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The old Latin phrase "in cauda venenum" came to mind when the Bear read the Pope's homily at the synod. In his storied career as a trial lawyer, the Bear learned that he was the best lawyer in the world as a prosecutor. He had to adjust his expectations as a defense lawyer. He knew that nearly all defense pre-trial motions would be denied by the court. The Bear noticed something else. The judge would always praise his argument at first, and only at the end pivot and give his reasons for denying the motion. This happened every time. The...

A follow-up on the procedural rigging created by Cardinal Baldisseri and Archbishop Forte (and the other Bergoglian strongmen) for the 2015 Synod. The Synod has officially opened today (right now, in fact, with its opening mass), and Xavier Rynne II explains in the Catholic Herald why the manipulation of this year's Synod is even worse than last year's - in fact, it is not a "synod" at all, barely a chat at tea time. More than one Synod father has described both the procedures and the final-report commission as “unacceptable.” ... Speeches (“interventions,” in Synod-speak) to the full assembly of...

So we bring to those of you who don't follow us on Twitter this news, for the record. And, also for the record, the fact that the Vatican is now, for the first time ever, using words such as "in a gay relationship" on an official website to describe a sexually active homosexual priest. And, one other nugget: According to the pope's spokesman, this priest being an active homosexual, that was not what got him fired from his numerous posts.

It is widely considered that the Extraordinary Synod on the Family, held in Rome last October, was manipulated by those controlling it in order to promote changes in the teachings of the Catholic Church on questions relating to human sexuality, marriage and the family. The evidence for such a view has been very ably set out by experienced Vatican correspondent Edward Pentin in his recent book The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? (a review of the book can be found here). An overview of events can also be found in Voice of the Family’s document The Extraordinary Synod on the...

From the moment it was announced, traditionalist Catholics knew the "Synod on the Family" would have little to do with the family and a great deal to do with advancing the continued subversion of the Church by a resurgent neo-Modernism operating according to what Msgr. Guido Pozzo, head of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, calls the "para-conciliar ideology." The very title of Synod 2014's final report, "The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization," was a dead giveaway: "pastoral challenges" is Modernist code for "sins we would like to accommodate." That is why this writer, for one,...

We have already posted a comprehensive article on the growing number of critiques against the Instrumentum Laboris that will guide this month's Synod of Bishops on the family. Impossible to excuse or explain away: How the heterodoxy of the Instrumentum Laboris for the Synod of 2015 has been exposed. In addition to our own extended critique published on June 25 and critiques from Raymond Cardinal Burke, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Roberto de Mattei, LifeSite News and Voice of the Family, our report also includes First Things' open letter to the Pope against the threat posed to Humanae Vitae by the Instrumentum...

"The absurdity of the Synod organisers, including the pope, simply writing final documents for a Synod weeks in advance of the bishops even arriving in Rome, seems to be the final message. They no longer feel any need to hide their intentions..." The “good bishops” are not going to help us at the Synod. This is something we have to get used to right now, the weekend before the show starts. Every day I see in commboxes around the internet hopeful exclamations like, “Oh, but Archbishop Whosits is going to stand up to them.” Or, “Cardinal Youknowwho,” or “that guy...

Homosexuality is per se outside of the topics of discussion at the Synod convened to discuss matters of the family. But in fact it was present in a powerful way in the debates themselves. According to the media hype, the dominant leanings in the Catholic world are for a radical change in the doctrine and practice of the Church, with the full acceptance of the practice of homosexuality and with the blessing of unions between persons of the same sex. But there are also others who want to take a new path with respect to the pastoral ministry to homosexuals...

I have been a lesbian activist since I was a teenager when I was expelled from my all-girls school for being a lesbian. Unlike some, I see no conflict between my sexual identity and my identity of faith. I attend Mass every Sunday. As I have watched Pope Francis since his arrival in America and especially in my own city, Philadelphia, the confluence of my lesbianism and my Catholicism has only been strengthened.

Mo Rocca, an openly gay TV reporter and comic, read from the Bible at Pope Francis' Mass at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Friday.

NEW YORK, September 26, 2015 (ChurchMilitant.com) - A scandal has erupted in the Big Apple after last night's Papal Mass at Madison Square Garden, where a famous open homosexual served as lector during Pope Francis' Mass. Mo Rocca, an American comedian, actor and journalist, well known for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and now a commentator for CBS, admitted his homosexuality during a podcast interview in 2011. The then 42-year-old Rocca spoke of his joy at being in New York at the site of the Stonewall Riots, when gay "marriage" was passed in New York state,...

He cited an online post he had seen from a 17-year-old gay Catholic. "The church has a lot to say about what I'm not supposed to do," the youth wrote. "But ... I couldn't find any church document (about) what a gay person is supposed to do with his life. I feel abandoned by the church." He said the church teaches much about the beauty of marriage, but then tells its gay members they "can't have this wonderful thing."

Full Title: BREAKING: German Bishop wants the Church to bless homosexual "unions" ~ "...assist them with prayer and a private form of blessing..." "Another ideology of evil" St. Pope John Paul II: referring to "same-sex marriage" The German delegation to the Synod on the Family is now world famous for its support for the Homosexualist and Adulterist Parties; that is, churchmen who support homosexual activity (sadly it cannot be excluded that amongst this strident group would also be bishops and priests who are practicing homosexuality or being blackmailed; bishops who are being blackmailed for covering up child abuse must also...

The Shadow Synod of Switzerland and Germany Has a Follow-up. In Two Books They say that the divorced and remarried and homosexual couples are not waiting for “mercy,” but for recognition of the goodness of their condition. A critical reply from the vicar of the diocese of Chur by Sandro Magister ROME, September 4, 2015 - The previous article from www.chiesa demonstrated the growing resistance, on the part of numerous cardinals and bishops, to the radical changes in the Catholic doctrine and pastoral care of marriage brought into discussion with the synod on the family: > First Five, Now Seventeen...

Long before Jim Messina became a trusted aide to President Barack Obama and one of the most powerful men in Washington, he was just a simple boy from Boise. Now, after working in politics for just over a decade, he lives in a lavish D.C. estate. How this happened is a classic Washington Cinderella story. Raised in Idaho by a single mother, Messina moved to Washington in 1995, in his mid-20s, to take a job as a legislative aide for Max Baucus, the conservative Democratic senator from Montana (now ambassador to China). Baucus supported George W. Bush-era personal and corporate...

[Translator's Note: Kath.ch, the official website of the Swiss Bishops' Conference, recently published on 21 August 2015 (http://www.kath.ch/newsd/zitat-sich-der-kirche-zuliebe-ueber-die-kirche-hinwegsetzen/) a short comment and summary of an objectively scandalous interview with Dr. Markus Arnold, a Swiss Catholic lay theologian and a professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Lucerne (https://www.unilu.ch/fakultaeten/tf/institute/religionspaedagogisches-institut-rpi/mitarbeitende/markus-arnold/) After this comment, the Swiss Bishops' Conference's website permissively gives the link to the entire original interview.] Excerpts below: Question: The Catechism [of the Catholic Church] says one should treat homosexuals with compassion. Dr. Arnold: The Roman moral teaching on sexuality was created in the 19th century because of an ideologized...

Earlier this year, a petition was started. It’s purpose was simple: it asks the Holy Father to calm the fears of Catholics around the world with a simple public assurance that those forces which are seeking to undermine Christ’s teaching on marriage will not prevail at the conclusion of the two-year Extraordinary Synod on Marriage and Family. The text of the petition reads, in part: Your Holiness, in light of information published on the last Synod, we note with anguish that, for millions of faithful Catholics, the beacon seems to have dimmed in face of the onslaught of lifestyles spread...

As of this writing the “Filial Petition” to Francis pleading with him to repair a “breach [that] has been opened within the Church that would accept adultery — by permitting divorced and then civilly remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion — and would virtually accept even homosexual unions” has reached 471,000 signatures, including that of Bishop Athanasius Schneider. The Petition identifies the “breach” of which it complains with “information published on the last Synod,” meaning the disgraceful “midterm report” calling precisely for “permitting divorced and then civilly remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion” and “virtual[ly] accept[ing] even homosexual unions.” Of...

When the Church gathers in Rome from October 4-25 for a much-publicized Synod, the centerpiece topic will be “The Family.” We are living in a time when the family unit, which is at the heart of the human experience, has taken on “hot button” status. That is troubling enough. But other fiery issues are also on the table for consideration, such as giving communion to Catholics who are divorced and remarried (without an annulment) and making accommodations to practicing homosexuals. At the same time, politicians and the secular media—even some Church leaders—are pressuring the Church to modernize her notion of...

Nearly half a million Catholics have signed a petition urging Pope Francis to condemn same sex unions as unnatural and rule out allowing divorced believers who remarry to receive communion, organisers claim. The Filial Appeal on the Future of the Family, launched by a group describing itself as an alliance of lay Catholics and pro-Life organisations, has also secured the backing of more than 100 senior clerics, including many bishops from the developing world and American cardinal Raymond Burke, an arch-conservative who has been sidelined within the Vatican hierarchy since Francis was elected two years ago. According to the Appeal’s...