Election of Leo XIV was the next step in the ‘St. Gallen revolution’

Against this backdrop, the collection of interviews Night Conversations with Cardinal Martini takes on particular significance, as in it Martini revealed the central themes that constituted the St. Gallen agenda and continue to have an impact to this day. In his key statements, the script that guided the subversive campaign was, as it were, laid bare. We shall therefore refer below to crucial passages that shed light on the circle’s intended objectives and help contextualize the resulting events.

Ostentatious syncretism

Martini crafts a telling, indifferent narrative: “The major religions and, of course, the various Christian denominations … seek to proclaim faith in the one God in order to make every single person strong and self-assured … Under this one great human interest, we find many sisters and brothers in the world, amongst both believers and non-believers.”

This secularized perspective is not aimed at eternal salvation, but at the immanent function of an interchangeable “faith.”

It is later emphasized that the Dalai Lama allegedly enjoys “great reverence” among Christians. And “young people appreciate in Buddhism the tolerance and reverence for all living beings — people, animals and plants. This also sheds new light on the biblical doctrine of creation.”

However, this is incompatible with the fact that Buddhism is, above all, an atheistic system which — without belief in a personal God — is concerned with supposed self-salvation.

Furthermore, the cardinal emphasizes that Mahatma Gandhi is a “great role model” for him, then makes the following relativist claim: “He followed the path of a Hindu, the path to God, to whom Jesus Christ leads us Christians.”

This statement stands in direct contradiction to the uniqueness and the universality of salvation offered by the Lord and His Church. Christ says: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Particularly striking is Martini’s affinity with Islam. He even puts forward the thesis: “On the basis of the Bible and the Qur’an, we can find common ground in doctrine.” By means of a rhetorical question, he paints a possible scenario of mutual invitations to prayer in churches and mosques. This rambling then leads to a statement that says it all: “Such dreams give us a glimpse that Islam is a daughter religion of Christianity.” In the view of the former archbishop of Milan, if there are many Muslims in a place, or if they are even in the majority, they need a minaret.

In contrast, it must be emphasized in the strongest possible terms that Islam denies the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus Christ and is therefore completely incompatible with Christianity, the true religion willed by God.

In his interview, Martini also reveals his unsurprising stance on Protestantism, describing Luther as a “great reformer” who drew “good ideas” from Holy Scripture. In view of the flagrant heresies of the apostate Augustinian monk and the historical schism he caused, Martini’s comment amounts to an admission of failure.

Furthermore, the cardinal confesses: “I myself owe a great deal to the great Protestant scholars of biblical studies.”

Ordination of women and Church leadership

The Jesuit’s agitation therefore also concerns the ecclesiastical ministry. He speaks of “women increasingly taking on leadership roles” and sees this as “a promising development.” He claims that it is “biblical” for congregations to be led by women and states: “In the New Testament we encounter deaconesses, who existed in the early Church right up to the Middle Ages. Female theologians have discovered the significance of these women for the Church in recent years.”

This proposal, however, comes to nothing, as — despite all the valuable service rendered in the congregations — there has never, from the very beginning, been a sacramental diaconal office of ordination for women.

Since the agenda in question is not intended to stop at the first stage of the Ordo anyway, it also sketches out the image of a female priesthood. To this end, Martini draws on his visit to Canterbury to meet the then-Primate of the Anglicans in the 1990s, which culminated in an unambiguous plea: “His Church was suffering from tensions over the ordination of women. I tried to encourage him to take this risk; it might also help to treat women more justly and to understand how things might move forward.” The cardinal suggests that, from the Protestant and Anglican perspective, ordaining women would contribute “something essential to the great ecumenical dialogue.”

In doing so, he completely fails to mention that this question has already been infallibly answered in the Catholic Church in the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis.

Instead, he expressly embraces feminism and begins by enthusing: “I look with hope upon the women who are becoming increasingly self-assured in the Church, in the parishes and in society.” His subsequent statement reveals his true intention: “Church leaders must ask women for forgiveness for many things; above all, they must see them today more as partners. In recent years, women have fought hard; a certain form of feminism is necessary.” Looking to the future, Martini suggests that the Church leadership will “increasingly discover the potential of women.”

Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that the cardinal also calls for the Church to “come up with something” regarding celibacy. He, of course, immediately sets out his ideal scenario by demonstratively introducing the so-called viri probati — that is, supposedly proven married men — into the discussion.

De facto abolition of sexual morality

Throughout the interview, the leader of the St. Gallen Circle attempts to feign a particular closeness to the people in order to conceal his true intentions. Thus, he pretends: “We are seeking a way to talk in a dignified manner about marriage, birth control, artificial insemination and contraception.” He carries out this approach in complete detachment from God’s commandment and the Magisterium of the Church. In doing so, he emphasizes the autonomy of conscience without mentioning that it must be guided by divine revelation and Catholic doctrine: “The Church should, in any case, address issues of sexuality and the family in such a way that the responsibility of the lovers plays a fundamental and decisive role.”

The cardinal vehemently opposes the encyclical Humanae Vitae, which he claims has “triggered a negative development” and caused “great harm.” He argues that this has led to people turning away from the Church and vice versa. He expressly praises the rebellious defiance of this binding magisterial document, particularly among the German and Austrian bishops.

Sincere and truthful contemporaries, on the other hand, know that the encyclical was truly prophetic and that the shocking course of the moral breakdown proved it right.

Martini, on the other hand, effectively promotes a supposedly free sexuality. In this world of his, the precept of the Sixth Commandment vanishes, and the Church’s associated teachings no longer apply: “Particularly in these profoundly human matters such as sexuality and physicality, it is not a question of recipes, but of paths that begin with people and lead them onwards.” In a hypocritical manner, he attempts to set himself up, as it were, as an advocate for young people and to supposedly “liberate” them: “We cannot demand of children and young people everything that would be ideal. They will gradually find their own way. These paths cannot be dictated from above, from desks or pulpits.”

In this context, the Jesuit also uses a back door to open the way for practiced homosexuality. His implication is unmistakable: “In Judaism, the Orthodox strictly prohibit homosexuality; in Reform Judaism, on the other hand, there is a separate synagogue for homosexuals. It is within this diversity that we seek our path.”

By ignoring the teaching of the Catholic Church — which is based on the unambiguous testimony of Holy Scripture — he leaves no doubt as to which option he intends should shape the future: “When dealing with homosexuality, however, we in the Church must admit that we have often been insensitive.” Martini does not speak of the established order of creation, but instead uses a familiar empty phrase: “The Church must work towards a new culture of sexuality and relationships.”

Ideology of synodality

The lever for implementing the St. Gallen revolution is also already discernible in the interview. The future instrument of perpetual synodality is laid out: “In Milan, I had established the Cattedra, the ‘Forum for Non-Believers’, to hear from them what they have to contribute to the salvation of the world and what they have to say to people.” The foundations were laid for what was used in the World Synod as a model of the so-called “inverted pyramid”: the cardinal emphasizes “that the non-believers were the teachers at this Cattedra. They had many critical things to say to us, which led the Church to make corrections and, above all, to broaden its horizons.” Martini thus concludes that the non-believers “shared essential goals with us and sometimes found better ideas and ways than we did ourselves.”

It is not surprising that “listening” — taken to an absolute — is cited as the basis for the strategy that has been devised. In a radical distortion of Christ’s missionary mandate, the Jesuit posits: “Go out into the whole world and teach the nations; this obliges us to engage in dialogue with all people … and to seek cooperation with everyone. Then we can identify common concerns, listen attentively to one another and learn from one another.”

This is no longer about making people disciples of the Lord or holding them accountable for their own salvation, but about striving for an immanent consensus within an earthly framework.

Culmination of the agenda

Following the death of the Milanese cardinal in 2012, the originally secret nature of the St. Gallen Circle came fully to light. Italy’s Masonic lodge, the Grand Orient of Italy, warmly greeted Martini as its “brother” and announced that he wished to be initiated as a Freemason. After Pope Benedict XVI had read out the historic Declaratio on 11 February 2013, the associated address to the College of Cardinals followed on 28 February. During this, Bergoglio placed his right hand on the left side of his chest when he noticed that the camera was panning towards him. Two weeks later, St. Gallen member Cardinal Danneels appeared on the loggia alongside the chosen candidate in his capacity as election coordinator. At the public presentation of his biography, the man from Brussels — an activist for abortion, homosexuality and same-sex “marriage,” the cover-up of abuse and syncretistic affinities with Islam — admitted the fierce battle against Pope Benedict and the existence of the “Mafia club” with its subversive campaign to install the Argentine Jesuit.

When Pope Benedict XVI had completed his service on 31 December 2022, Bergoglio — as he referred to himself in the Vatican Yearbook — appointed Monsignor Robert Francis Prevost to head the Dicastery for Bishops just a few days later. His biological brother described the relationship between the two as “very close. They were very good friends.” This bond dated back decades to the time “when one was Superior of the Augustinians and the other Archbishop of Buenos Aires.” The Peruvian Cardinal Pedro Barreto confirmed that the Argentine had intended Prevost “as his successor and right-hand man” and had prepared him accordingly.

Pastor Frank Unterhalt
September 29, 2026
Feast of St. Michael the Archangel