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Hello, my friends, and thank you, as always, for being paid subscribers and members of my Inner Circle. I really value you!!

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Hi subscribers. Thank you for supporting my work, and I hope you’re enjoying what you’re getting.

This short commentary and podcast were composed for my inner circle (members) over at Firebranded.fm But it’s appropriate that I also let you in on it, because you are also part of my Inner Circle at The Forge, and this is part of your paid member benefit. S…

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For members of my inner circle, here’s a Fathers Know Best piece that’ll fire you up, and put a smile on your face, if you catch the humor in it.

St. Jerome is one of the most cited Church Fathers in Protestant apologetics, and it’s not hard to see why they reach for him. He preferred the Hebrew text over the Septuagint — though it should be noted that was his own scholarly opinion, and he deferred to Rome’s judgment without hesitation when it mattered. He had sharp words for bishops who deserved it, he took a hard stand against the laxity that had crept into the Church following the persecutions, and his willingness to challenge Church figures makes him look, at first glance, like a credible ally.

But Jerome didn’t sound anything like a Protestant. He thought like a Catholic, he wrote like a Catholic, and if anything, his letters are a direct admonishment of everything the Protestant reformers would later claim. Protestants are bold to bring Jerome into their corner at all — because in wrestling terms, he’s the tag team partner who waits for the right moment and then turns on his own “teammates” (the protestants appealing to him).

Let's get into some of Jerome's boldest admonitions and see how they actually apply

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The Vatican released a letter dated November 2024 in which the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith categorically rejected a proposal from the German episcopate to introduce ritualized blessings for couples in same-sex unions and irregular situations. The letter had been circulating online, causing confusion …

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For members of my inner circle (paid subscribers), here’s a Fathers Know Best piece that’ll fire you up, and put a smile on your face, if you catch the humor in it.

St. Jerome is one of the most cited Church Fathers in Protestant apologetics, and it’s not hard to see why they reach for him. He preferred the Hebrew text over the Septuagint — though it sho…

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Gather ’round, crew. This is one of those posts where I share something only meant for my inner circle. Sharing this backstage, not on the public stage.

I’m noticing a pattern with my work and reactions to it. I upset a lot of people. Whether it’s Protestants responding to my video posts about true worship and the flaws of Sola Scriptura, secularists reacting to my moral exhortations and pro-Truth, pro-Catholic, or pro-Jesus messaging, or—more lately—Catholics taking issue with this video below.

I seem to upset everybody, even when I’m not trying to. Here’s the truth, the deeper story, and what we can learn from it…

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This article was sparked by my latest episode, available here

A decades-old photograph is making the rounds online, cited as evidence that Pope Leo XIV once took part in a Pachamama ritual during his missionary years. Did the future Pope Leo worship the pagan goddess Pachamama. The evidence doesn’t tell us. And yet the rumors are spread with confidence and boldness. Let’s analyze the evidence and see what it does and doesn’t tell us.

The evidence offered is a photograph from a 1995 theological symposium showing participants kneeling in a circle around ritual objects. From that image, some commentators conclude that the future pope engaged in idolatry.

That conclusion reaches further than the evidence can carry.

Imperfect Picture

A photograph captures a moment, not a person’s intention or the nuances of the setting. It shows posture, setting, and objects, but it does not reveal what each participant believed or intended, or was even there for. Moving from “kneeling in a cultural context” to “worshiping an idol” requires additional proof that has not been presented, it has only been suggested—and without a reasoned presentation.

Would you believe someone who questioned your mother’s virtue? Your fathers? Wouldn’t you demand better evidence than a suggestive and someone’s interpretation of it?

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Even if the symposium materials describe the moment as a “Pachamama rite,” (it is not described as worship) that alone doesn’t establish personal devotion, motive or intent. It’s very common for missionary clergy to attended cultural events as observers, educators, or participants in dialogue. Being present at a demonstration of indigenous practice is not automatically the same thing as religious assent.

PAID MEMBERS: At the end of this article you’ll find an “Afterthoughts” segment spotlighting some missionary saints who got caught up in similar situations.

The Church Speaks

A gesture by itself is ambiguous. Kneeling can express worship, but it can also reflect participation in a structured activity, following directions, or simple courtesy within a hosted event. Moral theology makes an important distinction here: an external action is not identical with an interior act of religion (CCC 1750–1752, and Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae II–II, q.81, a.7.) Idolatry is not defined by posture alone, but by intention.

There is also the problem of hindsight. The Pachamama controversy associated with the Amazon Synod didn’t erupt until decades later in 2019. Looking back at a 1995 photograph through the lens of later disputes risks injecting meanings into (or reading meaning out of) the image that may not have been understood in the same way at the time.

The evidence itself is also thin. Is that the future Pope Leo in the photograph? Look again

It could be Fr. Robert Prevost. It may not be. He also appears to be seated, not kneeling, as is the man to his right. If you zoomed in on that image before being told it was a young Pope Leo, would you have spotted it? Let’s look at another.

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The man in those photos could all very well be Fr. Prevost/Pope Leo. But the evidence isn’t at all strong enough to establish that claim.

One Last Thing

The headline says Pope Leo is participating in a ritual. The caption in the editorial says he’s merely “present”. The inconsistency is bad journalism. The false statement in the headline is bad journalism (the photo doesn’t show intent, or action, so we can’t say he’s “participating”). Placing it in a section called “Blog” is bad journalism, because it inherits the perceived authority of a news brand, without the ethical and legal requirements that news outlets are bound to. This whole story is a con, from its format, to its composition, to its framing and delivery.

The identification of the young man as Robert Prevost rests largely on visual comparison and projections circulated online rather than authoritative confirmation from some official records or firsthand testimony. For a charge as serious as idolatry, vague resemblance is not good enough, and a responsible journalist (or “catholic podcaster”) would have let it go. You have to wonder why they didn’t.

I’m not saying that the event is beyond criticism, and I’m not saying it rules out the possibility of irresponsible inculturation practices that were not uncommon in parts of Latin America during that era. But the current evidence doesn’t justify the confident claim that the future pope “worshiped an idol.”

Serious accusations require serious proof. Right now, the photograph raises questions. It does not answer them.
Don’t forget to check out the episode that sparked this article

🤔 Afterthoughts

Missionaries and Misunderstanding - How some saints used inculturation in ways that that might be considered “scandalous”

Paid Members Only. Hey, it’s five bucks a month, what’s holding you back? Go for it!

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Though not actually a Church Father, this is worthy of the Signature Series alongside those pieces. Published for St. Patrick’s Day, 2026

On a cold night in pagan Ireland, a single flame broke the darkness—and defied a king.

At Tara, the pagan King had decreed that no fire be lit before his own ceremonial blaze at the festival of Beltane. It was a symbol …

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If you’re following me on socials you must have seen my latest banger. It’s getting attention on every platform, and triggering as many people as it’s enlightening. Check this out, then let me share a few thoughts about the backlash.

Protestant DeFormatoion

I didn’t expect this video to convince protestants but I also didn’t expect they’d take another first-class trip to Fantasy Land with some of their comments. They claimed I had trained the AI, coached the responses, that the video was faked, that the AI was lying. One even claimed to get the exact opposite response when he asked ChatGPT “Didn’t the Roman Catholic Church add 7 books to the Bible?” That turned out to be a lie, which I’ll get to in a minute (with screen shots!).

Two words to describe this backlash: “Desperate” and “Stupid” Here’s why

AIs won’t lie to you. They’re trained not to. It may try to be politically correct, or gentle with its statements—but it won’t lie to you, or give you false facts!

For protestants to resort to calling the AI a liar is more than a stretch of imagination, it’s straight up fantasy and self delusion. Then there were various comments claiming I had trained, or preconditioned the AI. I guess they ignored the end where I specifically asked the AI ‘Did I ask you to say these things?’

Did I Bias the AI?

Let me tell you some of the background facts, because it’s important for context

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The past couple of days have been pretty illuminating. I’ve been wrestling with faux-theologians on social media and I’m as surprised by their incompetence and ignorance of theology as I am of the Protestants’ ignorance of Church history and theology

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A recent economics study made the rounds, arguing that the Council caused pews to empty out. But when you scratch the surface, the evidence is flimsy, and the real story points somewhere else entirely. Was Vatican II really to blame for the decline in Catholic Mass atten…

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The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) have resurfaced. They plan to consecrate bishops without papal mandate — an act that would carry serious canonical consequences and risk deepening the rupture that has existed since 1988.

Whatever one thinks of the theological disputes involved — Vatican II, the liturgy, religious liberty, ecumenism — the deeper question…

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