[Catholic Caucus] Francis wanted to change pro-life message of John Paul II

California Catholic Daily ^ | May 31, 2026 | California Catholic

[ebb tide]

[Catholic Caucus] Francis wanted to change pro-life message of John Paul II

So says henchman Archbishop Paglia

Pope Francis intervened personally to publicly endorse pro-abortion Mariana Mazzucato: "I chose her."

Archbishop Paglia openly acknowledges that Francis entrusted him with reforming the Pontifical Academy for Life and the John Paul II Institute to “adapt doctrine to the new times.” This is an unprecedented testimony regarding the key aspects of the pontificate, at least according to his perspective….

A year after the death of Pope Francis, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia has offered the most detailed account to date of the reforms that, according to him, the pontiff entrusted to him in the two major Vatican institutions dedicated to bioethics and the family.

In an extensive interview published on May 21 in the Italian magazine Settimana News, Paglia bluntly acknowledges that Francis felt “the need to adapt doctrine to the new times,” especially regarding homosexuality and divorced people in irregular situations, and admits that the “nerve center” of the whole operation was the questioning of natural law as the immutable foundation of sexual and family morality.

The interview, given on the one-year anniversary of the end of the archbishop’s term at the head of the Pontifical Academy for Life (May 27, 2025), reviews the entire reform process of that institution and the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences , the two major projects of doctrinal reorientation of Francis’ pontificate in the field of morality.

Paglia places the starting point in the two synods on the family convened by Francis in 2014 and 2015, in whose sessions the most debated issues, he recalls, were homosexuality, irregular marital situations, and communion for divorced and remarried Catholics. With Amoris Laetitia (2016) as a frame of reference, the Pope expressed his desire that she continue working in this area.

Paglia recalls that the debates of the two synods on the family revolved around three major issues: homosexuality, irregular marital situations, and communion for divorced and remarried Catholics. In that context, and with the fiftieth anniversary of Humanae Vitae on the horizon, the Pope conveyed to him his conviction that it was necessary to “adapt the doctrine to the new times” and commissioned him to write a text on Humanae Vitae. “He asked me to prepare a text that would underscore its prophetic character, while also showing some necessary updates . I prepared a text with the collaboration of a group of theologians. He greatly appreciated it,” Paglia recounts.

Shortly after the publication of Amoris Laetitia, Francis summoned him and directly entrusted him with the task: “I would like to entrust you with the reorganization of the John Paul II Institute and the Pontifical Academy for Life.” The archbishop explains that the Pope meant that both institutions “should be rethought within this broader perspective: not yet adequately mature theologically nor culturally equipped in the current Catholic sensibility.”

It should be remembered that Pope Francis did not invite the Institute to the first synod, from which the instrumentum laboris was to emerge. It is also true that even then, the Pope’s wishes were not fully realized, and he had to change the acceptance criteria after the Council Fathers had already cast their votes.

Without mincing words, Paglia identifies the doctrinal core of the entire operation: “One of the crucial points of the whole operation was the rethinking of the concept of ‘nature,’ which underpinned a static and immutable view of natural law, and with it, the questioning of the essentialist and ahistorical paradigm upon which all sexual and family moral theology developed up to that point had been based.” And he adds with striking candor: “Here the ‘opponents’ understood perfectly: a very profound reform was at stake.”

Paglia describes the previous model as reducing morality to “the application of a doctrinal algorithm of morality and discipline,” incapable of engaging with people’s real lives. He also criticizes the defense of “non-negotiable values” promoted during Benedict XVI’s pontificate , which he characterizes as excessively “moralistic” and based on “abstract principles .” Both the Pontifical Academy and the John Paul II Institute, he asserts, had become “places of pronounced doctrinal resistance to papal teaching, which claimed to be more consistent with Christian truth than the perspective outlined in Amoris Laetitia.” He adds bluntly that John Paul II “had become more a symbol of resistance to Francis than a genuine intellectual inspiration. It is no wonder that, on some points, more restrictive positions than those of Pius XII were defended.”

In reforming the Pontifical Academy for Life, the archbishop says he began with a redefinition of the term “life” itself : no longer limited to the debate on abortion or euthanasia, but understood as a “totalizing category” in its anthropological “and even cosmic” dimension. The doctrinal turning point was marked by Francis himself in the letter Humana Communitas, sent on the occasion of the institution’s 25th anniversary. “It is a very clear manifesto of the new vision that the Pope was promoting,” says Paglia, acknowledging that the text has largely gone unnoticed.

To bring about this shift, the Academy expanded its membership beyond moral theologians, incorporating experts in robotics, engineering, economics, and artificial intelligence, as well as members of other religious traditions and non-believing professionals. This openness led to a collaboration with Microsoft and IBM, which in 2020 resulted in the “Rome Call for AI Ethics,” later joined by other major technology players. Paglia recounts how the process began with a visit to the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa, where seeing robots in operation made him realize the urgent need to incorporate these perspectives into the Academy’s work.

Paglia also defends the controversial appointment of economist Mariana Mazzucato to the Academy, despite the criticism she has faced for her stance on abortion. The archbishop maintains that this opposition was “a pretext to attack the entire restructuring process that was underway,” and recalls that Pope Francis himself intervened personally to publicly endorse the appointment: “I chose her.”

The reform of the John Paul II Institute proved even more radical. The institution, founded during John Paul II ‘s pontificate, was, according to Paglia, “heavily focused on marital morality” and the “procreative couple,” with little attention paid to the social and relational dimensions of family life. After discussing it with Francis, the conclusion was that a partial overhaul was insufficient: “It had to be recreated.”

Thus was born the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for the Sciences of Marriage and the Family, with a completely redesigned curriculum that incorporated new disciplines: ecclesiology, dogmatic theology, philosophy, law, and the humanities. The stated objective was to construct “a complex and multifaceted theology of the family,” moving beyond the exclusive focus on marital sexual morality. The archbishop points to Professor Pierangelo Sequeri as the academic architect of this refounding.

The most delicate moment of the process, Paglia acknowledges, was “the very tough confrontation with some figures who had led and shaped the institution in its previous phase.” He describes them as “a small group, with a precise and scholastic moral perspective, who had effectively taken control of the institute.” To underscore the strategic importance of the new institution, Francis created the position of Grand Chancellor and entrusted it to Paglia himself, a post the archbishop calls “anomalous” for a university institute, but deliberately significant.

The most visible fruit of this entire journey, according to Paglia, is the volume La gioia della vita. Un percorso di etica teologica (Vatican Publishing House, 2024), which also incorporates reflections on the “updating of Humanae Vitae and proposes “a new paradigm for the ethics of human life and existence.” The book was published to commemorate the 25th anniversary of John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae.

At the close of the interview, the archbishop reveals that it was his initiative to suggest to Pope Francis the theme of fraternity as a central theological and political category of his teaching. “He embraced it: the encyclical Fratelli tutti (2020) was born from this perspective. After Laudato si (2015), which identifies the ecological problem in our common home, the inevitable question becomes: who inhabits this home? The poor are all brothers and sisters. That is the thread that connects the two documents,” Paglia concludes.

What will Leo XIV do?
The Holy Father has convened the presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of the world for a synodal discernment on family pastoral care in October 2026, on the tenth anniversary of Amoris laetitia.

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TOPICS: Catholic; Moral Issues; Religion & Culture; Theology
KEYWORDS: frankenchurch; synodalchurch

[ebb tide]

Paglia bluntly acknowledges that Francis felt “the need to adapt doctrine to the new times,” especially regarding homosexuality and divorced people in irregular situations, and admits that the “nerve center” of the whole operation was the questioning of natural law as the immutable foundation of sexual and family morality.

[ebb tide]

Synod Barf Alert

[fortes fortuna juvat]

My response to the VC-II Church is a transition to the SSPX and occasional visits to the various Orthodox Communions. IOWs, I’m done with what has replaced the RCC, namely the [SSS] Satan’s Synodal Scandal!

[fidelis]

God’s response to Francis’ potential heresies is the same he has done for the last 2000 years of the Church’s history: He removed the potentially heretical Pope before he got a chance to implement it. Jesus promised that the gates of hell would never prevail against his Church. Thank you Jesus.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

Relax.

Jesus has this.

The gates of hell shall not prevail.

Let God fix this.

He hasn’t thus far, it seems. Maybe He is permitting this evil for His greater glory later.

Beyond anything I can fo but become as holy as I might, daily improving, daily repenting.

Let God. Satan seems too powerful here for me, and I matter little anyway.

[lastchance]

I would not believe Paglia if he told me the Sun was hot.

[ebb tide]

Relax.

Jesus has this.

That's not how the missionary martyrs thought.

[ebb tide]

He removed the potentially heretical Pope before he got a chance to implement it.

I strongly disagree. One of the first things the new pope, Leo XIII, announced was his plan on carring on Bergoglio's "synodal church".

[Deo volente]

Francis was also good friends with the notorious abortionist Emma Bonino, calling her one of Italy’s “forgotten greats.”

[fidelis]

I strongly disagree. One of the first things the new pope, Leo XIII, announced was his plan on carring on Bergoglio's "synodal church".

It's OK with me if you disagree; you are surely entitled to your opinion. He hasn't permanently changed any doctrine, just spouted a lot of nonsense, just like Francis. When he's dead and gone, his and Francis' silliness will soon, in the grand scope of things, be forgotten. Thus it has always been and always will be for the Church. If I didn't believe that, I would not be a Catholic--or any other type of Christian because if His Church apostatizes, Jesus was a liar.

[No name given]

Amen.

[Albion Wilde]

[ebb tide]

Pope Francis praises abortion promoter, Emma Bonino

At 27, Bonino had an illegal abortion and then worked with the Information Centre on Sterilization and Abortion which boasted over 10,000 abortions. There are famous photos of Bonino performing illegal abortions using a homemade device operated by a bicycle pump. Arrested for the then-illegal activity she spent a few days in jail and was acquitted and entered politics.

[Albion Wilde]

So sad.

[af_vet_1981]

That promise was not necessarily to any single apostolic church (at Rome for instance). The first apostolic church was at Jerusalem and went into exile. The promises to Israel were just as strong, but Israel also went into exile. Ephesus, another apostolic church, had this warning:

Revelation 2:
[1] Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
[2] I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
[3] And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
[4] Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
[5] Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
[6] But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
[7] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

[fidelis]

"That promise was not necessarily to any single apostolic church (at Rome for instance)."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church begs to differ:

CCC 552 Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve; Jesus entrusted a unique mission to him. Through a revelation from the Father, Peter had confessed: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Our Lord then declared to him: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." Christ, the "living Stone", thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakable rock of the Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to strengthen his brothers in it.

CCC 869 The Church is apostolic. She is built on a lasting foundation: "the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (Rev 21:14). She is indestructible (cf. Mt 16:18). She is upheld infallibly in the truth: Christ governs her through Peter and the other apostles, who are present in their successors, the Pope and the college of bishops.

CCC 881 The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head." This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.

St. Peter is recognized by Catholics as the first Pope as he was the bishop of Rome when he was martyred. . Since the Pope is, by definition, the bishop, the Bishop of Rome, these teachings apply to him and his primacy, not only the Latin (Roman) rite, but the 21 other Catholic rites that are united to him.

[af_vet_1981]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church begs to differ:

The current bishop of Rome, as is evident in the evidence presented in the posted article, begs to differ.

Homosexuality is being normalized right before our eyes.

Have you not also read there is an alternate catechism being prepared that follows through on moderating the teaching on homosexuality ? There was a reason homosexuals were linked with divorced and remarried Catholics, as if the conditions were similar. It was an effective strategic move, for wont of a better adjective.

There is also this:

Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.574
The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth575
will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth.
The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.

Extra credit question:

If the Catechism is changed by the current bishop of Rome will you follow the modified Catechism or the Scriptures ?