8.160. Pope John XXIII said to use “the medicine of mercy not the weapons of severity.” Isn’t that just imitating Christ’s compassion?
This statement comes from Antipope John XXIII’s opening address at the Second Vatican Council on October 11, 1962. In it, he declared:
“The Church has always opposed errors. Nowadays, however, the Spouse of Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than the weapons of severity.”
This might sound like a gentle, compassionate outlook—but it is, in fact, a blasphemous inversion of the Church’s divine mission. By contrasting “mercy” with the Church’s traditional role of condemning heresy, denouncing sin, and correcting error, John XXIII implied that doctrinal clarity, anathemas, and firm discipline are somehow unmerciful or outdated.
Yet Christ Himself was clear:
“I came not to send peace, but the sword.”
“If thy brother sin… rebuke him.”
“Woe to you… you shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men.”
The Church has always understood that true mercy begins with truth. To withhold correction from those in error is not compassion—it is cowardice and betrayal. The saints, Fathers, and true popes of the Church exercised pastoral care with severity when needed, because eternal salvation was at stake. Saints like Athanasius, Jerome, Augustine, and Pius X waged war on heresy, knowing that error is never harmless.
By contrast, John XXIII’s “medicine of mercy” opened the floodgates to doctrinal compromise, moral relativism, and false ecumenism. It silenced the Church’s prophetic voice and allowed heresy to flourish unchallenged, all under the guise of kindness. This is not the mercy of Christ, who said to sinners:
“Go, and sin no more.”
| Category | Traditional Catholic Teaching | John XXIII / Vatican II Mentality | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercy | Calls sinners to repentance with truth and correction | Refrains from condemning error to avoid “offending” | Mercy without truth is spiritual abandonment |
| Error | Must be condemned and anathematized publicly | To be tolerated or addressed “pastorally” | Contradicts the duty of the Church to protect souls |
| Role of the Church | Prophet and guardian of revealed truth | Companion of man on his journey | Replaces doctrine with diplomacy |
| Example of Christ | Rebuked sinners, cast out money changers, condemned hypocrisy | Reduced to soft-spoken accompaniment and sentimentality | Christ was merciful because He told the hard truth |
| Fruits | Repentance, martyrdom, doctrinal clarity | Indifference, heresy, doctrinal confusion | “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:16) |
Summary:
John XXIII’s declaration that the Church should set aside “severity” in favor of a new “medicine of mercy” was not compassion—it was the opening salvo of the modernist revolution. It silenced the Church’s voice of judgment, blurred the lines between truth and error, and betrayed the Church’s divine mission to teach, correct, and sanctify.
True mercy is never silent about sin. It does not excuse error. It calls the sinner to conversion and fights for his salvation, even at the cost of popularity or persecution. The Vatican II religion replaced that mercy with false gentleness—the spiritual anesthesia that numbs souls into damnation.
As Pope Pius X wrote:To deny this is to deny Christ, His revelation, and His Church.
“The primary duty of charity does not lie in tolerating false ideas… but in instructing the intellect and correcting error.”
Let us return to the true Church of charity grounded in truth—not the false mercy of silence.
Further reading:
Notre Charge Apostolique (Our Apostolic Mandate) by Pope Pius X (1910)