CIC 2026 - The Catholic Response to a (Synodal) Church in Crisis - Bishop Mutsaerts

In an address that received the longest standing ovation in Catholic Identity Conference history, Bishop Mutsaerts delivers a fearless, witty, and profoundly Catholic diagnosis of the crisis facing the Church, for which he offers a radically simple antidote: rediscover the Catholic Faith we have received.

He challenges the modern obsession with constant reform, asks whether the Synodal project has actually produced the fruits it promised, warns against confusing mercy with affirmation, defends the sacred character of the liturgy, and explains why young Catholics are often searching for precisely what the Church has been tempted to abandon: truth, sacrifice, reverence, doctrine, confession, beauty, and a supernatural faith.

“We do not have to save the Church. We have only to avoid betraying her.”

The Church does not belong to progressives or traditionalists, bishops or theologians, Rome or us.

She belongs to Jesus Christ.

This is what it sounds like when a faithful shepherd guides his flock. You may have forgotten the feeling of joy that fills your soul to hear Catholic truth from a prince of the Church, and you may also have forgotten that you crave it. But when you listen to Bishop Mutsaerts in this CIC address, you’ll know that God is still with His Church, and you’ll be filled with filial gratitude.