Exclusive: Vatican Linked to Groups Practicing Pagan Rituals

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RITUALS INCLUDED DEVIL WORSHIP AND SPIRIT POSSESSION

Lepanto Institutes Newly Released Investigation Exposes a Disturbing Ideological Infiltration Inside the Catholic Church

To Interview Michael Hichborn, Founder and President of The Lepanto Institute
Please Contact: CJ Wheeler - cjradionews@gmail.com 858-472-4285
 

A new follow‑up investigation by the Lepanto Institute has uncovered extensive evidence that several organizations welcomed and promoted by the Vatican’s World Meeting of Popular Movements (WMPM) are actively engaged in pagan worship, spirit‑possession ceremonies, and neo‑shamanistic practices — raising serious questions about the spiritual and theological implications of the Vatican’s partnerships.

The findings build on the Institute’s original 144‑page report released on May 11, which documented Marxist affiliations and ideological extremism among participating groups. This new report expands the investigation, revealing that at least four of those organizations also engage in ritual practices fundamentally incompatible with Catholic teaching.

The WMPM, launched under Pope Francis and continued under Pope Leo XIV, was created to foster collaboration between the Catholic Church and grassroots social movements. But the latest investigation suggests that some of these movements are not merely political — they are deeply rooted in non‑Christian spiritual systems involving deities, spirit invocation, and ritual offerings.

The report identifies four groups whose activities include explicit pagan practices:

• Comité de Unidad Campesina (CUC) — A Guatemalan movement that incorporates Mayan Cosmovision, invoking earth spirits known as Nawales, conducting sacred fire ceremonies, and engaging Mayan shamans (Ajq’ij) to lead rituals. Photos show Catholic clergy present at some ceremonies.
• CENARAB — A Brazilian organization founded to defend Afro‑Brazilian religions such as Candomblé, which involves animal sacrifice, divination, and spirit possession. Its founder, Makota Celinha, is a long‑time practitioner and met with Pope Leo XIV at the WMPM.
• Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra (MST) — A major organizer of the WMPM that integrates Candomblé and Umbanda rituals into its encampments. The group gifted Pope Leo XIV a tapestry of the Orixá Ossanha, a deity associated with plant magic and healing rituals.
• La Via Campesina — A global coalition representing 200 million peasants that mandates “misticas,” spiritual ceremonies blending indigenous and earth‑worship traditions. Leaders have compared aspects of these rituals to a “communion‑like” experience.
   

One of the most striking revelations involves a gift presented to Pope Leo XIV by MST: a tapestry depicting the Orixá Ossanha, a deity central to Candomblé and Umbanda rituals. According to MST’s own description, Ossanha is “the keeper of the secrets of medicinal and liturgical plants,” and no ceremony in these religions can be performed without invoking him.

The report does not allege that Pope Leo XIV knew the nature of the image, but its presence at a Vatican‑endorsed event has intensified concerns about the vetting of participating organizations.
 

The investigation includes descriptions and images of Candomblé ceremonies involving:

• rhythmic drumming on consecrated atabaque drums
• ritual blood offerings of goats and chickens
• trance states in which participants are “mounted” or possessed by Orixás
• divination through the casting of shells

One academic account cited in the report describes a ceremony where spirits “descended into the bodies of mediums,” who then danced, smoked cigars, and drank liquor while offering guidance to the community.

Statements from Vatican officials appear to support deeper collaboration with these movements. Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., told attendees at the 2025 WMPM that the Church seeks to “stimulate the local Churches to get involved with grassroots movements” and that popular movements should be recognized as “a living, thinking, acting part of Church life.”

WMPM coordinator Don Matteo Ferrari echoed this, saying the platform exists to “build bridges” and “accompany the life of organized communities around the world.”

These statements, combined with the documented practices of the participating groups, form the core of the report’s concern: that poorly catechized Catholics may be exposed to spiritual practices fundamentally incompatible with the First Commandment.

The report situates these findings within a broader trend of religious syncretism in South America, where some theologians and clergy have advocated blending indigenous, Afro‑Brazilian, and Catholic spiritualities. Examples include calls for “pluralist liberation theologies” and the incorporation of Candomblé drums into Catholic liturgies.

The investigation warns that such trends risk introducing vulnerable Catholics to practices involving spirit invocation, ancestor worship, and pantheistic cosmologies.

The Vatican has not issued a formal response to the report. Pope Leo XIV has previously warned African Catholics about the dangers of syncretism, but the investigation raises questions about how organizations are selected for participation in Vatican‑endorsed events.

The report concludes that the presence of these groups at the WMPM represents a serious spiritual and pastoral concern, urging Church leaders to safeguard the faithful from confusion and potential harm.
 

• Vulnerable Catholics are being exposed to pagan rituals under the banner of social justice.
• The Vatican is building bridges with groups practicing spirit possession, divination, and animal sacrifice.
• This is a spiritual safety issue, not a political one.
• Michael’s report is fully documented and grounded in primary sources
   

• Why is the Vatican partnering with groups practicing pagan rituals
• How a pagan deity ended up as a gift to the Pope
• The dangers of syncretism inside Catholic communities
• The merging of Marxist movements with pagan spirituality
• What Church leaders must do to protect the faithful
   

• The documented pagan practices inside Vatican‑approved organizations
• The theological dangers of syncretism
• How Marxist and pagan movements are merging
• The global implications for Catholic identity
• What this means for the future of the Church
• 
  

AVAILABLE FOR TV RADIO AND PRINT NATIONWIDE

When President Trump publicly questioned whether Pope Leo XIV was “surrounded by radicals,” the comment was dismissed by many as political bluster. But a new investigation by Michael Hichborn, President of The Lepanto Institute, suggests the former president’s suspicions may not have been unfounded.

In a meticulously documented 144-page report, Hichborn uncovers that the 2025 World Meeting of Popular Movements— a Vatican-sponsored event—was not merely a forum for social justice dialogue. Instead, it was dominated by openly Marxist, pro‑abortion, and pro‑LGBT organizations, many of which have long histories of revolutionary activism. Even more alarming: for the first time, every Marxist delegation was officially paired with mandated representatives from local Catholic churches, signaling a structural integration between the Church and these movements.
 

(Click Photo to Read the Report)

Among Hichborn’s findings:

• The event was hosted at Spin Time Labs, a squatter‑occupied, openly Marxist, trans‑feminist cultural center decorated with Communist Party flags, Antifa symbols, and sexually explicit artwork.
• Delegations included groups that celebrate Karl Marx like a saint, hold collective readings of the Communist Manifesto, advocate legal abortion as an anti‑capitalist imperative, and promote transgender ideology as a revolutionary necessity.
• The final declaration presented to Pope Leo XIV called for universal basic income, reduced working hours, and a renewed global alliance between Marxist movements and the Catholic Church.
• Pope Leo XIV told the assembled groups: “I am here. I am with you.”

Hichborn’s investigation raises urgent questions: Is the Vatican knowingly aligning itself with revolutionary Marxist organizations? Did Pope Leo understand the ideological nature of the groups he embraced? And was President Trump—controversially skeptical of the Pope’s political alliances—actually onto something?

Michael Hichborn is available for interviews to discuss:

• Why the Vatican selected a Marxist cultural center as the venue
• The identities and histories of the participating organizations
• How this integration affects global Catholicism
• Why this represents, in his words, “a grave danger to the souls of the faithful”
   

To Interview Michael Hichborn Please Contact: CJ Wheeler - cjradionews@gmail.com 858-472-4285
 

Want More? Let's Go Deeper into the Lepanto Institute Investigation

When President Donald Trump voiced concerns last year about Pope Leo XIV’s political alliances, critics accused him of exaggeration. But a new investigation by Michael Hichborn, President and Founder of The Lepanto Institute, is reigniting debate over whether Trump’s skepticism was justified.

Hichborn’s report examines the 2025 World Meeting of Popular Movements, held in Rome from October 21–24. The gathering—officially endorsed by the Vatican—brought together dozens of organizations from around the world. According to Hichborn’s research, many of these groups are explicitly Marxist, pro‑abortion, pro‑LGBT, and in some cases tied to revolutionary or guerrilla movements.

The event was hosted at Spin Time Labs, a squatter‑occupied building known for its Marxist and trans‑feminist activism. The center has hosted Communist Party events, pro‑abortion marches, and sexually explicit performances. Photos from the 2025 meeting show senior Catholic officials—including Cardinals Czerny and Baldassare Rihanna—standing amid Antifa stickers and provocative artwork.

Even the Coordinator for the World Meeting of Popular Movements - Don Matteo Ferrari - was photographed attending a Spin Time production called 'La Merda': a 1-woman show performed completely nude on stage.
 

For the first time in the event’s history, every Marxist delegation was accompanied by mandated representatives from local Catholic churches, with the explicit goal of forming ongoing partnerships after returning home. Hichborn argues this marks a dramatic shift in Vatican strategy.

Among the groups highlighted in the report:

• MST (Brazil) — celebrates Karl Marx’s death as a feast day, demands legal abortion, and promotes trans activism.
• Mediterranean Saving Humans — led by a lifelong Marxist activist with ties to violent revolutionary movements.
• UTEP (Argentina) — honors Hugo Chávez as an “eternal commander” and marches under hammer‑and‑sickle flags.
• Laia Campacina — declares that “without feminism there is no socialism” and demands legalized abortion as a class right.
• Abahalali (South Africa) — conducts collective readings of the Communist Manifesto and advocates “living communism.”
  
   

The meeting concluded with a declaration presented directly to Pope Leo XIV. It called for:

• Universal basic income - meaning abortion and trans-care
• Reduced working hours
• Universal public healthcare
• A renewed global alliance between Marxist movements and the Catholic Church

The document also referred to the movements’ “martyrs”—activists who died in revolutionary struggles.

In his address, Pope Leo XIV praised the groups as “social poets” and “champions of humanity,” telling them: “I am here. I am with you.” Hichborn notes that while the Pope may not have known the full ideological background of the organizations, the Vatican officials who planned the event certainly did.
 

Hichborn argues that the integration of Marxist organizations into Church structures represents a “grave danger” to Catholic teaching. He is calling on Pope Leo XIV to:

• Disband the World Meeting of Popular Movements
• Publicly condemn the participating organizations
• Discipline the Vatican officials responsible

As the controversy grows, Trump’s earlier warnings about the Pope’s political alliances are being revisited—not as bluster, but as a question that now demands serious scrutiny.

AVAILABLE FOR TV RADIO AND PRINT NATIONWIDE