and let the enemies of Christ know that His Bride is not for sale, not for mockery, and not for surrender.
The silence of the shepherds will not be pardoned! Enough of the silence. Enough of the betrayal. Let the priests and bishops of God choose this day whom they will serve – for the fire of judgment is already kindled, and the Lord will not be mocked.
Let them cry out, “I will not stand mute while wolves devour the flock – I will die shouting Christ’s truth before I will live in cowardly silence.”
The Heart of Jesus has been wounded in His own house; let the world hear us answer with love, with truth, and with fire: this House is His, and no power of Hell will prevail against it.
May the pierced Heart of Jesus Christ heal the wounds inflicted upon His Bride. May the Precious Blood poured out on Calvary shield you from deception and strengthen you in holiness. And may the intercession of Our Lady of Sorrows keep you steadfast until the dawn of victory. And may Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Bishop Joseph E. Strickland
Bishop Emeritus
SOURCE >>>>>>>>>>>
