Pope Francis is “trying to destroy tradition” in his suppression of traditional Catholic practices such as the Latin Mass but his actions will only make it grow stronger, Italian Bishop Giacomo Ballini told this writer in an interview.

Ballini was in Cebu in September for the tonsure ceremony of two seminarians of the Marian Corps of Saint Pius X (MCSPX) and reception of new members of the Order of the Knights of Our Lady last September 21 in Lapu-Lapu City. The next day, he administered the sacrament of confirmation for young members of their faithful in Cebu City.

In his homily during a Traditional Latin Mass after the confirmation, Ballini criticized the statement of Pope Francis during his visit to Singapore that “all religions are a path to God.”

“But this is in open contradiction to the word of God himself, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me, says our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Ballini said in his homily given to a room of about 80 people.

He said the Pope’s statement would mean that religions that worship animals like cows, monkeys, or rats are still paths to God.

“Can you imagine? To hear these words from the Saint Pope of the Catholic Church. The one who, with the power of Saint Peter, should lead us all towards heaven and teach us all the truth of the Church. The beautiful Mass that we assist and perform today is no more nor less than a worship of rats,” he said.

Ballini then contrasted Pope Francis’ acceptance of other religions with his suppression of traditionalist Catholics like them.

“Well, all religions, they say, but with one exception. The traditional Catholic faith is the only religion that does not lead to God. That’s the only exception. It’s a very strange logic. But this is what they seem to believe. Well, if these people are those who condemn us, dear friends, don’t be afraid,” he said.

Traditionalist Catholics often criticize Pope Francis for his suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass. His apostolic letter “Traditionis custodes” limited who can celebrate the Latin mass and restricted the locations to non-parochial churches. In explaining the restrictions, the Vatican had said practices like the Latin Mass have been exploited for ideology.

The MCSPX is part of the so-called Catholic resistance group of traditionalist Catholics. It was formed by priests who were expelled by the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) in 2012 over their opposition to normalization of ties with the Vatican.

The SSPX, on the other hand, was founded by the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a traditionalist Catholic who opposed changes brought by Vatican II. Towards the end of his life, he consecrated four bishops in Écône, Switzerland despite the expressed prohibition from the Vatican. Pope John Paul II said the act was schismatic and meant automatic excommunication for Lefebvre and the four bishops.

The excommunication was lifted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

Ballini traces his lineage to two of the four bishops consecrated by Lefebvre. He told Rappler that he was ordained a priest of the SSPX in 2011 by Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta also in Écône. Bellini said he was consecrated a bishop in 2021 by Bishop Richard Williamson.

When asked whether the Vatican recognizes the consecration, he said it does.

“I’m sure, I’m a bishop, but they (the Vatican) don’t like it, you know. There would be penalties attached and so on, but they do recognize that I’m a bishop, of course,” he said during an interview after the confirmation and mass.

A check with the Catholic Hierarchy, an unofficial online database of Catholic bishops and dioceses, yields no entry for a Giacomo Ballini. The unofficial site is the top reference for Catholic bishops based on news bulletins from the Vatican and the Annuario Pontificio or pontifical directory.

Ballini said he goes to wherever traditionalist priests ask him to go.

During his homily last September 22, Ballini told the faithful to value and protect traditionalist priests, saying they are a rare kind of clergy.

He condemned the regular priests as being “so much worried about their prices and their menus on the sacraments.”

“How much is a baptism? How much is to be a godparent? How much is confirmation? How much is a wedding? Wedding first class, second class, wedding with or without air conditioning, and so on and so forth,” he said.

He also told the congregation to stay away from Novus Ordo masses, the regular masses being celebrated today.

“Your priests tell you to stay away from the Novus Ordo church because it is poison. It is poison. If you stay in, the longer you stay in, the more Protestant you become. You abandon the Catholic faith,” he said during his homily. “You go in that church as a Catholic, you go out as a Protestant.”

The MCSPX priests in Cebu administer to 40 small groups all over Visayas and Mindanao. They also visit the faithful in Japan, Malaysia, and South Korea.