Posted on 10/05/2026 11:35:53 AM PDT by ebb tide
The Vatican’s newly published program for Pope Leo XIV’s eight-day summit marking ten years since Amoris Laetitia gives prominent roles to a series of prelates and experts closely associated with Pope Francis’ synodal and pastoral vision for the Church.
On October 3, the Vatican released the official schedule for Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming conference in the Paul VI Hall from October 7 to 14, exposing a tightly controlled structure designed to examine Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia by how the document has been “lived.”
The entire process will be closely directed through pre-selected participants and controlled reporting mechanisms within group discussions. Out of the listed attendees, Pope Leo XIV personally selected 22 participants, including prominent American progressive prelates such as Cardinal Blase Cupich (Chicago), Cardinal Robert McElroy (Washington, D.C.), and Cardinal Joseph Tobin (Newark). The president and vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Paul Coakley and Bishop Daniel Flores respectively, will also be in attendance.
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The published agenda outlines five main themes spread over the course of the summit, as presented during the press conference on October 2. Each day features introductory presentations from selected prelates followed by mandatory small-group sessions using the synodal “conversations in the spirit” technique.
On October 7, the opening session will feature addresses not only by Pope Leo XIV, but also by Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod on Synodality, and Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life – a close ally of Pope Francis who has consistently shared and promoted the late pontiff’s vision of the Church. In addition, a meditation will be delivered by Sr. Helen Alford, O.P., a prominent scholar of Catholic social teaching during the Francis pontificate and appointed by him as president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in 2023.
On October 8, the session devoted to “Families Today: Reality, Beauty and Challenges” will be introduced by Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão of Goa and Daman, India – a close ally of Pope Francis during his reign, especially on issues such as synodality, migration, and the family-related pastoral reforms. Following Neri Ferrão’s intervention, Italian professor Vincenzo Rosito will take the floor as an invited expert.
Rosito teaches at the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in Rome, where he also serves as Director of Studies. He is widely associated with the ecclesial vision promoted by Pope Francis, particularly regarding synodality understood not as a fixed event but as an ongoing process of discernment and adaptation.
In an October 2024 intervention at a meeting of the Synod on Synodality, Rosito described synodality, which he also referred to as “processuality,” through four distinct dimensions. Among them were “processuality as adjustment,” understood as attentiveness to changing realities and adaptation to dynamic circumstances, as well as “processuality as improvisation” and “processuality as negotiation.” According to Rosito, phenomena such as the decline of sacramental confession and the growing prevalence of cohabitation in place of marriage “cannot be addressed simply through condemnation; they must be understood and negotiated.”
On October 9, the session devoted to “Young people and the discovery of the vocation to marriage” will be introduced by the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Timothy Costelloe, SDB, archbishop of Perth, Australia, and from Stephen Fernandes, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Bombay, India.
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Costelloe, like many of the other prelates involved in leading the conference, is aligned with the ecclesial vision advanced under Pope Francis. Having played a central role both in Australia’s Plenary Council and in the Synod on Synodality, he consistently championed the transformation of the Church into a more synodal and missionary body. In a September 15, 2026 interview, Costelloe praised Pope Leo XIV’s emphasis on what he called the “style of synodality,” understood as a process of ongoing discernment.
On October 10, the session devoted to “Married life. The first years of marriage: a decisive time” will be introduced by Cardinal José Cobo Cano, archbishop of Madrid, another close ally of Pope Francis whose progressive positions, particularly on social issues, closely align with and in some respects go even further than those of the late pontiff.
A leading proponent of synodality, Cobo Cano has been among the most vocal supporters of Fiducia Supplicans and the “blessing” of same-sex couples. He publicly admonished clergy within his archdiocese who resisted the document and stated that it would be applied in Madrid “with the intensity that the document deserves and demands.”
Argentinian Professor María Marcela Mazzini, a theologian at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, is invited to speak as a lay expert. A non-voting participant at the 2015 Synod on the Family, she consistently championed the synodal vision of the Church, with particular emphasis on expanding women’s participation in ecclesial decision-making and leadership.
“The pope [Francis] is promoting lasting Church reform, making changes in the direction he wants the church to go,” Mazzini declared in a 2023 interview. “[Francis] is setting a path with people aligned with his way of thinking and his idea of the Church.”
On October 12, the session devoted to “In the difficulties of life: accompanying and supporting” will be introduced by Cardinal Pablo Virgilio Siongco David, bishop of Kalookan, Philippines. David is a strong advocate of synodality, understood as the empowerment of the laity and as an ongoing process of communal discernment.
He has likewise been a supporter of the “blessing” of same-sex couples established under Fiducia Supplicans, which he described as a document that “speaks for itself.” In 2024, David suggested that the Eucharist is a sacrament that does not require the recipient to be in a state of grace while also offering a reinterpretation of Judas as a saintly figure. He has also portrayed St. Mary Magdalene as a symbol of resistance to what he characterizes as an “androcentric and patriarchal” vision of the Church.
The expert speaker on October 12 will be theologian Julie Hanlon Rubio. In a 2021 contribution for the pro-LGBT organization New Ways Ministry, Rubio argued that the Church is beginning to understand “queer” young people as “subjects in Catholic teaching on families.” She further maintained that it is precisely thanks to Amoris Laetitia that this “inclusive, action-oriented approach” has become possible.
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Finally, on October 13, the session dedicated to “Christian families as subjects of the Church’s mission” will be introduced by Cardinal Protase Rugambwa, archbishop of Tabora, Tanzania. Unlike many of the other participants, Rugambwa is not generally associated with the progressive wing of the Francis coalition. Nevertheless, he consistently championed the synodal process, urging the Church to become more synodal through a renewed emphasis on “unity, participation, and mission in service.”
Finally, the program will feature an intervention by Véronique Martin Lonchamp, a sculptor who played a prominent role in the pastoral reception of Amoris Laetitia in France. Since September 2024 she has served as National Delegate for Families of the French Bishops’ Conference. In that capacity, she argued that the Church must be “outward-looking toward families, including those who are wounded or living in complex situations.”
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The expert speaker on October 12 will be theologian Julie Hanlon Rubio. In a 2021 contribution for the pro-LGBT organization New Ways Ministry, Rubio argued that the Church is beginning to understand “queer” young people as “subjects in Catholic teaching on families.” She further maintained that it is precisely thanks to Amoris Laetitia that this “inclusive, action-oriented approach” has become possible.
Ping
Here’s a great place to start the journey to repentance and healing:
Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary with Mother Angelica
https://youtu.be/X-cox-8z728?si=xRMznHlcbM_HYEwR
Do you support Fiducia Supplicans?
Do you know what adultery, fornification sodomy are?
Do you even know your Ten Commandments?
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