The Catacombs - Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism

Vatican again endorses ‘blessing’ homosexual ‘couples,’ just not ‘formally’

Fri, 08 May 2026 11:56:51 +0000

Vatican again endorses ‘blessing’ homosexual ‘couples,’ just not ‘formally’
Cdl. Fernández reaffirmed ‘spontaneous,’ non-liturgical ‘blessings’ of same-sex couples remain permitted under Fiducia Supplicans,
even as Rome rejected Germany's formalized guidelines.

Argentine cardinal and Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith Victor Manuel Fernandez presides over the sixth Novemdiales Mass held for the late Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica, on May 1, 2025, in Vatican City
Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images

May 7, 2026
(LifeSiteNews [adapted - not all hyperlinks included from original]) — Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), confirmed that the Vatican had rejected the German bishops’ conference’s (DBK) proposed official guidelines for the formal “blessings” of homosexual and other irregular “couples” in a 2024 letter.

In a statement to Vatican News published May 6, Fernández confirmed that back in 2024, the DDF wrote a letter to Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier in Germany saying that the DBK’s proposed guidelines for the “blessing” of homosexual “couples” contradict the 2023 Vatican document Fiducia Supplicans, which allows for the spontaneous, “non-liturgical blessing” of homosexuals.

The cardinal prefect stressed that the text, which was published by the Vatican on May 4, also served as a rejection of the DBK’s official guidelines for the “blessings” of homosexual “couples,” the divorced and civilly “remarried,” and other “irregular unions,” citing “the pastoral approach of the pontificate of Pope Francis,” published just months after the DDF’s letter was sent. However, the Vatican continues to allow the “blessing” of same-sex “couples” in “spontaneous,” “non-liturgical” settings.

“What was said in that letter … also applies to the text of the current Vademecum, which does not have the approval of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,” Fernández said.

As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, in his 2024 letter, Fernández underscored that, per Fiducia Supplicans, the Church does not have the power to “liturgically” bless homosexual “couples.”

“The Declaration Fiducia supplicans states that: ‘The Church does not have the power to confer its liturgical blessing when this, in some way, could offer a form of moral legitimization to a union that presumes to be a marriage or to an extra-marital sexual practice’ (n. 11, nor to those who claim ‘the legitimization of their own status, (cf. n. 31)’” Fernández wrote.

“In the text of the Vademecum, however, there is mention of a union and an ‘official regulation,’ on the part of pastors, of couples who are outside of marriage – with those pastors also becoming the object of a genuine ‘acclamation,’ a gesture that is normally part of the marriage ritual,” he added. “In this sense, the Vademecum effectively legitimizes the status of such couples, in a manner contrary to what is affirmed in Fiducia supplicans.”

The cardinal added that the DBK’s proposal would sow confusion among the faithful.

However, while Fiducia Supplicans may not allow for the formal, liturgical “blessing” of homosexual “couples,” numerous prominent Catholic prelates have condemned the document for permitting the “blessing” of homosexual “couples” as “couples” at all, and have accused it of causing confusion.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who served as the head of the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith before Fernández, in a 2024 essay for First Things, urged Church leaders and the faithful to reject these “blessings” endorsed by Pope Francis because they contradict Catholic teaching and “lead to heresy.”

“Fiducia Supplicans must be considered doctrinally problematic, for it contains a denial of Catholic doctrine,” the German prelate wrote.

Müller warned that such a proposal is “contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church” and “logically leads to heresy.”

“This means that these pastoral blessings for irregular unions cannot be accepted by the Catholic faithful, and especially by those who, in assuming an ecclesiastical office, have taken the Profession of Faith and the Oath of Fidelity, which calls first of all for the preservation of the deposit of faith in its entirety,” he wrote.

In April 2025, just days after the death of Pope Francis, the DBK and the lay organization Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) announced that they had adopted the text of the guidelines during a joint conference.

The “blessings” are meant to be an offer for “divorced and remarried couples, couples of all [so-called] gender identities and sexual orientations, as well as couples who do not want to or cannot receive the sacrament of marriage for other reasons,” per the DBK.

The guidelines state that the “blessings” can be carried out by clerics as well as laypeople with an episcopal assignment. The ceremony for the “blessings” should be marked by “greater spontaneity and freedom with regard to the life situation of those who ask for the blessing.”

However, it’s worth noting that the document is not legally binding and merely represents “practical advice.” “For this reason, no approved liturgical celebrations and prayers are planned for the blessings,” the document states.

Fernández’s statement to Vatican News also confirms an October 2025 report, which revealed that the DDF did not approve these guidelines, despite claims made by German bishops that suggested it had.

New Vatican document urges Catholic families to ‘ecological conversion’

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 12:45:07 +0000

New Vatican document urges Catholic families to ‘ecological conversion’
Two Vatican dicasteries released a joint document calling on Catholic families to embrace ‘integral ecology,’ drawing a direct line between environmental practice and moral formation.

hurricanehank/Shutterstock

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — A new Vatican document calls on Catholic families to embrace “integral ecology,” framing “ecological conversion” as inseparable from the “journey toward holiness” and linking ecological habits to the fight against abortion and euthanasia.

On April 27, the Dicastery for Integral Human Development and the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life released a joint document titled “Integral Ecology in the Life of the Family,” the stated goal of which is to present the Catholic family as the “primary subject” of conversion to integral ecology.

“Social ecology is necessarily institutional, and gradually extends to the whole of society, from the primary social group, the family, to the wider local, national and international communities,” the document reads, quoting directly from Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato si’.

“Families are not only called to care for their own members,” the document continues. “Significantly, the (Second Vatican) Council also recognized the role of families in actively participating in local communities, and even in being protagonists or, in a sense, genuine influencers of national policies that affect them – such as policies concerning social issues, education, infrastructure, labor, healthcare, and so on.”

The 79-page text is divided into two parts. The first outlines the concepts of ecology, family, and “grassroots commitment” in Pope Francis’s teaching. Here it is stated that the vocation to holiness inherent in every marriage necessarily implies conversion to an ecological way of life: “The journey toward holiness within a family can help address the roots of the ecological crisis, since we cannot delude ourselves into healing our relationship with nature and the environment without healing all fundamental human relationships.”

In the second part, which is itself divided into seven chapters, the document goes on to provide a series of practical guidelines and recommendations addressed to families.

In the first and second chapters, titled “Listening to the Cry of the Earth” and “Listening to the Cry of the Poor,” the authors argue that humanity and the planet are facing a “single ecological crisis” – one that concerns not only the degradation of the “Common Home” but also the rise of poverty. In this way, the document draws a direct connection between a supposed environmental emergency and economic problems.

According to the document, the first solution begins with “always keeping in mind the universal destination of goods.” The text thus echoes Pope Francis’ misleading interpretation of this concept that belongs to the Church’s social doctrine.

According to Francis, the “universal destination of goods” represents the goal of every sound social policy and, in practice, coincides with the redistribution of resources and wealth carried out by the state.

In Traditional Catholic doctrine, however, the “universal destination of goods” is a starting point: It affirms that the goods of the earth are meant for all, but that this principle is realized through free initiative, private property, and personal responsibility, not through coercive state intervention. It is the ethical foundation of economic freedom, not the justification for redistributive policy.

Embracing the typically socialist logic that seeks to identify a single actor as the cause of ecological crises (pollution) and economic crises (poverty) – namely wealthy, multinational corporations, and, more broadly, the private sector – can only lead to a politicization of the Church’s magisterium. In doing so, this view reduces the magisterium to a tool of globalist agendas and supranational entities such as the U.N. and the EU, which aim to impose increasingly centralized and intrusive fiscal and economic policies.

Moreover, the text includes bioethical issues such as abortion and euthanasia as part of the stated ecological‑economic crisis rather than as effects of a theological, anthropological, and moral crisis. The document thus suggests a normative and moral connection between adopting ecological lifestyles and combating bioethical issues. Since both stem from a “culture of waste,” if one learns to recycle and to respect the environment, then one will also learn to respect human life at every stage, per the new document.

However, this logical passage is not theologically or philosophically consistent. It conflates moral conversion with behavioral adaptation, implying that external ecological habits could generate internal ethical renewal. In reality, the relationship is inverted: respect for human life arises from a sound moral conscience, not from a supposed environmental discipline. Reducing moral formation to ecological practice risks transforming Christian ethics into a form of “green” moralism, where salvation is measured by lifestyle rather than by grace and virtue. The Social Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ has been replaced by respect for the “Common Home.”

Starting from these chapters, the document then presents a series of concrete proposals for changing the family’s lifestyle in a more ecological direction. Some suggestions are simple, others more demanding. “If you have access to an outdoor space, create a compost bin or a worm farm,” the document states. “If, however, you do not have access to such a space and the municipality does not provide composting services, ask your local school or parish whether it would be willing to host a community compost container.”

The text also recommends “collecting rainwater (and) visiting second‑hand markets” alongside “taking the opportunity to pray surrounded by nature, which may also include an outdoor Mass, with the permission of the local priest.”

The text suggests continuity with the concept of human ecology proposed by Pope John Paul II in Centesimus annus (1991), quoting a passage from it. Yet the perspective of Karol Wojtyła is diametrically opposed to that suggested by this document. According to the former pontiff, the solution to the ecological problem so dear to the modern world can only be found once the primary issue has been addressed: the acknowledgement of creation as order willed by God – a principle that also implies the existence of a natural moral law and grounds any genuine ecology in Christian anthropology.

Unfortunately, Francis’ socialist-like view has been adopted by Leo XIV in the apostolic exhortation Dilexi te (2025), in which the Pope explicitly proposed greater state interventionism as the main solution of the alleged ecological-economic crisis.

The Attitude of the Future Paul VI Toward the Encyclical Humani Generis of Pius XII

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 14:02:07 +0000

The Attitude of the Future Paul VI Toward the Encyclical Humani Generis of Pius XII
Jean Madiran, in Itinéraires no. 128, December 1968, pp. 154–159.

Source: La Revue Item / Abbé Paul Aulagnier [AI translation] / October 2013

Here is Jean Madiran's article on the intellectual attitude of Msgr. Montini, the future Pope Paul VI, who was substitute of the Secretariat of State at the time of the publication by Pius XII, in 1950, of his encyclical Humani Generis condemning modern errors. And they would also like to canonize Paul VI?

"…Since we are speaking of inattention to texts and errors of fact, I may well say that I had stumbled over page 27 of Jean Guitton's book (Dialogues avec Paul VI, vol. 2) concerning the encyclical Humani Generis of 1950. I was so immediately shaken by it that I reopened the encyclical — which is always a grace, a blessing, a light — and for that I thank Jean Guitton, who was its occasional cause.

On page 27 we are at the date of September 8, 1950. The encyclical is not yet a month old: it is dated August 12. It is entirely fresh in the minds of those who have just read it, who have begun to study it. Yet on that date, on that page, transcribing the 'notes he had written that very evening' of September 8, Jean Guitton reports the following remark:

Quote:'You have no doubt yourselves noticed the nuances inscribed in this pontifical text. For example, the Encyclical never speaks of ERRORS (errores). It speaks only of OPINIONS (opiniones). This indicates that the Holy See aims to condemn not errors properly so called, but modes of thought that could lead to errors but which in themselves remain respectable.'

The error of fact is complete; the inattention to the invoked text is total; and point by point:

1. 'The Encyclical never speaks of errors (errores).'

The word 'errors' appears from the very first line of the French translation to render the Latin term aberratio, which is not error, but which is no less serious — on the contrary. We find aberrationem again at the beginning of the second paragraph.

In §6, there is mention of a novae aberranti philosophiae, a new aberrant philosophy.

In §7, of a historicism that subverts veritatis legisque absolutae fundamenta, that is, that 'undermines at its foundation all truth and all absolute law': would this be a mere 'opinion,' and no error at all?

In §10, we find erroribus and errorem, warning us that among our philosophers and theologians there are those who 'strive to escape the direction of the Magisterium and fall imperceptibly and unwittingly into the danger of abandoning even divinely revealed truth and of leading others into error.'

In §18, it is emphasized that what the encyclicals of the Roman Pontiffs explain 'is neglected by some in a habitual and premeditated manner.'

Speaking of the assertions against which the first eighteen paragraphs are directed, §19 declares: 'All these sayings may appear very clever; error, however, is not absent from them' (the Latin does not say error or errores, it says fallacia, which is equivalent, or rather even more serious).

In §22, there is mention of Catholic teachers who 'renew the theory already condemned several times…'

In §37, the encyclical repeats that it is pointing out manifest errors and dangers of error: manifestos errores errorisque pericula — not only, therefore, dangers of error, but indeed MANIFEST ERRORS.

§58 repeats: these errors, 'today spread openly or in secret' (iis erroribus).

Whether one consults the authentic Latin text or the French translation, it is incredible that one could have advanced such a proposition: 'The encyclical never speaks of errors (errores).' It speaks of them constantly. When it does not say errores, it says aberrationes and it says fallacia.

2. 'The Encyclical speaks only of opinions (opiniones).'

The term 'opinions' does indeed appear in the title: 'de Nonnullis falsis opinionibus quae catholicae doctrinae fundamenta subruere minantur': 'On certain false opinions which threaten to undermine the foundations of Catholic doctrine.' It is not a question, therefore, of mere 'opinions'; the encyclical does not speak 'only of opinions' — it speaks of false opinions. It is difficult to see what difference one could perceive between 'a false opinion' and an error, when the opinions in question are false opinions that threaten to undermine the foundations of Catholic doctrine.

It is not true, as we have seen, that the encyclical never uses the term errores: it uses it frequently. It is true that it also uses the terms opiniones and opinationes, but in the same sense as errores: beyond the title, this is clear from §58, where 'these new opinions' (novas eiusdem opinationes) and 'these errors' (iis erroribus) are used alternately not to designate two different kinds of things, but as two expressions having in context the same extension and the same comprehension.

3. 'The Holy See aims to condemn not errors properly so called, but modes of thought that could lead to errors.'

A) Here, in order, are the 'modes of thought' explicitly designated in the encyclical:

monist and pantheist theory (§5)
the dialectical materialism of the communists (ibid.)
immanentism, pragmatism, existentialism (§6)
a false historicism (§7); etc., etc.

It is singularly strange to see in these doctrines 'not errors properly so called, but modes of thought that could lead to errors'…

B) Moreover, the encyclical explicitly declares that it is targeting not thoughts that could lead to errors, but novelties that have already produced, in almost all parts of theology, poisoned fruits (§25: ac mirum non est hujusmodi novitates, ad omnes fere theologiae partes quod attinet, jam venenosos peperisse fructus). Poisoned fruits! Already produced! In almost all parts of theology!

In §16 it was said: 'These attempts not only lead to what is called dogmatic relativism, but already really contain it' (non tantum ducere…sed illum iam reapse continere).

Thus at least twice, the text of the encyclical, in the most explicit and precise manner, takes care to prevent and rule out the interpretation which would claim that it targets 'not errors properly so called, but modes of thought that COULD LEAD TO errors.' Nevertheless, this interpretation was put forward less than a month after its publication.

It is thus indeed, as we have just seen, point by point and word by word, that the remarks of September 8, 1950, reported on page 27 of Jean Guitton, contradict explicit affirmations of the encyclical Humani Generis.

On the preceding page, Jean Guitton had reported his own opinion: 'The encyclical needs an interpretation.' That is possible — at least in the sense that all reading is interpretive. To interpret means, for example, to seek what meaning to give to the terms errores, aberrationes, fallacia contained in the text. But to begin by saying, and apparently by believing, that these terms are not in the text, and that their absence is a characteristic of the highest importance, which must govern the entire reading of the document and which indicates its general intention — that is no longer an interpretation. It is not even a false interpretation. It is, short of any interpretation, the negation of the object, the refusal of the text to be interpreted, replaced by a gratuitous reverie upon which one constructs considerations of a decisive and imperative appearance, but which hang in the air.

Thus reflection, instead of scrutinizing what is, becomes purely 'poetic,' in the Greek sense understood by Marcel de Corte, and begins to hover in an arbitrariness which, discouraging the intellectual communications effected by means of articulate language, leaves in the end, necessarily, nothing subsisting between men but relations of force.

You know the story of the cauldron:

'Have you not yet returned my new cauldron?'
'You never lent me one. And it was not new. And I have already returned it to you.'

Catholic thought, among a growing number of its most highly eminent representatives (N.B. Jean Madiran has in view here Msgr. Montini, substitute of the Secretariat of State), has thus arrived at the hour of the cauldron.

I do not know whether in 1967, when the proofs of page 27 were being re-read, anyone had the simple curiosity to reopen the encyclical Humani Generis of Pius XII; I do not know whether the arbitrary contradiction made against it by private whisper in 1950, and publicly renewed in 1967, was deliberately and knowingly intended. I note the facts.

Compared to the present state of the world and of the Church, the encyclical of Pius XII is as timely as the answer of Jesus to Saint Jude. But we are led to believe that Jesus did not answer; and that 'the manifest errors' noted in 1950 were not truly errors.

And so this generation of men sinks into anguish and into night.

Catholic bishop of Fresno appears to ‘co-consecrate’ Episcopalian ‘bishop’

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 13:45:23 +0000

Catholic bishop of Fresno appears to ‘co-consecrate’ Episcopalian ‘bishop’ in violation of canon law
The 1983 Code of Canon Law makes clear that an attempt to administer an invalid ‘sacrament’ of a heretical church is illicit.

Signage of the Episcopal Church
Cineberg/Shutterstock

Apr 23, 2026
FRESNO, California (LifeSiteNews) — The Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Fresno recently participated in the “ordination” of an Episcopalian “bishop” in California in violation of canon law.

Bishop Joseph Vincent Brennan of Fresno was seen extending his hands and joining in an Anglican consecration prayer along with Anglican-Episcopal “clerics,” including women, in a ceremony intended to ordain a bishop at St. James Episcopal Cathedral in Fresno, California, on April 18.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law makes clear that such an attempt to administer a “sacrament,” which in the case of Episcopal Holy Orders is recognized as invalid by the Catholic Church, is illicit.

“Catholic ministers administer the sacraments licitly to Catholic members of the Christian faithful alone, who likewise receive them licitly from Catholic ministers alone,” the newer code states (Canon 844 §1).

The 1917 Code of Canon Law, founded on perennial Catholic teaching as expressed in the Councils of the Church, states that “It is not licit for the faithful by any manner to assist actively or to have a part in the sacred (rites) of non-Catholics” (Canon 1258 §1).

Such an action is seen by the Church as an endorsement of heresy, itself a grave danger to souls, which is why the Council of Laodicea declared that “No one shall pray in common with heretics and schismatics,” and the Council of Carthage stated that one who prays or sings psalms with heretics will be excommunicated.

The 1917 Code of Canon Law further explains that whoever “willingly and knowingly helps in the promulgation of heresy … is suspected of heresy” (Canon 2316).

While the Anglican Church of its origin is already heretical, the U.S. Episcopal Church has become wildly heretical even in comparison to its English roots. The church supports a so-called “right” to legal abortion; it accepts homosexuality, and, in 2015, its bishops gave the green light for clergy to conduct homosexual “weddings”; and, in 2022, the church issued a blanket endorsement of so-called “gender-affirming care” at any age.

The apparent endorsement of a false, heretical religion such as the Episcopal or Anglican Church is not an isolated incident confined to the Diocese of Fresno but a phenomenon demonstrated even at the highest level of the Catholic Church.

For example, last month, Pope Leo XIV issued a congratulatory letter to Sarah Mullally – the first woman ever appointed “archbishop of Canterbury” and a vocal supporter of abortion and the LGBT agenda. In the letter, Leo praises Mullally’s “weighty” responsibilities and explicitly invokes the Blessed Virgin Mary as a source of “inspiration” for her new role.

The March 20 message, published on the Vatican website, made no reference whatsoever to the Catholic Church’s perennial teaching that Anglican orders are “absolutely null and utterly void” (Apostolicae Curae, 1896), that the ordination of women is impossible and contrary to the will of Christ, or to Mullally’s own public record of promoting grave moral evils of abortion and homosexual acts.

Vatican plans October conference on Amoris Laetitia as synodal implementation advances

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:13:54 +0000

Vatican plans October conference on Amoris Laetitia as synodal implementation advances
The General Secretariat of the Synod approved an implementation roadmap for 2026,

with June and October gatherings set to advance the controversial synodal process worldwide.

Synod on Synodality members during the 2023 season, in the Paul VI Hall, Vatican City
Michael Haynes

Apr 22, 2026
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican has approved plans for two major gatherings tied to the Synod on Synodality’s implementation, including a conference on the family in light of Amoris laetitia – Pope Francis’ 2016 controversial document challenging the teaching on Communion for the divorced and “remarried.”

On April 17, the General Secretariat of the Synod convened online and approved the general structure of a draft document for the implementation phase of the Synod on Synodality, while also announcing two forthcoming meetings – one from June 23-25 and another from October 7-14 – intended to prepare “continental evaluation assemblies” planned for early 2028 and to facilitate future consultation with bishops worldwide “on the theme of the family in the light of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia.”

Details of the program were officially announced by the General Secretariat of the Synod and the Vatican’s official press organ, L’Osservatore Romano, only three days after the meeting, on April 20.

The online meeting was opened with a moment of prayer led by Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod, rather than by Secretary General Cardinal Mario Grech, who was present at the event.

Soon after, Grech outlined the next steps in the synodal process. First, Grech announced a meeting from June 23 to 25 “to prepare the continental evaluation assemblies scheduled for the first quarter of 2028.”

Pope Leo XIV will take part in one session of the proceedings.

The participants will include a representative of the Council of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Churches, the presidents of the continental episcopal conferences, and the presidents of two national episcopal conferences, namely those of the United States and Canada.

These “continental evaluation assemblies” are expected to be meetings in which participants will assess whether and how the synodal process has been implemented in their respective regions of the world, in order to understand how to correct or further develop what has been done so far.

These meetings will take place almost simultaneously with the extraordinary consistory that Pope Leo XIV has planned in Rome for June 26-27, during which the cardinals are expected to discuss issues of particular interest to the Pontiff, including the liturgy, the governance of local Churches, evangelization, and the Church’s “synodal conversion.”

Grech then announced the next step in the program of synodal implementation. As Pope Leo XIV had already announced on March 19, a conference will be held in the Vatican from October 7 to 14 with the presidents of the bishops’ conferences from around the world to determine how to implement family pastoral care in the light of Amoris laetitia.

Preparations for the event have been entrusted by the Pope to the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, with a request for “organizational and methodological support” from the General Secretariat of the Synod. The dicastery is led by Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, one of the most active exponents of Bergoglianism, and known – among other things – for having publicly praised Father James Martin’s 2017 book calling for the building of bridges with LGBT communities.

It is not clear whether the presidents of regional, national, and/or continental episcopal conferences will take part.

Amoris laetitia, one of the most controversial documents of the Francis pontificate, represents a rupture within Church teaching by initiating a doctrinal shift in the way the moral standing of so-called “irregular” couples is assessed – couples cohabiting more uxorio, divorced and civilly “remarried,” and same‑sex “couples.”

As stated in L’Osservatore Romano, “the note [from the General Secretariat of the Synod] specifies that this is not a synodal assembly, but a consultation meeting of the Bishop of Rome with the presidents of the episcopal conferences.”

The third point of the meeting concerned the presentation and the approval “in its general structure” of a document drafted by the Jesuit Giacomo Costa, a consultant of the General Secretariat and special secretary of the XVI Assembly of the Synod, regarding the “path of implementation of the Synod.” The document will be published, after revision by the Ordinary Council, “by the beginning of the summer.”

Leo XIV quotes Francis: "We need to accept courageously the newness of the Spirit..."

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 13:57:02 +0000

Leo XIV quotes Francis: "We need to accept courageously the newness of the Spirit...."

From the very liberal outlet, Vatican News:

Pope Leo: Church in Amazonia must be sign of unity in diversity

Vatican News | March 17, 2026

Pope Leo XIV encourages the work of the Church in the Amazon Region to continue along the path of inculturation of the Gospel.
By Devin Watkins

Pope Leo XIV sent a video message on Tuesday to the 6th Assembly of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazonia (CEAMA), taking place in Bogota, Colombia.

He thanked the Bishops, clergy, consecrated religious, and lay faithful for attending this “privileged time of listening to the Holy Spirit in order to discern the path of the communities rooted in that region.”

Recalling people’s material and spiritual struggles in the Amazonia, the Pope expressed his closeness to all those whom the Church accompanies.

He encouraged the ecclesial assembly in its mission to formulate Synodal Pastoral Horizons to guide local Churches forward.

Pope Leo drew on the image of the shihuahuaco tree (Dipteryx micrantha), which grows very slowly but stands dozens of meters tall, can live over a thousand years, and creates an ecosystem for animal life.

“This can help us understand,” he said, “what the Church desires to be: a sign of unity in diversity and a safe refuge that generates and protects life.”

The Pope invited the Church in the Amazonia to keep its faith rooted in Christ and in His love, which the faithful should frequently contemplate in prayer.

“The present context requires an adequate response to the many social, environmental, cultural, and ecclesial challenges that persist in the Amazon, threatened by situations of abuse and exploitation,” he said.

In the midst of challenges, the Church must proclaim the kerygma and the new life in Christ, as she accompanies those who suffer and seeks to safeguard creation and respect life in all its forms, especially human life.

Pope Leo upheld the importance of inculturating the Gospel in local cultures, so as to manifest and celebrate the mystery of Christ more fully.

“Inculturation is a difficult but necessary path,” he said. “‘We need to accept courageously the newness of the Spirit, who is always capable of creating something new from the inexhaustible treasure of Jesus Christ’,” he added, quoting Querida Amazonia.

In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics in the Amazon Region to strengthen their identity as missionary disciples of Christ.

“Keep sowing in the furrow that has been watered even with the blood of so many men and women who have gone before you, and who, united to the passion of Christ, have become the root of a ‘giant tree’ growing in the Amazonia.”

Vatican publishes synod report calling for increased female leadership in priestly formation

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 13:10:01 +0000

Vatican publishes synod report calling for increased female leadership in priestly formation
The Vatican published a synod report urging expanded female and lay ‘co-responsibility’ in seminaries,

calling for women to influence vocational discernment prior to ordinations.

Cardinal Mario Grech takes questions from his seat during an April 2023 Synod briefing.
Michael Haynes

Mar 4, 2026
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews [Slightly adapted, not all hyperlinks included from original]) — The Vatican released a synodal report that proposes a broader participation of laity and women alongside new structures for seminary training while keeping the 2016 norms on priestly formation.

On March 3, the Holy See Press Office announced the publication of the final reports of two study groups established during the Synod on Synodality regarding priestly formation and “The Mission in the Digital Environment.” These reports mark the conclusion of the mandate of the two groups. In particular, Group 4 presented a report proposing adjustments to priestly formation “from a synodal missionary perspective” without rewriting the 2016 rules.

“The Final Reports should be understood as working documents, a point of departure and not of arrival,” said Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod on Synodality.

Group 4 focused on rethinking priestly formation in light of the synodal process. Its nine members, appointed by Pope Francis, along with those of the other study groups were made public in 2024. The group includes three cardinals with a manifestly progressive orientation – José Cobo Cano, Jean‑Claude Hollerich, S.J., and Lazarus You Heung‑sik – as well as Hubertus Blaumeiser, whose presence, together with that of Cardinal You Heung‑sik, reflects a significant influence from the controversial Focolare Movement.

A former member of the Focolare Movement is accused of sexual and psychological abuse of young men and boys, and the organization is known for having developed and practiced a strong emphasis on ecumenism and internal female leadership. According to the statutes, there must always be a woman at the head of the organization. For this reason, Pope Francis has viewed it as a privileged environment for fostering a culture in which women can take on roles of formation and leadership. “This was a revolutionary journey that did much good for the Church,” Francis had said.

Also included in the study group is María Lia Zervino, an Argentine religious, president of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations and, since 2022, a member of the Dicastery for Bishops.

The synod study group chose not to rewrite the Fundamental Norms for Priestly Formation, promulgated in 2016 by the Dicastery for the Clergy, considering the norms to remain “a valid formative model.” Instead, the group drafted a proposal intended to guide the implementation of both the universal and national norms within what it described as a “synodal and missionary” framework.

The published text states that the synodal journey requires a “conversion of the heart, mind, relationships and processes,” with consequences not only at the personal level but also in communal and structural dimensions. It frames priestly identity in explicitly relational terms and repeatedly situates ordained ministry “in and from” the “People of God.”

The document also emphasizes that formation should avoid becoming marked by sacral “separation” from the community, “where irresponsibility, dissimulation and clerical infantilism are more easily bred,” and instead focus on “ordinary human life and stable immersion in the life of Christian communities.”

Among the principal proposals is implementing an alternation between residence in the seminary and periods spent living in “other ecclesial environments,” though these environments are not specified. The report argues that formation should not be confined to the seminary as a single, exhaustive structure but should include complementary “places and times” aimed at fostering what it calls “integral formation.”

The document also calls for “shared moments of formation” with lay faithful beginning at the preparatory stage. It proposes that women who are “well-prepared and competent” be included as “co-responsible” participants “at all levels of formation, also within the formation team,” and that their perspective be given due weight in the discernment of vocations and in the scrutiny preceding the conferral of Holy Orders.

The second part of the document outlines operational guidelines. These include a reconsideration of academic curricula in biblical, theological, philosophical, and human sciences so that studies contribute to the assimilation of a vague “relational and dialogical anthropology.”

It also calls for necessary familiarity with the synod’s Final Document to be included in the priestly formation. Additional themes mentioned are a major “ecumenical dimension (…) interreligious dialogue and the exchange of gifts with people of other beliefs,” with greater attention to “peripheries” and to the “cry of the poor.”

Brazilian Archbishop Declares Excommunication for Attending Latin Mass Outside Approved Site

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:48:12 +0000

Brazilian Archbishop Declares Excommunication for Attending Latin Mass Outside Approved Site

gloria.tv | February 26, 2026

Archbishop Carlos Alberto Breis Pereira, 60, of Maceió, Brazil, has warned that celebrating or attending the Mass in the Roman rite outside of his one authorized location will result in excommunication.

The diocesan note was issued on February 11 on FaceBook.com (below). It reads:

Quote:“The Archdiocese of Maceió informs the faithful who reside within its jurisdiction that, if they wish to participate in the so-called ‘Tridentine Masses’ or in those celebrated according to the Roman Missal of Saint Pius V, promulgated by Pope Saint Pius V in 1570, in the Latin language, the only authorized place is the Chapel of Saint Vincent de Paul, at the Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Maceió.

We emphasize that this liturgy is always celebrated on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. by the Reverend Father Cícero Lenisvaldo Miranda da Silva, of the Archdiocesan clergy.

Such permission was authorized by the Archbishop of Maceió, Dom Carlos Alberto Breis Pereira, OFM, with the approval of the Holy See. This liturgy is not authorized in any other place, whether religious or not, nor within any civil association.

In accordance with Canons 751 and 1364 §1 of the current Code of Canon Law, the celebration of the Mass in the former rite, in another place, will be considered an act of public schism, which will entail automatic excommunication.”

German Bishops Elect Militant Pro-Homosexual as New President

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 14:03:13 +0000

German Bishops Elect Militant Pro-Homosexual as New President

gloria.tv | February 24, 2026

Bishop Heiner Wilmer, 64, of Hildesheim, Germany, was elected president of the German Bishops’ Conference today.

He joined the religious order of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Dehonians) at the age of 19. Pope Francis appointed him as Bishop of Hildesheim in 2018.

"Blessing Ceremonies for Transvestites"

In an October 2021 homily, he called for "a fresh perspective on sexuality".

In 2022, he supported OutInChurch, a movement composed of homosexual Church employees.

Following the Vatican's rejection of the blessing of same-sex unions, Monsignor Wilmer released a press statement (25 January 2022): "We must continue to discuss the blessing of same-sex couples and should not treat it as a taboo. The point is to acknowledge the lived realities of same-sex partnerships today."

In September 2022, he voted in favour of a text from the German Synodal Way that sought to "change" Catholic sexual morality. The text called for the acceptance of homosexual acts and diverse fictive gender identities: "I struggle greatly with the fact that the two-thirds majority of the bishops was not achieved," said Bishop Wilmer. This was a "real disappointment".

In December 2023, Monsignor Wilmer welcomed the homosexual pamphlet Fiducia Supplicans describing it as "good news" and "direction-setting".

In September 2024, he appointed three people to provide pastoral care for homosexuals: "This team will provide guidance in cases as diverse as the baptism of a child from a lesbian couple, blessing ceremonies for transgender individuals celebrating their transition, and supporting families with non-binary children."

Vatican approves Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s cause for beatification

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 12:39:56 +0000

Vatican approves Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s cause for beatification
Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria announced that the Holy See informed him that renowned evangelist Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be beatified after years of delay.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Public domain

Feb 10, 2026
(LifeSiteNews) — The cause of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, famous for his decades of televangelism, has been approved for beatification by the Vatican, during which the late bishop will be declared “blessed,” the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, announced on Monday.

In a February 10 statement, Sheen’s home Bishop Louis Tylka of the Diocese of Peoria announced that the Vatican has officially approved the archbishop’s cause for beatification, with a ceremony forthcoming.

Sheen’s beatification was initially approved in 2019 but was delayed by the Diocese of Rochester, New York, as a precautionary measure, as the diocese – where he served as bishop – faced over 70 sex abuse allegations. However, the late bishop of Rochester had never been accused of abuse or cover-up.

“The Holy See has informed me that the Cause for the Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen can proceed to Beatification,” Tylka wrote. “The next step in the process is the celebration of the Beatification, in which Fulton Sheen would be declared ‘Blessed.'”

Sheen was declared “venerable” by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011, meaning that he was recognized as having lived a life of heroic virtue.

Beatification, the first major step towards canonization, means the sovereign pontiff has declared that the individual not only lived a holy life but is in Heaven and requires that one miracle be attributed to his or her intercession. In 2019, Pope Francis recognized the miraculous healing of a stillborn child that had been credited to the late archbishop’s intercession.

Sheen was a popular teacher and radio and television personality in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States. His television show “Life is Worth Living” reached millions of viewers of all backgrounds, supplementing more than 50 books.

“Archbishop Fulton Sheen was one of the greatest voices of evangelization in the Church and the world in the 20th century,” Tylka wrote in the announcement.

The bishop continued:

Quote:I have long admired his lifelong commitment to serve the Church as a priest, rooted in his deep devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Eucharist. As he journeyed through the different stages of his life, his ability to share the Gospel and truly relate to people drew countless souls into an encounter with Jesus – one that transformed not only his life, but more importantly, the lives of those he touched.

While the Catholic evangelist and media personality was expected to be beatified in 2019, the Vatican announced just a few weeks prior that the ceremony was to be postponed.

It was later revealed that the delay in the beatification was triggered by Bishop Salvatore Matano of the Diocese of Rochester as a precautionary measure while that diocese sorted through sex abuse lawsuits that had been recently filed at the time.

Sheen was bishop of Rochester from 1966 to 1969. A probe by Church authorities, who also revealed their results to civil authorities, found no allegations of abuse or cover-up on the archbishop’s part.

However, in its last-minute statement on December 5, 2019, the Rochester diocese cited concerns about advancing Sheen’s beatification “without a further review of his role in priests’ assignments.” While acknowledging that it had done its “due diligence in this matter,” the statement said that the beatification process allegedly needed “further study and deliberation.”

Sheen preached several sermons and conferences that are especially relevant in today’s crisis in both the Church and the world.

In an address on confession, he was discussing sin and its resulting weight of guilt on overall health when he turned to the question of what these impacts could mean in the United States following the infamous U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion.

“Just think, my dear ladies, of how many mentally disturbed women we are going to have in the United States in the next 10 or 15 years when the guilt of abortion begins to attack the mind and soul,” he considered.

In 1947, in one of his most memorable radio sermons, then-Bishop Sheen laid out the dozen or so tricks the anti-Christ will use to destroy Christians and declared the anti-Christ would set up a “counter church” or the “ape of the church.”

“(The antichrist) will write books on the new idea of God to suit the way people live. He will invoke religion to destroy religion. He will even speak of Christ and say that he was the greatest man who ever lived,” Sheen said at the time.

“In the midst of all his seeming love for humanity and his glib talk of freedom and equality, he will have one great secret which he will tell to no one; he will not believe in God,” the bishop continued. “And because his religion will be brotherhood without the fatherhood of God, he will deceive even the elect.”

“He will set up a counter-Church, which will be the ape of the Church because he, the devil, is the ape of God. It will be the mystical body of the anti-Christ that will in all externals resemble the Church as the mystical body of Christ. In desperate need for God, he will induce modern man, in his loneliness and frustration, to hunger more and more for membership in his community that will give man enlargement of purpose, without any need of personal amendment and without the admission of personal guilt. These are days in which the devil has been given a particularly long rope,” he added.

+ + +

The Catacombs note: While the early talks and instruction of Archbishop Sheen were mostly admirable, it appears that he was nevertheless a true modernist. From a recent TIA article:

He was a modernist and an ecumenist to the core, and moreover an admirer of Teilhard de Chardin. [...]

Archbishop Sheen, an Enthusiast of Vatican II
Fulton Sheen, a Fan of Teilhard de Chardin
Fulton Sheen’s Flaws in Rhetorics
Sheen’s Co-Ownership Is Opposed to Catholic Teaching
Fulton Sheen Visits the Rochester’s Synagogue
Fulton Sheen’s ‘Ecumenical Firsts’ Bishop of Rochester
Arch. Fulton Sheen Pushes Vatican II Reforms
How Sheen’s Ecumenical Seminary Came to Life

Vatican confirms controversial restaurant plan for St. Peter’s Basilica terrace

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 12:33:44 +0000

Vatican confirms controversial restaurant plan for St. Peter’s Basilica terrace
Several prelates, speaking anonymously, expressed reservations about the idea of groups of visitors eating and drinking above the tomb of St. Peter.

St. Peter's Basilica
Shutterstock

Jan 30, 2026
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican has confirmed plans to expand a refreshment area into a restaurant on the terrace of St. Peter’s Basilica, with a possible opening in 2026 to coincide with the basilica’s 400th anniversary.

On Thursday, Italian newspaper Il Messaggero revealed the existence of top‑secret works on the terrace of St. Peter’s Basilica involving the construction of a bistro. Today, amid strong misgivings from priests and bishops about the appropriateness of treating the heart of Catholicism this way—right above the tomb of the first Pope—the Vatican confirmed the plans.

The Holy See said that work is under way to expand the existing refreshment point on the main terrace above St. Peter’s Basilica into a larger bistro-style facility, using former storage rooms once occupied by the Sampietrini, the workers responsible for the daily care and maintenance of the Basilica. The stated aim is to manage increased visitor numbers, and the Vatican will potentially inaugurate the project either by Easter 2026 or for the 400th anniversary of the Basilica’s consecration on November 18, 2026.

In an official statement the Vatican said: “In order to respond to increased visitor flows, an expansion of the surface area of the terrace accessible to pilgrims is under consideration. This would help to ease the concentration of visitors inside the Basilica and foster a climate of greater recollection. In this context, some spaces would be made available to expand the small refreshment point already in place.”

The project concerns the large terrace above the nave of St. Peter’s Basilica, just behind the statues of the apostles. Once closed to the public, it now offers wide views over Rome and forms part of the route for visitors climbing to the dome.

The work is being carried out under strict confidentiality by the Fabric of St. Peter, the body responsible for the maintenance and administration of the Basilica. Internal Vatican sources cited by Il Messaggero reported that furnishings and materials have already arrived on site, indicating that construction is at an advanced stage, although no definitive completion date has been officially announced.

Allegedly the canons of St. Peter’s Basilica were not formally informed about the project. “The works had been kept strictly secret by the Fabric of Saint Peter and the archpriest,” Il Messaggero reported.

Responsibility rests indeed with Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of the papal basilica, vicar general of the Pope for Vatican City State, and president of the Fabric of St. Peter. An Italian Conventual Franciscan created cardinal by Pope Francis in 2020, Gambetti oversees decisions concerning access, visitor management, and the use of internal and adjacent spaces within the Basilica complex.

The confirmation of the project has prompted internal debate among local clergy. Several prelates, speaking anonymously, expressed reservations about the idea of groups of visitors eating and drinking above the tomb of St. Peter. One priest told Il Messaggero: “It would be unthinkable to have something like this on the roof of a synagogue, at the Western Wall, above the Kaaba in Mecca, or on the terrace of Westminster.”

Gambetti has also faced criticism in connection with a series of grave profanations that have occurred there in recent years. On January 17, an unidentified man climbed onto the altar of the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and violently threw candlesticks, the monstrance, and the altar cross to the ground while the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for perpetual adoration, prompting an immediate penitential rite of reparation.

On October 10, 2025, a drunken man stripped naked and urinated at the same altar. An immediate reparatory rite was not initially planned and was only carried out following direct intervention by Pope Leo XIV. Earlier incidents include a Romanian citizen who, on February 7, 2025, climbed onto the same altar, threw candlesticks to the ground, and removed the altar cloth, without a penitential rite being performed; and a naked man who climbed onto the Altar of the Confession and shouted a pro-Ukraine message on June 1, 2023.

Cardinal Gambetti’s five‑year term as vicar general for Vatican City, and therefore as archpriest of the Basilica, is set to expire on February 20. At that time Pope Leo XIV will decide whether to extend his term or appoint someone new.

Cardinal Cupich advocates for Latin Mass suppression, cites document from recent consistory

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 13:00:39 +0000

Cardinal Cupich advocates for Latin Mass suppression, cites document from recent consistory
Cardinals Blase Cupich's and Arthur Roche's citation of Quo Primum in justifying TLM suppression is disingenuous,

because the 1570 bull authorized the traditional Mass ‘in perpetuity.’

A portrait of Pope Francis sits on the alter as Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago,

presides over a Mass at Holy Name Cathedral honoring the late pope on April 23, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Jan 27, 2026
(LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Blase Cupich issued a reflection on Wednesday supporting Pope Francis’ goal of suppressing the traditional Latin Mass, arguing that the existence of only “one rite” is a matter of “unity.”

“Accepting the reform authorized by the church is a matter of preserving the unity of the church as St. Pope Pius V stated, a truth the late Pope Francis recalled,” wrote Cupich, referring to one of the main “takeaways” of a document on the liturgy distributed by Cardinal Arthur Roche at the extraordinary consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV earlier this month.

Cupich referred to Roche’s own citation of Pope Pius V that Bishop Athanasius Schneider later pointed out was taken out of context: “As in the Church of God there is only one way of reciting the psalms, so there ought to be only one rite for celebrating the Mass,” Pius V wrote while issuing the Roman Missal of 1570.

The Chicago Archbishop explicitly used this principle of “unity” as a justification for the TLM-suppressing Traditionis Custodes. Cupich pointed out that Francis considered the Second Vatican Council’s liturgical “reform” – that is, the Novus Ordo Missae – to be the “unique expression of the ‘lex orandi’ of the Roman Rite.”

Favoring the Novus Ordo while suppressing the traditional Latin Mass is therefore “in keeping with his predecessor St. Pope Pius V,” because “there must be only one rite as a means of preserving the unity of the church,” according to Cupich.

The orthodox prelate Schneider recently stressed that Roche selectively referenced Quo Primum in his consistory document when he quoted its statement that “there ought to be only one rite for celebrating the Mass.”

The reality is, Schneider pointed out, Quo Primum actually “explicitly permits all variants of the Roman Rite that had been in continuous use for at least 200 years to continue lawfully,” including the Ambrosian and Dominican rites. “Unity does not mean uniformity, as the history of the Church attests,” Schneider noted.

Referencing Quo Primum here is disingenuous on the parts of Roche and Cupich, because the 1570 bull clearly contradicts their main point by firmly authorizing the TLM “in perpetuity.”

Quo Primum states that “this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment, or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used. Nor are superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than as enjoined by Us. We likewise declare and ordain … that this present document cannot be revoked or modified but remains always valid and retains its full force.”

Pope Leo appoints pro-LGBT archbishop as secretary for Dicastery for Clergy

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 18:41:13 +0000

Pope Leo appoints pro-LGBT archbishop as secretary for Dicastery for Clergy

Archbishop Carlo Roberto Maria Redaelli's pro-LGBT views were recounted in a description of his response to the same-sex 'marriage' of a Catholic scout leader.

Jan 22, 2026
(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV has appointed a controversial and homosexualist archbishop to a prominent role in the Vatican.

Archbishop Carlo Roberto Maria Redaelli of Gorizia was named today as the new Secretary for the Dicastery for Clergy.

Raedelli and his pro-LGBT views were mentioned in a 2020 book by Luciano Moia, a senior journalist for the Italian Bishops’ Conference’s daily newspaper Avvenire. In his book, Moia argues that the Church should look at “chastity” within a same-sex relationship the same way in which it looks at chastity within marriage.

As an example of how the Church should begin to do this, the author cited Raedelli’s response to the same-sex ‘marriage’ in 2017 of a homosexual Catholic scout leader.

In Moia’s words, Raedelli “threw everyone off. He refused the role of the judge, he didn’t absolve, but neither did he condemn. He invited the community to reflect together to understand if, even from such a divisive occurrence, one can receive aspects of grace. An intervention in search of moderation and of that invitation to welcome, discern and integrate that impregnates the magisterium of Pope Francis.”

Contrary to the attitudes of Moia and Archbishop Redaelli, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is very clear on homosexuality:

Quote:Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

Only after stating that homosexual acts cannot be approved does the catechism move on to a discussion of chastity. In other words, chastity for people with homosexual inclinations plainly means absolute continence.

Redaelli has served as auxiliary bishop of Milan from 2004 to 2012, and as Archbishop of Gorizia, in north-eastern Italy, since 2012. A canon lawyer by training, he has been at the center of several controversies over the years. For example, the archbishop has previously attracted attention for his positions on the Traditional Latin Mass.

During the Italian Bishops’ Conference General Assembly in Rome in November 2018, Redaelli had questioned the legal basis of Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

The Pope stated that the 1962 Roman Missal had never been abrogated and could be freely used. However, according to the Italian blog Messainlatino.it, Redaelli stated that the Missal promulgated by Pope John XXIII had in fact been abrogated by Pope Paul VI, rendering Summorum Pontificum juridically ineffective. On this basis, the motu proprio was described as a “juridical non-sense,” and the Traditional Latin Mass as not legitimately liberalized.

However, Redaelli’s claim is juridically wrong because it rests on a false premise. No explicit act ever abrogated the 1962 Roman Missal. Under canon law (see can. 21), “in a case of doubt, the revocation of a pre-existing law is not presumed.” Furthermore, Pope Benedict XVI did not grant a derogation or indult but formally recognized a right that had never been suppressed.

As Secretary of the Dicastery for Clergy, Archbishop Redaelli will hold a key administrative role within one of the most influential departments of the Roman Curia. Under articles 113–120 of Praedicate Evangelium, the Dicastery oversees matters relating to diocesan clergy, including their pastoral ministry, discipline, ongoing formation, and material support.

Its competencies include supervision of seminaries and priestly formation, confirmation of national formation programmes, assistance to bishops in vocational promotion, oversight of clerical discipline and rights, examination of hierarchical recourse, and competence in matters concerning clerical status and dispensations from obligations attached to sacred orders.

The Dicastery also exercises authority over interdiocesan seminaries, clerical associations, and, following Francis’ motu proprio Ad charisma tuendum, governance concerning Opus Dei.

The current Prefect of the Dicastery is South Korean Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik. He is scheduled to retire next year due to age. According to sources known to LifeSiteNews, Radaelli may be the next Prefect.

Schism fears arise as Catholic Church in Germany aims to put laity on ‘same level’ as bishops

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 13:16:04 +0000

Schism fears arise as Catholic Church in Germany aims to put laity on ‘same level’ as bishops
'This Synodal Conference will have decision-making power and be able to introduce changes to doctrine by majority vote,' reported Italian journalist Nico Spuntoni.

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 05: Catholic bishop Georg Baetzing, speaks to the media after the 3. congress of the

"Synadoler Weg" Catholic reform movement on February 05, 2022 in Frankfurt, Germany.
Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images

Jan 17, 2026
(LifeSiteNews [slightly adapted, not all hyperlinks included from original]) — As Pope Leo XIV meets with his Apostolic Nuncio for Germany, Monsignor Nikola Eterovic, on Saturday, the very real possibility of schism with the Catholic Church in Germany looms.

“It’s alleged the German Church wants to put the German laity on the same level as the bishops and also let them control the cash,” according to a report in the Italian language publication Il Giornale by Nico Spuntoni.

Spuntoni explains:

Quote:This is a project, already approved by the powerful Central Committee of German Catholics, that will create a permanent body in which laypeople will be on an equal footing with bishops. This Synodal Conference will have decision-making power and be able to introduce changes to doctrine by majority vote, forcing those who disagree to provide a public justification. In addition, the Conference will take control of the financial resources of the extremely wealthy German Church.

The Holy See’s concern over what many interpret as a trajectory toward schism extends far beyond Germany’s national boundaries.

Spuntoni suggests that the German Church would like to trigger a contagion that would spread through the rest of the Roman Catholic Church.

An unpublished document shows that in 2021, Benedict XVI contacted Cardinal Reinhard Marx, then-head of the German Bishops’ Conference and chief proponent of Germany’s “Synodal Way,” to express his “great concern” about the synodal process in Germany.

“Vatican sources confirm that in recent years Ratzinger was very skeptical about the direction taken by the German Church and was convinced that ‘this path will do harm and end badly if it is not stopped,’” wrote Spuntoni. “Marx ignored the appeal of the Pope Emeritus.”

“Now it is Leo XIV’s turn,” said the Il Giornale author, who noted that the Pope may turn to Cardinal Mario Grech’s report to the consistory, which stated that “it is always up to the bishop of Rome to suspend the synodal process if necessary.”

“Prevost shares Benedict XVI’s concerns,” said Spuntoni, who warned that if Pope Leo “lacks the strength to say no to the Synodal Conference project, there is a risk that the German avalanche could become a schism for the universal Church.”

The Synodal Way is a heterodox reform project launched by the German Bishops’ Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics in December 2019.

By 2023, an overwhelming majority of the members of the Synodal Way, including more than two-thirds of the German bishops, voted in favor of heretical documents calling for women deacons, “blessings” of same-sex unions and even “transgender” priests in a text replete with gender ideology.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), blasted the heretical German Synodal Way at the time, saying it was worse than schism and calling it a variant of “materialistic and nihilistic woke culture” that has abandoned “the very essence of Christianity.”

Müller explained in an interview with the conservative German magazine Tichys Einblicke that while the schismatic Orthodox Church kept its focus on Christ, the Synodal Way in Germany has abandoned “the very essence of Christianity … in favor of its transformation into a variant of the materialistic and nihilistic woke culture of man’s self-redemption and self-creation.”

“Instead of the word of God in Holy Scripture and Church Tradition, one refers to the ‘authorities’ like Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Helmut Kentler, or Yuval Harari,” Müller continued.

The German cardinal furthermore said that “woke culture,” which is also represented in the Synodal Way, leads humanity further down the path of self-destruction. At the root of this problem Müller identifies a “wrong anthropology which makes the marriage of man and woman an arbitrary variant of self-centered libido.”

Proponents of the German “Synodal Way” are “propagandists of a secularized church that has distanced itself from Christ, who want to cast out the violations of the natural and revealed anthropology and sexual morality by destroying it,” wrote Cardinal Müller in a LifeSiteNews essay in 2022.

“The main goal of the whole campaign is the preservation of Christianity as the civil religion of the secular state and of the largely religiously agnostic and indifferent society as a whole,” said Müller. “Therefore, one offers itself to the ‘modern world’ – whatever that is supposed to be – as a socio-psychologically useful religious and social service organization.”

“One pretends that the Church was not founded by God to be the sacrament of salvation for the world in Christ (Lumen gentium 1; 48; Gaudium et spes 45), that it therefore in no way has to legitimize itself before atheists in regard to its expediency for the welfare state or an earthly paradise of socialist (Red Chinese model of society) and capitalist character (Great Reset by 2030),” declared the faithful German cardinal.

Cardinals Received a Document Opposing the Roman Rite at the Consistory - Report

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 16:51:26 +0000

Cardinals Received a Document Opposing the Roman Rite at the Consistory - Report

gloria.tv | January 11, 2026

Although the subject of the Mass in the Roman rite was not raised openly during the consistory on January 7-8, it was nevertheless referenced in writing.

“While the liturgy was put aside,” an anonymous cardinal told TheCatholicHerald.com that “we were given a paper at the end written by Cardinal Arthur Roche, which was pretty negative concerning the Tridentine Latin Mass.”

Cardinal Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery for Liturgy, has been one of the key figures in enforcing Pope Francis's 2021 apostolic letter Traditionis custodes, which restricts the celebration of the Mass.