On 7 July 2021, Aldo Maria Valli published an article rejecting the indefectibility of the Church and Her Apostolic character. This was written, as the title of the article states: While the Pope is in the Hospital. Pope Francis was then in the hospital for intestinal surgery, and he has since fully recovered. Valli’s article reflects “by analogy, on the state of health of the Catholic Church.”

Valli: “All you have to do is look around: the Church is ending. The shell exists, but there is no longer any substance. I also wrote an article called Roma senza papa [Rome Is Without A Pope], in which I argued that, beyond the canonical questions of who is actually the Pontiff, Rome is de facto without a Pope, because the Pope has long since ceased doing his job (confirming his brothers in the faith) and has become a sort of chaplain to the United Nations and politically correct humanitarianism.”

The Roman Catholic Church is first and foremost founded on Peter and his successors, as upon a Rock, and then upon the body of Bishops as the successors to the other Apostles (Mt 16:18; Lk 22:32). Each Pope has the charism of truth and of never-failing faith, and so he can never fail gravely in truth or in faith. So despite the private judgment of Aldo Valli, that the Pope has supposedly ceased to do his job — merely because the Pope does not do his job according to the judgment of Valli — the promise of Christ is that the Church is always founded on Peter and his successors. Then the prayer of Christ, which cannot fail, is that Peter and his successors will each have a never-failing faith. So the claim cannot be true that Rome has ceased to have a real or functioning Roman Pontiff simply because the Pope does not adhere to the Gospel of Valli in his decisions of doctrine and discipline.

Valli: “I came to understand that the Church has ended one Sunday a few months ago….”

Aldo Valli’s statement contradicts the indefectibility of the Church stated by Christ:
[Matthew]
{16:18} And I say to you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.
{16:19} And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound, even in heaven. And whatever you shall release on earth shall be released, even in heaven.”

Valli rejects the exercise of the keys by Pope Francis because Valli has put his own judgment above the teachings of the Roman Pontiff and the dogmas of the Faith. Instead of an indefectible Church, Valli believes the Church has largely ended:

Valli: “Of course, the Church, which belongs to Christ, cannot end, and she is already being reborn: smaller, more hidden, more persecuted, freer, and truer. But the Church as we have understood her and lived her up to now is over. The Church that is being reborn has nothing to do with the hierarchy and bishops’ conferences and congregations of the Roman Curia. That boat has been shipwrecked and has sunk.”

What a horrible faithless thing to say about the Ark of Salvation, that She has been shipwrecked and has sunk! After saying the Church has ended, he says She has not ended, but remains as something apart from the Roman Pontiff and the body of Bishops. This claim is also contrary to the indefectible of the Church. For She can never lose Her true character: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. The Church is led by the successors of Peter, the Apostle, and by the body of Bishops, who are the successors of the other Apostles. By rejecting the Roman Pontiff and the body of Bishops as the leaders of the Church, Valli rejects the Apostolic character of the Church, contradicting Her indefectibility.

Valli: “A Church that is – I apologize for using this term – a bit guerilla, because she is not organized and often is not visible. She is there, but there is little to see, or even nothing at all to see, and she doesn’t even want to be seen. She keeps the flame burning in ways that are both ancient and new. She combines Tradition with the inventiveness that comes from love. She looks with dejection at the official documents, at the policies and pastoral plans. Indeed, she ignores all this because she knows that the only thing that can come from there now is an attack on the faith. Since she thirsts for the Truth, she goes directly to the source of the water that gives life, and she gathers around the very few remaining shepherds, who are themselves hidden and persecuted.”

Such a plan for the Church is contrary to dogma. It is an heretical set of claims about the Church. The true Church is always that Church founded upon the Roman Pontiff and led by the Roman Pontiff. The true Church is always Apostolic, so She is always led by the Bishops with the Pope as their head, which is the Apostolic College. The Church can never be just a scattered group of the allegedly truly faithful, who reject the Shepherds appointed over them by Apostolic Succession. The true Church can never be those members (or former members) who reject what the Roman Pontiff and the Bishops teach.

As much as the true Church is, in one sense, invisible, for holiness and faithfulness are found throughout humanity, She is also always and necessarily visible in the Roman Pontiff and the body of Bishops, as well as in all the clergy, religious, and laity in communion with the Pope and Bishops. So the description of the Church given by Valli is heretical and schismatic. He rejects the Pope and Bishops as if they were no longer part of the true Church. That is severe schism. He rejects the indefectibility of the Church, the never-failing faith of the Roman Pontiff, and the faith of the body of Bishops confirmed by the Roman Pontiff (Lk 22:32c).

Even in the End Times, even during the great apostasy, even during the reign of the Antichrist, the Church will never go astray or lead astray, never cease to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, and never become just a scattered group of self-appointed true believers, without Bishops or in contradiction to them.

Valli tells us when he lost the Faith and become a heretic and schismatic: “the turning point occurred with Amoris Laetitia. I have said it and written it now many times: when I realized that apostasy had woven its way into that document, the veil fell. I stopped being a “regular” Catholic and I became a “guerilla” Catholic.”

The Roman Pontiff has the charism of truth and of never-failing faith, and the Apostolic See is unblemished by any grave error. So Amoris Laetitia cannot have “apostasy” woven into it. Such a claim is heretical. And then Valli says that he stopped being a regular Catholic. He had already explained above what he meant by guerilla, a hidden Church separate from all the Bishops and the Pope. That is schism.

And notice that these grave errors by Valli are based only on his own judgment. He puts himself above the Church, the Pope, and the Bishops to judge and to condemn what the Church has approved. He rejects fundamental dogmas about the very nature of the Church and the papacy. This is pride, to make yourself the judge above the Church. It is the source of every heresy and schism.

Valli: “Once upon a time we said: “Roma locuta, causa finita” – “Rome has spoken, the case is closed” – when Rome, or rather the Pope, had authority that was both recognizable and recognized. Now we could say: “Roma locuta, qui curat?” – “Rome has spoken, who cares?” The answer is: nobody cares. The voice of the Pope is one among many, and it is not even one of the most authoritative. ”

Again, this expression is fully schismatic. Valli utterly rejects the authority of the Roman Pontiff and the Apostolic See.

Do not let anyone deceive you! Very difficult years are ahead for the Church and the world. Always remain faithful to each and every Roman Pontiff, to each and every Ecumenical Council, and to the body of Bishops led by the Roman Pontiff. But if any Bishop, priest, or other person breaks away from the Pope or the body of Bishops, do not follow them. There will be many false shepherds in the near future, some will be lay leaders and others will be clergy, even as high as Cardinals. But the Roman Pontiff can never fall away from the true Faith, and so him you can always trust.

At one point, there will be two Popes, each of whom claims to be the valid current Pope. I am not talking about a Pope emeritus. Both the true Pope and a very popular Antipope will be elected outside of Rome. You will know which Pope is true by which Cardinals and Bishops elected him Roman Pontiff, even if non-canonically and outside of Rome.

Otherwise, it will be relatively easy, from now on, to know who is the true Pope. He is that Roman Pontiff accepted by the body of Bishops as the successor of Peter. The faithful can always trust each and every Roman Pontiff.

Ronald L. Conte Jr.