As we shall see, Francis’s actions appear to align with the international law category of “crimes against humanity,” and it is worthwhile to evaluate his attacks on Traditional Catholics according to that standard. For purposes of evaluating whether, and to what extent, Francis is committing crimes against humanity by persecuting Traditional Catholics, we can set aside supernatural considerations for the time being. From a Catholic perspective, the fact that he is attacking the religion established by God for the salvation of all souls obviously makes his crimes infinitely worse than if he were attacking any other organization. However, we can adequately demonstrate his crimes even without considering this supernatural aspect.

Although from a Catholic perspective we believe that his crimes attack every person, because all souls are called to follow the true Catholic religion, we can propose a specific group as the direct target of his crimes: Traditional Catholics.

As an initial matter we must identify the group against which he commits his crimes. Although from a Catholic perspective we believe that his crimes attack every person, because all souls are called to follow the true Catholic religion, we can propose a specific group as the direct target of his crimes: Traditional Catholics. There are variations in beliefs and practices among those who consider themselves to be Traditional Catholics, but the members of this group generally share the following characteristics:

• They are Catholic and strive to believe what the Church has always taught;
• They desire to attend the Tridentine Mass (also called the Traditional Latin Mass or Extraordinary Form) to fulfill the Mass attendance obligations; and
• They believe that the Church’s fundamental teachings on faith and morals have never changed and can never be changed, owing to the fact that they were given to the Church by God.

As we will see below, even though the entire world suffers from Francis’s crimes, Traditional Catholics are the “civilian population” in question in the following element of a “crime against humanity”: “widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.”

Perhaps fittingly, it is the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court that provides the commonly accepted framework for evaluating crimes against humanity. Thus we find the following description from the United Nations website:

“The 1998 Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute) is the document that reflects the latest consensus among the international community on this matter. It is also the treaty that offers the most extensive list of specific acts that may constitute the crime.”

The Rome Statute defines a “crime against humanity” as follows (in relevant part):

“For the purpose of this Statute, ‘crime against humanity’ means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack: . . . h. Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law . . . ”

We can readily see that Francis’s systematic persecution of millions of Traditional Catholics appears to align with the overall sense of the Rome Statute’s definition of a “crime against humanity,” but we must consider each of the three elements of the crime in greater detail to better ascertain the nature and gravity of his crimes.

Any effort by Francis to deprive Traditional Catholics of their rights to practice their religion would appear to fall within the scope of the Rome Statute definition of persecution.

First Element: The Rome Statute states the first element as follows:

“A physical element, which includes the commission of any of the following acts: . . .  h. Persecution.”

The Rome Statue provides the following definition for “Persecution:

“‘Persecution’ means the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group or collectivity.”

The United Nations website states that all people have a fundamental right to "freedom of thought, conscience and religion.” As such, any effort by Francis to deprive Traditional Catholics of their rights to practice their religion would appear to fall within the scope of the Rome Statute definition of persecution. Accordingly, it appears that we can prove the first element of a crime against humanity if we can demonstrate that Francis has intentionally deprived Traditional Catholics of their right to practice their religion.

To evaluate whether Francis has deprived Traditional Catholics of the right to practice their religion, we must first understand the immutable nature of the Church’s teachings and the pope’s duty to safeguard them. Those with little real familiarity with the Catholic Church may argue that the pope can do whatever he wants with the Catholic Church, just as the heads of other organizations can govern however they choose. On the contrary, it is precisely the Church’s immutable nature that makes Francis’s crimes so egregiously indefensible.

There is a great scandal and crime when the man occupying the papacy demands the obedience of Catholics while he disregards, and even attacks, the established truths of the Catholic Church.

The Church has always made this immutable nature of the Faith — and the corresponding duty of the pope to safeguard its integrity — unambiguously clear. As the First Vatican Council set forth in 1870, the popes must inviolably keep, and faithfully expound, the truths which God entrusted to the Apostles:

“For the Holy Spirit was not promised to the successors of Peter that by His revelation they might make known new doctrine, but that by His assistance they might inviolably keep and faithfully expound the Revelation, the Deposit of Faith, delivered through the Apostles.”

The pope’s duty to safeguard the teachings of the Church is an essential aspect of the necessity of Catholics to be in union with the pope and subject to him in matters of faith and morals. As such, there is a great scandal and crime when the man occupying the papacy demands the obedience of Catholics while he disregards, and even attacks, the established truths of the Catholic Church.

Against this background we can identify the specific acts of persecution. Although Francis has taken numerous steps against individual groups of Traditional Catholics, his most widespread attack on Traditional Catholics has been in connection with his July 16, 2021 apostolic letter, Traditionis Custodes, which imposes severe restrictions on the ability of Catholic priests to offer the Tridentine Mass, which necessarily leads to the inability of many Traditional Catholics to attend the Tridentine Mass.

Francis’s harsh restrictions on the Tridentine Mass have occurred even though there is no practical reason to deprive priests and faithful of their fundamental right to the Tridentine Mass other than the apparent animus Francis has for Traditional Catholics.

Francis endorses every other Christian religion so that the only Christian religion that he opposes is the Catholic religion as it has been believed and practiced for over two-thousand years.

The suppression of the Tridentine Mass is especially egregious and offensive when we consider that Francis allows, and even encourages, countless abuses of the Novus Ordo Mass. Moreover, he endorses every other Christian religion so that the only Christian religion that Francis opposes is the Catholic religion as it has been believed and practiced for over two-thousand years.

In addition to the suppression of the Tridentine Mass, Francis has consistently attacked Traditional Catholics in various sermons, interviews, and official documents. All of this creates a profound crisis of conscience for those who are bound to follow both the pope and the religion he purports to represent.

Second Element. The Rome Statue states the second element as follows:

“A contextual element: ‘when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.’”

Francis’s promulgation of Traditionis Custodes and accompanying documents establishes that his attacks on Traditional Catholics are widespread and systematic, as they apply to millions of Traditional Catholics throughout the world. As he has indicated on several occasions, he believes there is no place in the Catholic Church for those who believe what it has always taught.

He is committing spiritual genocide against the people who actually believe the religion he purports to represent.

Third Element. The Rome Statute states the third element as follows:

“A mental element: ‘with knowledge of the attack.’”

Again, Francis’s promulgation of Traditionis Custodes and accompanying documents establishes that he is fully aware that he is attacking a specific group of Catholics.

Tellingly, in his 2014 apology to the Pentecostals (for what he called persecution by Catholics), Francis demonstrated that he understands the evil of religious persecution:

“We are in the epoch of globalization, and we think about what globalization is and what unity would be in the Church . . . Let us consider a prism: the prism is unity, but all its parts are different; each has its own peculiarity, its charisma. This is unity in diversity. It is on this path that we Christians do what we call by the theological name of ecumenism . . . Some of those who made this law and some of those who persecuted, denounced Pentecostal brothers for being ‘exuberant,’ almost ‘crazy,’ who tarnished the race, some were Catholics.... I am the Pastor of Catholics: I ask your forgiveness for this! I ask your forgiveness for those Catholic brothers and sisters who understood and were tempted by the devil and did the same thing as Joseph’s brothers.”

In the mind of Francis and the globalists, faithful Catholics represent the biggest obstacle to the anodyne religious harmony that can unite mankind.

Here we have the hints of the entire program. To further globalization, all Christian religions must be unified. In the mind of Francis and the globalists, faithful Catholics represent the biggest obstacle to the anodyne religious harmony that can unite mankind. This is why Francis persecutes Catholics who believe what the Church has always taught, while apologizing to other denominations for so-called persecutions that pale in comparison to what he is doing to his own people.

The Magnitude and Severity of Persecution. Based on the foregoing, one can make a reasonable case that Francis has committed crimes against humanity by his persecution of Traditional Catholics. Even so, we ought to consider the magnitude of the persecution to better appreciate his crimes.

At first glance, it may appear that Francis’s crimes do not rise to the magnitude of other crimes against humanity, such as genocide. However, throughout the history of the Church, the martyrs have always preferred to die rather than sacrifice their Faith. As such, from a Catholic perspective, Francis’s crimes are far worse than genocide because he seeks to deprive Catholics of their Faith. He is committing spiritual genocide against the people who actually believe the religion he purports to represent.

Francis has committed a crime so grave that we cannot possibly begin to appreciate its magnitude if we think it is merely as bad as the worst genocides in human history.

Aggravating Factors. As bad as this looks for Francis, it is actually far worse when we consider the following:

• He has systematically lent the Church’s apparent moral authority to various causes that fundamentally oppose perennial Catholic teaching.
• He has made it clear that he is trying to radically change the Catholic Church into something that it cannot be, such that his efforts all amount to an attempt to destroy the two-thousand year old organization he ostensibly represents.
• Because the Church holds that it is the religion established by God to bring truth and grace to all people for their salvation, his intentional destruction of the Church amounts to an attempt to attack God and the eternal salvation of souls.
• Because his words and actions all indicate that he does not believe what the Catholic Church requires its members to believe, he appears to hold his office through an extraordinary exercise of malicious fraud.

When we consider all of this, it is clear that he has not simply committed a crime against humanity — he has committed a crime so grave that we cannot possibly begin to appreciate its magnitude if we think it is merely as bad as the worst genocides in human history.

Redress. What do Traditional Catholics seek to redress Francis’s crimes against humanity? For the most part, we want him to convert and save his soul. If he cannot do that, we insist that he stop representing himself as an authority figure within the Catholic Church.

Those Catholic bishops with the Faith know that the gravity of Francis’s crimes is infinitely worse owing to the real target, God. And they know that God, rather than any secular tribunal, will judge Francis and us all. How does the silence of the good bishops help Francis save his soul? How does this silence of good bishops give honor and glory to God or lead souls to heaven? Is it not rather the case that this silence abets Francis in his crimes?

We are all in need of God’s great mercy. May the Blessed Virgin Mary help us to do her Son’s will as faithfully as possible.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

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