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Vatican City, Oct 15, 2014 / 11:17 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An incorrect translation into English of the original midterm report of the Synod on the Family may have spurred controversial interpretations of the document itself. The document's original version was written in Italian, which Pope Francis directed to be used as the official language of the synod. In prior synods the official language had been Latin, esteemed for its precision and lack of ambiguity. The point of controversy occurs at paragraph 50 of the relatio. The Italian original, after praising the gifts and talents homosexuals may give to the Christian...

Below please find a recent National Review column by George Weigel, The Great Catholic Cave-In that Wasn’t. It is precisely what one might expect of this icon of neo-conservatism; a disjointed quasi-defense of the indefensible and a veritable “All’s well!” in the face of the Church’s auto-demolition. Weigel’s words are in bold.

Bishops at the 2012 Synod. Credit: David Kerr/CNA. Rome, Italy, Oct 15, 2014 / 12:48 am (CNA).- The start of the Extraordinary Synod on the Family has triggered a wave of activism from well-funded LGBT activist groups in the U.S. who are targeting “outspoken” Catholic bishops in hopes of changing Catholic practice and moral doctrine. “Most important is the opportunity to create a precedent for change,” the Human Rights Campaign said in its pamphlet on the synod. The LGBT group has announced an activist effort targeting eight bishops in a pamphlet that labels them as “the best of the worst...

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, O.F.M., of Durban, speaks at the Holy See press office Oct. 14, 2014. Credit: Bohumil Petrik/CNA. Vatican City, Oct 14, 2014 / 03:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After a media frenzy and lively internal debate were both raised by the publication of the midterm relatio of the Synod of Bishops, its secretariat issued a statement clarifying its merely provisional nature. “The General Secretariat of the Synod … reiterates that it is a working document, which summarizes the interventions and debate of the first week,” said an Oct. 14 declaration of the Holy See press office on behalf of...

Press conference at the Vatican Press Office on Oct. 15, 2014. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA. Vatican City, Oct 15, 2014 / 01:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As the synod fathers' small groups continue to meet, it seems increasingly clear that the Synod of Bishops' concluding document, the 'relatio synodi', will be substantially different than the midterm relatio which was released Monday. The relatio synodi is called to mirror the concerns and proposals raised during the small group discussions this week, in which bishops have been grouped according to language. After the issuance of the midterm report, the synod fathers raised their concern...

Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto, special secretary of the current Synod of Bishops. Credit: Alan Holdren/CNA. Vatican City, Oct 15, 2014 / 11:17 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An incorrect translation into English of the original midterm report of the Synod on the Family may have spurred controversial interpretations of the document itself. The document's original version was written in Italian, which Pope Francis directed to be used as the official language of the synod. In prior synods the official language had been Latin, esteemed for its precision and lack of ambiguity. The point of controversy occurs at paragraph 50 of the...

This week there appeared a story about an interview that actress Jennifer Lawrence gave to Vanity Fair in the wake of having explicit photos of herself hacked and shared on the internet. The story included this excerpt: “I was in a loving, healthy, great relationship for four years. It was long distance, and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he’s going to look at you” (emphasis added). When I read that last line, something inside me grieved. My heart broke for Jennifer Lawrence, for our society, and for my five daughters. What have we become when...

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- A fight for the soul of the Catholic Church has broken out, and the first battlefield is a document on family values that pits increasingly alarmed conservatives against more progressive bishops emboldened by Pope Francis' vision of a church that is more merciful than moralistic.

Barry Freundel, Georgetown Rabbi, Is Arrested On Voyeurism Charge By Peter Hermann and Michelle Boorstein October 14 A prominent modern Orthodox rabbi at a Georgetown synagogue was arrested by D.C. police on Tuesday morning and charged with voyeurism, according to a department spokeswoman. Barry Freundel, 62, of the Kesher Israel Congregation, was being held in police custody Tuesday and was likely to have an initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday. Within hours, the synagogue’s board of directors suspended him without pay.

On-the-spot reporting from the Vatican Synod on the Family.

Recently I read “The Man the Networks Love to Hate” (1989), by Rev. Don Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association. It was an informative read, particularly in showing how those who oppose Christianity have been working over the years to get our society to where it is now. Below are some excerpts from it. The first excerpt is on secular humanism. Christian leaders like Jerry Falwell were beginning to talk quite a lot about it in the 80’s, but the media responded by calling it “the right’s new bogeyman” and conspiracy theory. Wildmon says he didn’t know much about...

What exactly happened at the Vatican's Extraordinary Synod on the Family yesterday? At the conservative NewsBusters site, Ken Shepherd observed that, if you look to "many liberal media reporters" for the answer, you will find them "giddy as schoolchildren" at the synod's midterm report on its discussions about gays and divorced Catholics. That's an advocacy journalist critiquing the work of people that he clearly considered to be advocates. A check of Twitter bears this out: Did the earth really move? It sure did for Josephine McKenna of Religion News Service (author of that last tweet), whose own story on the...

The second reason the current Synod on the Family will inevitably seem chaotic is the unique situation of the Church in this period of history. In my last installment, I explained that a certain degree of chaos is integral to the synodal process, and in the third and final installment I will explain why the very concept of marriage produces a chaotic response in the modern world. But today let us consider how the Church’s unusual situation leaves the synod fathers fumbling around for solutions they cannot quite grasp. The reason lies in the rather odd condition of the Church...

ROME (CNN) - Under furious assault from conservative Catholics, the Vatican backtracked Tuesday on its surprisingly positive assessment of gays and same-sex relationships. In a report Monday, the Vatican had said that gays and lesbians have "gifts to offer" the Christian community and acknowledged that same-sex couples can give "precious support" to one other. The statement, an interim report from a closely watched meeting of Catholic clergy here, was widely praised by liberals. It is believed be the first time the Vatican has said anything positive about gay relationships. One longtime Vatican journalist called the statement a "pastoral earthquake." But...

ST. PAUL, MN (WKOW) -- Catholic church leaders in Minnesota said they won't recommend any priest for active ministry if they've been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor. It's part of an agreement released Monday to settle a lawsuit. Church leaders must now disclose any accusation of sexual abuse of a minor by a priest when asked, along with the resolution. There was also an undisclosed financial settlement. Abuse victims who attended the news conference say it's a major victory. "I can look at my parents, who are still devout Catholics, and not feel bad for them," abuse...

Brethren, Peace be with you in Jesus Christ our Lord. Inaugural Mass of the Synod of Bishops in Rome There's been a lot of misunderstanding regarding the interim report issued by the Synod of Bishops this last weekend. Much of the misunderstanding is due to a New York Times (NYT) article formerly titled Vatican Signals More Tolerance Toward Gays and Remarriage since renamed At the Vatican, a Shift in Tone Toward Gays and Divorce - probably because they were so far off the mark in the first place. (George Weigel's take on the NYT article dispatches the MSM approach...

For the better part of a half century, the New York Times, and similarly situated purveyors of news and opinion, have eagerly awaited the Great Catholic Cave-In: that blessed moment when, at long last, the Catholic Church, like many other Christian communities, would concede that the sexual revolution had gotten it right all along and would adjust its teaching and practice to suit. A Times “breaking story” on October 13, under the headline “Vatican Signals More Tolerance Toward Gays and Remarriage,” might have struck the unwary or uninformed (or those equally committed to the Times agenda in these matters) as...

A chaotic synod? Reason one: The nature of synods By Dr. Jeff Mirus | Oct 10, 2014 It is very difficult to assess what is in the minds of most bishops as they work behind the scenes at the current Synod on the Family. The reports of the proceedings are very scanty, and often couched in terms that can be interpreted in multiple ways. A perceived lack of direction may be more apparent than real, of course, but there are three very good reasons why it is likely to be more real than apparent: (1) The nature of large...

[This is part of Catholic Analysis' special series on Pope Alexander VI. This part, the second, deals with the pontiff's family. Read the first part.] Vannozza dei Cattanei was Rodrigo Borgia's mistress and the mother of his children. She "doubtless was of great beauty and ardent passions; for if not, how could she have inflamed a Rodrigo Borgia? Her intellect too, although uncultivated, must have been vigorous; for if not, how could she have maintained her relations with the cardinal?" [1] He was "faithful through his life to [this] one woman". After the births of their children and before he...

The upheaval in the manipulated and censored secret Synod Assembly is so great not even the rapporteur, Cardinal Peter Erdo, is able to vouch for what he signed and had published under his own name! When presenting the "Relatio post disceptationem" this Monday, Cardinal Erdo was asked by reporters about the scandalous paragraphs on homosexuality, homosexual unions, and the raising of children by homosexual "couples", that are in most aspects a 180-turn away from the 2,000-year-old permanent doctrine and practice of the Church, as taught even more strongly in the last two pontificates. Instead of explaining them, he refused to...