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[Catholic Caucus] Dissenters rip Cardinal Ratzinger’s 1986 letter on homosexuality on 40th anniversary October 30, 2026» Continue to this story on National Catholic Reporter CWN Editor's Note: Critics of Catholic teaching on the immorality of homosexual acts strongly criticized the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s letter to bishops on the pastoral care of homosexual persons, 40 years after its publication. At the time, the congregation’s prefect was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. “We were horrified when we read it, but I would say we were not surprised,” said Sister Jeannine Gramick, cofounder of...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo’s Amoris Laetitia Summit: Doctrinal Confusion and a Secret Final Report A Vatican summit meant to celebrate Amoris Laetitia instead ignited controversy over marriage, sexuality and the Church’s moral teaching. From a nun’s shocking remarks about Our Lord to calls to recognize new forms of family life, here’s the radical trajectory, Bishop Schneider’s warning, and the final report that never saw the light of day. Amoris Laetitia: An Aberrant DocumentAmoris Laetitia is certainly not the worst of Francis’s magisterial documents, but within the apostolic exhortation it is possible to identify statements and provisions concerning the relevant application...

[Catholic Caucus] New Vatican official renews calls for female deacons Sister Mary Barron has committed to her prior activism for ordaining women, despite the Church clearly reserving Orders for men.A new senior Vatican official has reaffirmed her previous push for female deacons, saying that women “hear the call to priesthood”. On October 8, Sister Mary Barron OLA was named by Pope Leo to become the adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization and president of the Pontifical Mission Societies. A native of Ireland, Sr. Mary spent some years in Nigeria and Tanzania with her missionary Congregation of the Sisters of...

[Catholic Caucus] The uniqueness of Jesus "cannot be absolutized": a Brazilian joins the Theological Commission Tiago de Fraga Gomes, a 39-year-old priest, has been studying Claude Geffré’s religious pluralism since 2015 and in 2025 defended an “even sacramental” integration of irregular situations.Pope Leo XIV on Monday, October 19, appointed Brazilian priest Tiago de Fraga Gomes, 39, a member of the International Theological Commission. He is a presbyter of the Diocese of Osório in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and an associate professor at the School of Humanities of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)...

[Catholic Caucus] Synodal church reverses Our Lord’s mandate to proclaim the Gospel Cardinal Ferrão’s words about the family stem from the Synodal mentality which is essentially rooted in the heresy of Universalism.I have recently read the statement by Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão regarding the family at the Amoris Laetitia Summit in Rome. I was disturbed but not as utterly shocked as I should have been.I would have been more shocked had the statement not been a part of a whole host of alarming comments and actions from some of the hierarchy of the Church rooted in the so-called Synodal Way.Ponder...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV-appointed Missio President doubles down: Women called to priesthood. Pope Leo XIV appointed Irish Sister Mary Teresa Barron on October 8, as president of the Pontifical Mission Societies (Missio) and adjunct secretary of the Vatican's Dicastery for Evangelization.On October 19, she told EWTNNews.com: “Who am I to say whether the door is open or closed to women priests?”“Women today may hear the call to priesthood,” she said. “So for me, itʼs how do we within Church facilitate that discernment?”Sister Barron wants the Church to accompany women who feel "called to the priesthood", “What do we do as...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope names members of Vatican’s key advisory theology commission The members will serve for a five-year term, with some of the new intake raising eyebrows due to their questioning of Catholic teaching on ordination and homosexuality.A series of new members of the International Theological Commission have been appointed today, comprising the new faces of the organisation which serves as an advisory body to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Working from his recovery room in the Apostolic Palace, Leo XIV finalised the new look of the International Theological Commission (ITC), after the previous members have come...

[Catholic Caucus] Austrian theologian: Ending synodal process would be an ‘ecclesiological problem’ An Austrian theologian who advised the Synod on Synodality argues the process must become a 'lasting culture' in the Church under Pope Leo XIV. A theological adviser to the Synod on Synodality has called for the process to continue indefinitely, declaring that synodality is not a project with an “expiration date.”Klara-Antonia Csiszár, a pastoral theologian who serves as vice rector of teaching and research at the Catholic Private University of Linz, gave an interview to katholisch.de – the online news portal of the German Bishops’ Conference – in...

[Catholic Caucus] German bishops’ chairman confirms controversy over Communion for divorced Catholics at Vatican meeting Bishop Heiner Wilmer, chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, has confirmed that Holy Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics was discussed “at length and with some controversy” during the Vatican meeting marking ten years of Amoris laetitiaThe question of Holy Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics prompted controversy during a Vatican meeting marking the tenth anniversary of Amoris laetitia, Bishop Heiner Wilmer has confirmed.Bishop Heiner Wilmer of Münster, chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, said the issue was discussed “at length and with...

Synod canon law proposals could make Catholic Church ‘Protestant community’ Canonists warn that proposed canon law reforms from the Synod on Synodality to transfer governing power to laypeople would ‘undermine the nature of the Church.’ Leading canonists have warned proposals to reform Canon Law promoted by the Synod on Synodality would undermine Catholic doctrine and the Second Vatican Council.On October 12, leading canon lawyers warned in a report published by the National Catholic Register that proposed reforms to the Code of Canon Law, emerging from the Synod on Synodality, could undermine the Church’s divine constitution. The proposals would introduce a...