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Throughout the two “synods on the family” held in Rome in October 2014 and October 2015 there was intense pressure for the Church to change her immutable teaching on homosexuality and homosexual unions. This pressure came not only from “LGBT” activists but also from those responsible for preparing the official synodal documents. The approach to homosexual unions in the synod documents See the appendix at the end of the article for fuller extracts from the synodal documents. 1. The Extraordinary Synod’s interim Relatio post disceptationem affirmed “that unions between people of the same sex cannot be considered on the same...

The approval of homosexual pseudo-marriage in the Senate on February 25th 2016, with 173 in favor, 71 against and 76 abstentions is the last stage in the process of dissolution of Italian society which began with the introduction of divorce (1970), then the legalization of abortion (1978) and has as its next, imminent step, the legalization of euthanasia. With that in mind, we understand the exaltation of the secular press: "In the long and tortuous history of sexual liberation in Italy - writes Francesco Merlo in "La Repubblica", February 26th - this law has the same epochal importance as the...

The Vatican's Secretary of State did not oppose a bid to recognize same-sex unions in Italy-- although he did insist that civil unions should not be given equal status with marriage-- in informal talks with Italian government officials on February 23. Cardinal Pietro Parolin met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at a reception honoring the anniversary of the Lateran Accords, the 1929 agreement that established the Vatican city-state and the terms of its relations with Italy. Cardinal Parolin said that the pending legislation to allow civil unions "came up, but did not enter into our...

Love-themed tours are being offered in the Milan Cathedral for Valentine's Day -- and they'll include homosexual couples. The organization responsible for the restoration and maintenance of the cathedral, La Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo ("The Venerable Factory of the Cathedral"), is sponsoring the romantic tours, with the aim of raising funds for the renovation. The program includes a visit to the Church's spires at sunset. Unlike other tours, which are open to the general public and may include children, this one is aimed specifically at adult couples. If their donation surpasses 80 euros, a personalized certificate is issued as "a...

Although the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered," constitute "grave depravity," and can never "be approved," the Catholic bishops of New York State "have not taken a position" on past bills and "do not foresee taking a position" on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's new order banning private and public health insurers from covering gay conversion therapy for minors. Cuomo, a Catholic who supports homosexual marriage and abortion, made his announcement about prohibiting health care coverage for conversion (or reparative) therapy on Saturday, Feb. 6. In a press release, Cuomo's office said, "Multi-agency regulations announced today ban public and...

The top court of India is re-evaluating a law deeming homosexual acts punishable with prison time-- and the Catholic archbishop of Bombay is encouraging the move. Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, and known to be gay-friendly, has come out "in favor of decriminalization of Section 377" of the Indian Penal Code, which declares homosexual acts as "against the order of nature." The supreme court in New Delhi is setting up a panel to re-examine a 2013 ruling that declared only the Indian parliament could repeal the colonial-era law prohibiting the country's citizens from openly engaging in a homosexual lifestyle....

The "Cirinna Bill" being debated in the Italian Parliament to allow "same-sex unions" in that central nation of Catholicism managed to bring Catholics from all over Italy to Rome this Saturday. The image from the Circo Massimo is unmistakable: on this "Family Day", a huge multitude of Italian families (including many friends of this blog) gathered to protest the government's support of the counternatural bill. Cardinal Bagnasco, the President of the Italian Bishops' Conference, despite the clear lack of support from Pope Francis, kept his support for the event. Some Cardinals, including Cardinal Sarah, showed their support. But the Pope...

(Rome) Bishop Jose Raul Vera Lopez, Dominican and Diocesan Bishop of Saltillo in Mexico, is held to be the "bishop of the gay lobby" in the Catholic Church. The Liberation Theology "inspired" chief shepherd has been known in recent years primarily for his vociferous defense of homosexuality. On the day before the opening of the Synod of Bishops in 2015 on the family, Raul Vera was a "special guest" at a meeting of a "Catholic Gay Network" in Rome. Next February, he will be one of a small circle of selected persons with whom Pope Francis meets during his Mexico...

As the Italian parliament prepares to vote on whether to legalize "civil unions" for "couples" who engage in sodomy, Pope Francis has told the judges of the Roman Rota (the Vatican's matrimonial tribunal) that "there can be no confusion between the family God wants and any other type of union. ... The family, founded on indissoluble matrimony that unites and allows procreation, is part of the 'dream' of God and that of his Church for the salvation of humanity." That sounds fine, putting aside the peculiar notion that God has a "dream" about "the family that God wants" as opposed...

The plans of the next president are personal to the officers of the Pentagon, who are threatening to quit if The Donald becomes commander-in-chief. Republican presidential candidate and business mogul Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to build up the U.S. military if elected president. But it is not clear he will have the experienced commanders within the ranks to do it. In the halls of the Pentagon, there is a different plan afoot for the Trump presidency. Here, officers are privately contemplating what they would do should Trump become their commander-in-chief. And more often than not, they proclaim they will...

Yesterday a friend sent me a photo of the sign at St. Columba-Brigid R. C. Church in Buffalo. The sign was so scandalous I had a hard time believing it was not photo-shopped. This morning I drove to the church to see for myself. With great sadness I report it is true. I snapped the above photos this morning. This pro-homosexual sign effectively mocks the Blessed Trinity, mocks the Hypostatic Union, mocks the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph – some of the most sacred components of our Catholic Faith. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost include the...

Drawing on 50 years of national and international dialogue, Lutherans and Catholics together have issued the "Declaration on the Way: Church, Ministry and Eucharist," a unique ecumenical document that marks a pathway toward greater visible unity between Catholics and Lutherans. The October 30 release of the document comes on the eve of the anniversary of Martin Luther's posting the 95 Theses, which sparked the Protestant Reformation. "Pope Francis in his recent visit to the United States emphasized again and again the need for and importance of dialogue. This Declaration on the Way represents in concrete form an opportunity for Lutherans...

On September 29, Inside the Vatican and Liberty Counsel both announced that Pope Francis met privately with Kim Davis on September 24. Since the announcement, there has been a wide variety of reporting ranging from some who deny any meeting occurred to others who admit a meeting occurred but that Kim Davis was merely one of many in a sea of faces. The fact is, Kim Davis was invited to a private meeting with the Pope and did meet privately with him on the afternoon of September 24, during which meeting Pope Francis said to Kim, “I want to thank...

[The Argentinian War Machine with the German Engine is Stuck in the Mud] Antonio Socci ‘Libero’ “Is the audacious war-machine beginning to wane?” a Swiss Vatican reporter asks. Actually, the Argentinian war-machine with the German engine has gotten stuck in the mud at the Synod. Lately we have heard that German “engines” are being put on the scrap-heap plus the Argentinean bodywork is an old wreck of Peronism and rusty Liberation Theology. THE FIRST WEEK Well, the Synod opened with Cardinal Erdo’s report reaffirming Catholic Doctrine, demolishing Kasper’s heresies (and irritating Bergoglio). In addition, after the first week, one of...

On Tuesday, October 13, 2015, the Holy See Press Office held the daily press briefing for the Ordinary Synod on the Family. Normally, a small group of Synod Fathers are present to give a summary of the morning's efforts. The word on the street is the Synod Fathers are exhausted. They have 10 more days to go. Rwandan pastoral worker and consecrated laywoman Therese Nyirabukeye and Canadian bio-ethicist Moira McQueen were accompanied by the German abbot Jeremiah Schroeder. Father Federico Lombardi read a prepared text minimizing the importance of a letter sent to Pope Francis by a number of cardinals...

Buried within the article published today in the Catholic German newspaper Die Tagespost is the incredible news that helps to explain both the amazing way in which rules are changed by the hour at the 2015 Synod, and the constant leaks of threats and papal opinions. Every day a kind of miniature Shadow Synod meets at the Domus Sanctae Marthae with the Pope (including some Synod Fathers and some outside guests) to decide what steps should be taken at the Synod. Maybe not even the author realized how explosive the revelation he included nonchalantly in his piece below is: there...

There's been an uproar in Chile ever since Pope Francis called critics of a controversial Chilean bishop "dumb." Bishop Juan Barros Madrid, appointed by Pope Francis early this year to head the diocese of Osorno, Chile, has been dogged by controversy for allegedly covering up sex abuse by priest-friend Francisco Karadima 20 years ago. Madrid has repeatedly denied the charges, and Pope Francis came to his defense back in May when he called the protestors in Osorno "dumb" and "led by the nose by the leftists who orchestrated all of this." The video was obtained by a Chilean TV station...

Back in September, I told you about the proposed Synod rules, which were being revised to reduce transparency and keep the inner workings a secret. There would be no controversial mid-term report, theyÂ’d keep the discussion in small groups to avoid cross-pollination, and no final report or post-synodal exhortation was expected. In other words, those in control of the Synod were locking things down. They werenÂ’t going to be embarrassed again by such strong backlash against their heterodox agenda. And they were doing this in the knowledge that it would be Pope Francis, not the Synod fathers, who would make...

Yayo Grassi, left, and his partner, Iwan, meeting with Pope Francis at the Apostolic Nunciature on Sept. 23. (Marisa Marchitelli) Yayo Grassi’s phone rang in early September. “Is this Obdulio?” said the caller, using a nickname given to Grassi 50 years earlier by a high school teacher. “Who is this?” said Grassi, spooked. “Who else calls you ‘Obdulio’?” “Only one person,” Grassi said, “and I’m not going to talk until you identify yourself.” “This is Jorge Mario Bergoglio,” the pope said, using his given name, according to Grassi. “I would like to give you a hug when I go to...

Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki gave a outline of Robert Cardinal Sarah's intervention on his Polish language blog. Here is my summary of his entry as you will not be hearing or reading about this from the Holy See Press Office. Firstly, the Archbishop noted that his colleague, Archbishop Henry Hoser was deeply impressed with the theological and intellectual depth of Cardinal Sarah's intervention. Cardinal Sarah outlined two main, immediate global threats against humanity. A dictatorship of moral relativism that is especially reflected in gender ideology, and Islamic fanaticism, as reflected in the various jihadi movement, especially the islamic State. The Cardinal...