Pope Leo Xiv’s Shocking Decree: 7 Traditions That Are No Longer Necessary.

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today, I stand before you at a moment that calls for calm hearts and attentive souls.

I understand that hearing the title of this decree might bring feelings of surprise, concern, or even fear.

These reactions are natural when words like shock and tradition are spoken together.

However, I assure you that faith has never grown through fear.

It grows through the truth, spoken in love.

What is unfolding today is not a rejection of our sacred inheritance, but a moment of discernment rooted in prayer, responsibility, and pastoral care.

For many years, I have watched faithful people confuse repetition with devotion.

I have seen gestures replace true conversion and habits replace genuine relationship with Christ.

When faith becomes mechanical, the heart slowly steps back.

But the Gospel always calls the heart forward.

Christ did not invite us into a system; He invited us into communion.

He did not multiply burdens but lifted them.

This moment asks us to separate what leads to life from what merely survives by custom.

Nothing essential to salvation is being removed.

Everything unnecessary to love is being questioned.

I ask you to listen not with suspicion but with trust formed by years of walking with God.

What I will now unfold is an invitation to return to simplicity, truth, and a living faith.

The End of Public Acts of Bodily Harm

The first clarification I must make has already stirred many hearts.

For years, public acts of bodily harm have been mistakenly viewed as holiness.

It is time for us to recognize that these actions are not required, and they are not commanded by the Gospel.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross is complete.

Nothing can be added to it.

Nothing can improve upon what divine love has finished.

Human pain does not increase divine mercy, and wounds do not purchase grace.

God is not honored by injured bodies displayed before others.

True penance begins within the heart.

Jesus calls us to conversion, not to spectacle.

He calls us to follow, not to harm ourselves.

For too long, pain has been mistaken for proof of faith.

Endurance has been confused with obedience.

Yet Christ never asked us to harm our bodies.

He healed bodies wherever He went, restoring dignity to the suffering.

He touched wounds to remove them, not to create them.

The body is a gift from God.

It is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

To harm it in the name of holiness obscures the Gospel.

The Lord desires mercy rather than sacrifice, and this is what Scripture teaches us, through the voice of Jesus Himself.

True penance transforms relationships, softens hardened hearts, and leads us to serve the poor and forgive those who wound us.

The Truth About Prayer for the Dead

I now turn to the second clarification, which touches the hearts of many families.

Prayer for the dead is a sacred act of love and remembrance, flowing from hope in the resurrection and trust in divine mercy.

Yet, over time, prayer has sometimes been reduced to counting words.

Repetition has become mechanical, and formulas have been spoken without the heart being engaged.

This was never the desire of Christ.

God is not persuaded by arithmetic; He is moved by love.

The destiny of a soul is not negotiated through repetition.

Salvation rests in the mercy of God alone.

When we pray for those who have died, we are not bargaining with heaven.

We are entrusting them to God’s mercy, believing that His love is greater than anything we can comprehend.

Jesus Himself warned against empty repetition, teaching His disciples to pray with simplicity and trust.

He said, “Do not babble as the pagans do, for they think they will be heard because of their many words” (Matthew 6:7).

Prayer is not a mechanism; it is a relationship.

The Father listens to the cry of the heart.

He sees the love behind the words.

He knows our intentions before we speak.

Shifting the Focus from Ritual to Relationship

As we consider prayer for the dead, it is important to remember that the most powerful form of prayer is one that transforms the living.

Acts of charity offered in the name of the deceased speak louder than repeated words.

Feeding the hungry in their memory becomes a living prayer.

Forgiving an enemy in their honor becomes a holy offering.

Visiting the lonely continues their legacy of love.

These acts rise to God like incense, proclaiming our faith in the communion of saints.

They unite heaven and earth through merciful actions.

Abandoning the Obsession with Religious Hierarchy

Now, we must also address the Church’s hierarchy.

The pursuit of wealth, power, and influence has crept into the life of the Church in ways that distort the message of the Gospel.

There is no place for an accumulation of wealth or the building of palaces that separate the clergy from the faithful.

The temptation to elevate one’s position within the Church at the expense of humility must be rejected.

Jesus never intended for His Church to be an institution that sought worldly glory.

He was clear about this when He said, “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26).

The true greatness of a Christian lies in humility and service, not in titles or positions of power.

Rediscovering Simplicity in the Christian Life

One of the greatest gifts we can reclaim is the radical simplicity that Jesus called us to embrace.

It’s a simplicity that goes beyond rituals and externals—it is a way of life that prioritizes faith, love, and service over possessions, titles, and accolades.

True holiness is not measured by what we own or the positions we hold; it is measured by our love for God and for others.

Fasting, prayer, and service must be practiced not as empty rituals but as acts of love that lead us closer to Christ.

The early Church lived this simplicity, and it is something we are called to return to today.

Rejecting Political Influence

A major issue that has caused division within the Church is the influence of politics.

The Church’s role is to stand apart from political divisions, not to align itself with any one side.

Unfortunately, political agendas have often taken precedence over spiritual truths, leading to confusion and division.

In this time of uncertainty, the Church must remember its mission—to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not to serve political interests.

The faithful should not look to the Church to provide political solutions but to bring them closer to Christ through love, truth, and charity.

Embracing the Role of the Church as a Guide for Spiritual Growth

Finally, the Church must remember that its primary role is to be a guide for spiritual growth.

The Church is not merely a political or social institution, but a spiritual family that points the way to salvation.

We must reject the idea of the Church as an institution that serves the world’s interests and instead return to its original mission: to lead souls to Christ, to teach the truth of the Gospel, and to love as Christ loved.

A Final Call to Live in Truth

In conclusion, this moment is not about rejecting the Church’s traditions, but about reclaiming the essence of those traditions. It is about returning to simplicity, humility, and love. We must strip away the layers of human invention that have clouded our understanding of the Gospel and return to the radical, transformative message of Christ.

In these clarifications, there is no loss of faith. There is only a return to truth. A return to the Gospel. A return to the life that Christ calls us to live.

Let us live out our faith in truth, not just in ritual. Let us serve one another in humility and love, following the example of Jesus Christ, who calls us to be His disciples not in words, but in deeds.

Amen.