Editor’s note: The following is an open letter by Father Jesusmary Missigbètò, an Opus Dei priest suspended in March of 2021 after criticizing Pope Francis’s support of civil unions of homosexual couples the previous November and asking him to correct his position or resign. His previous writings can be viewed here.
Would you allow me, in my love for Jesus (Eternal Truth of the Father), for the Church and for you, to write this open letter to draw your attention, once again, to the fact that you have not yet corrected the errors and heresies of your magisterium that have changed Christian morality and doctrine through relativism and situational ethics (cf. Code of Canon Law 751; Robert Spaemann, interview of 29 April 2016 with Anian Christoph Wimmer of Catholic News Agency)?
Sincerely, we should be grateful to you because your pontificate has drawn attention to the place of the heart and tenderness in relations with one’s neighbor, the care of the poor and marginalized, the mercy and understanding of pastors towards sinners, etc…
We should also mention the beautiful pages of encyclicals, exhortations, letters and homilies that contain precious texts such as the passage from Amoris laetitia on St. Paul’s hymn to charity.
Pope St. John Paul II taught us to pray with the soul. Pope Benedict XVI taught us to think with our heads. And Pope Francis wanted to teach us to love with the heart. Has he succeeded? No.
In reality, since 2016, various errors have appeared in the official teaching of the Church and have created a crisis of confidence of the Catholic faithful in you, because to truly love God and their neighbor, their hearts need the truth as the light of intelligence and prayer as the nourishment of the soul. Are you aware of your errors? If the answer is NO, is there not a lack of humility on your part in listening to the filial correction (cf. Galatians 2:11-14; Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II, q.33, a.4 ) of many sons of the Church (bishops, priests, university professors and experts in theology and morals) who have drawn your attention to these various errors (cf. Open Letter to the College of Cardinals, July 2016, 45 signatories; Filial Correction to Pope Francis, July 2017, 62 signatories; Open Letter to Bishops, April 2019, 20 signatories; my filial correction, 29 June 2023)?
If the answer is YES, why do you refuse to correct errors that urgently need to be corrected to prevent the Catholic faithful from committing seriously immoral acts? With this letter, I am not calling on the Christian people to rise up, but on the Christian pope to rise up in humility…
On 19 March 2016, on the subject of remarried divorcees, you stated that “in such situations, many people, knowing and accepting the possibility of living ‘as brothers and sisters’ which the Church offers them, point out that if certain expressions of intimacy are lacking, ‘it often happens that faithfulness is endangered and the good of the children suffers’” (Amoris laetitia note 329).
On 5 September 2016, with the bishops of the Pastoral Region of Buenos Aires, you affirmed that “the commitment to live in continence can be proposed. Amoris laetitia does not ignore the difficulties of this option… the mentioned option may not, in fact, be feasible.”
On 5 June 2017, you ordered that these three sentences be published as “Magisterium authenticum” (Acta Apostolicae Sedis 108; pp. 1071-1074; www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/2016/acta-ottobre2016.pdf).
Since when has a pope affirmed that the virtue of chastity is an option and present fidelity and the good of children as excuses for committing adultery or fornication, acts that are intrinsically and morally evil? Never! You have thus allowed certain Catholics to receive the Holy Eucharist without repenting of their serious sins. You have fallen into three heresies: rejection of the universality of the sixth commandment (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 1956, 1958); rejection of the absolute character of the sixth commandment (cf. Exodus 20:14; Mark 10:11-12); rejection of the resolution to struggle to avoid sin, which is an absolutely necessary condition for receiving the Sacrament of Confession (cf. Council of Trent, Doctrine on the Sacrament of Penance, 14th session, 25 November 1551, DS 1676 and 1678; Catechismo di San Pio X, Della Dottrina Cristiana, Parte IV, 731; Catechism of the Catholic Church 1451; Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church 303; John Paul II, Familiaris consortio 84; Document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 14 September 1994; Tradimento della sana dottrina attraverso “Amoris laetitia”, Tullio Rotondo, March 2022; my 2nd open letter).
On 10 December 2018, together with Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer SJ (Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) and Archbishop Giacomo Morandi (Secretary), you authorized hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) on the pretext of the agreement of medical experts who would ensure that no future pregnancy could come to term. Since when has a pope accepted such a practice? Never! As the state of the uterus poses no present or future danger to the woman’s health, you have allowed direct sterilization, an intrinsically and morally evil act (cf. Humanae vitae 14; Document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 31 July 1993), now taught in Catholic universities and practiced in Catholic hospitals. It is also the first anti-natalist measure of the Catholic Church and the first error of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (cf. my 3rd open letter). You have fallen into a heresy: rejection of the divine law on procreation (cf. Genesis 1:28; 38:9-10).
On 4 February 2019, in the United Arab Emirates, you and Ahmed el-Tayeb, Imam of Al-Azhar, signed a declaration on human brotherhood containing the following sentence: “The pluralism and the diversity of religions, color, gender, race and language are a wise divine will, by which God created human beings.” This sentence confuses God’s permission with God’s will. To say that God has permitted the existence of a diversity of religions is true because God respects human freedom even when it errs by creating a religion that is not the one God intended. However, it is not true to say that God has willed that there should be a diversity of religions.
In fact, some religions practice evil, for example idolatry or sacred prostitution. But God cannot will evil. Since when has a pope made such a statement? Never! You have thus accepted a religious relativism that puts all religions on the same level and denies the specificity of Christianity as the supreme religion willed by God (there is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ). This is why you have taken part in the idolatry of three pagan ceremonies (4 October 2019 with the Pachamama, 25 and 27 July 2022 with the autochtones of Canada), an intrinsically and morally evil act (cf. my 5th open letter). You have fallen into two heresies: rejection of the goodness of God’s will (cf. Genesis 1:31); rejection of the uniqueness of Christ’s saving mission (cf. John 14:6; Dominus Iesus 13).
On 21 October 2020, in the international documentary Francesco (available on Discovery+ Channel from 28 March 2021), you publicly called for homosexual civil cohabitation laws, saying: “What we have to do is a civil coexistence law; they have the right to be covered legally. I defended this.” You agreed to this documentary being made by your friend Evgeny Afineevsky, a militant homosexual who in 2009 made a film promoting homosexuality (Oy Vey! My son is gay!).
On 15 September 2021, 5 February 2023 and 10-11 March 2023, you called for these same laws on the pretext of the legal sharing of socio-economic benefits. Since when has a pope acted in this way, asking humanity to adopt homosexual cohabitation laws? Never! You have thus committed the most publicized papal error and “a gravely immoral” act (Document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 3 June 2003), by authorizing an intrinsically evil sexual cohabitation.
In fact, you have eliminated three important aspects concerning homosexuals. The first is the distinction between “cohabitation laws” and “protection laws.”
Cohabitation laws are linked to LGBTQ ideology, while protection laws are linked to human discrimination. There are protection laws for children, women, the disabled, migrants, prisoners and so on. All these people are entitled to consideration and humane treatment, which does not require sexual cohabitation laws (cf. my 1st open letter).
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