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Editor’s Note: Don Leonardo Marria Pompei, pastor of Santa Maria Assunta in Cielo, at Sermoneta, in the province of Rome, was suspended yesterday, September 4, 2025, a divinis by the Bishop of Latina, Msgr. Mariano Crociata, former Secretary to the Italian Bishops’ Conference.

The crime? Refusing to cancel an online meeting with his parishioners, in which he intended to explain why he came to the conclusion that the reforms of Vatican II were contrary to the Catholic Faith and that the Church needs to return to the Ancient Roman Rite.

Here is the video he shared about his momentous decision to be true to the Faith, which obviously is in Italian. He tells of how he found his priestly vocation and how he grew closer and closer to God through it. His love is saving souls and preaching the true Faith.

This is a Catholic priest who deserves a Catholic Pope. And it is in favor of such priests like Father Pompei, that I and my supporters have always done everything we have done and are doing.

He specifically refuses to cooperate with Don Minutella, and declares he does not want to create a group around himself, but to promote the true Roman Catholic Faith.

I must note, that a Bishop has no authority in the Code of Canon Law for suspending a priest a divinis, for holding a meeting with the Faithful of the parish he is entrusted with, for the purpose of denouncing heresy and error. Nay, rather, that is his duty before God. — Msgr. Crociata, therefore, must be now held suspect of being a formal manifest heretic and modernist — though he has had this reputation publicly already for many years, if not a schismatic.

It appears that Father is a devout Catholic and faithful priest, recommending such authors as Saint Alphonsus dei Liguori and Maria Agreda. It seems that he began reading Catholic books from the past and found out that Vatican II was not what he was taught it was.

I cannot find any evidence that this priest doubted that Benedict XVI renounced validly or that Pope Francis was not a valid pope. Though only a cursory view of his hundreds of videos — a truly prolific social media presence — seems to indicate he likely rejected all the heresies and errors of Bergoglio.

The Diocese of Latina borders that of the Suburbican Diocese of Albano, and encompasses the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Province of Rome, the Region of Lazio, from there down to Terracina, where Bl. Urban II was elected Pope on March 12, 1088, in accord with the Bull of Nicholas II, In Nomine Domini, which was the first Papal Law restricting the election to Cardinal Bishops, while at the same time being the first papal law to allow papal elections outside of Rome, when heretics or antipopes were in control of the City.

The last time I saw Msgr. Crociata — whose surname means, “Crusade”, ironically — was at the Conference in honor of Saint Thomas Aquinas, on November 16, 2024, at the former Abbey of Fossa Nuova, where the Angelic Doctor passed to glory: there the Bishop seemed rushed and annoyed at seeing a certain Franciscan in the small audience.

Let us pray for Don Pompei, because now that his battle has become public and he has lost all source of personal income, he is one of the few true Catholic priests in Lazio. — The other two are: Don Natale Santonocito, originally from Catania, in Sicily, who was unjustly excommunicated by Msgr. Parmeggiani, Bishop of the suburbican Diocese of Palestrina, in January of this year, for having publicly declared Bergoglio to be a heretic and not the Pope; and Don Francesco D’Erasmo, Vice-Rector of the Co-Cathedral of Tarquinia, in the Diocese of Civita Vecchia-Tarquinia, who though he publicly decried the errors of Bergoglio, avoided punishment by learning of his canonical rights and negotiating with his bishops so as to avoid confrontation.

In the video, above, Don Pompei mentions another priest, Don Enzo Boninsegna, who in 1989 resigned from active ministry, when the Bishops of Italy authorized communion in the hand, because he resolved to never commit such a sacrilege.  He is one of those holy priests of which no one speaks. Indeed, I have never heard anyone speak of him, in any part of Italy.

In Italy, “Don” is the title given to Catholic priests, more commonly used in southern Italy. It is short for the Latin, “Dominus”, which means “lord”, or “signore”. But in Italian “signore” is reserved to laymen.

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The Book on the Trinity, every faithful Catholic priest would love as his next present

This is Br. Bugnolo's English Translation, of Saint Bonaventure's encylopedic book of theology on the Trinity: With this book, your priest will always have something intelligent and awesomely inspiring to preach to you about God the Father, God the Son & God the Holy Spirit!

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