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[Catholic Caucus] Fr. Pavone’s laicization came from Pope Francis himself: canon lawyer The shocking decision to laicize pro-life priest Father Frank Pavone without appeal could only have come from Pope Francis himself, according to a prominent canon lawyer.In an interview Sunday with Catholic News Agency (CNA), canonist Father Gerald Murray, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York and a regular contributor to EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” noted that the Pope alone can issue a decision “against which there is no possible appeal.”“Only the Pope, who enjoys ‘full and supreme power in the Church’ (canon 332, 1),...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV Promotes US Bishop - Fan of 🌈 James Martin and Fiducia SupplicansPope Leo XIV appointed Father Manuel de Jesus Rodriguez as the bishop of Palm Beach, Florida.Born January 15, 1974, in the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez became a Salesian of Don Bosco and was ordained a priest on July 3, 2004. He is currently the parish priest at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Queens, in the Diocese of Brooklyn.Monsignor Rodriguez became a U.S. citizen in 2018. He has regularly been revealing his thoughts on Twitter since 2014.Staunch Loyalist of Wonderful FrancisHe is a priest “who loves...

[Catholic Caucus] Italian diocese tries to normalize homosexual, divorced and ‘remarried’ relationshipsA Catholic diocese in Italy has released a pamphlet of various 'Christian testimonies' that included two homosexual couples and one civilly remarried couple. A Catholic diocese in Italy has released a pamphlet of various “Christian testimonies” that included two homosexual couples and one civilly remarried couple.On December 4, the Family Pastoral Service of the Diocese of Chiavari, Italy, directed by Father Marco Torre, published the pamphlet “There Is No Greater Love.” It includes autobiographical testimonies presented as “exemplary,” without additional doctrinal notes or commentary. There were no official statements...

[Catholic Caucus] Lesbians ‘dressed as brides’ receive ‘blessing’ in Argentine cathedral, priest reports‘Heartbreaking. This Pastor is a wolf in sheep's clothing,’ one Catholic laywoman remarked.A priest in the Cathedral of San Isidro in Argentina blessed two lesbian women dressed as brides, a traditional missionary priest reported.“In the chapel where the Tabernacle is, at 6.15 pm, there was a blessing of two lesbian women dressed as brides,” Father Joao Silveira shared on Twitter. “I told the priest: ‘One thing is accompaniment, but we can’t consent to sin, much less bless it.’ He replied, ‘It’s pastoral,’” Fr. Silveira said. He did not...

[Catholic Caucus] Italian priest suggests ‘baby girl Jesus’ in Nativity scenes in call for women deacons, bishopsFr. Vitaliano Della Sala claims a female Christ Child would expose the apparent ‘injustice’ in Church teaching excluding women from the possibility of receiving Holy Orders.AVELLINO, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — An Italian priest has argued that a “baby girl Jesus” should be introduced into Nativity scenes because God could have incarnated as a woman as well.On December 3, Father Vitaliano Della Sala, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul in Capocastello, Italy, during an interview with a local television station, sparked widespread debate in the national...

[Catholic Caucus] Beware the Trojan Horse in the Synodal ChurchA small work is now circulating in the Catholic world that is shrouded in mystery. Published this fall by Catholics for Catholics, it is titled: The Trojan Horse in the Catholic Church—Synod of Synodality: The Attempt to Invert the Bride of Christ’s Hierarchy and Moral Order. What makes the book so mysterious and controversial is that no one knows from whence it came. The author is listed as just Fr. Enoch. Nothing is known about this priest save that he fears retribution and therefore writes under an assumed name. His choice...

[Catholic Caucus] Archbishop Gänswein: Benedict XVI’s path “is the right way,” Traditionis custodes “is and remains a mystery to me”Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the former private secretary of Pope Benedict XVI and current nuncio to Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, recently gave an interview to Athinea Andryszczak, broadcast in two parts (1, 2) on the German Catholic television station K-TV.At the very beginning of part 2 (full German-language video below), he spends some time discussing the liturgical situation in Lithuania and the universal Church. Here are his comments, in English translation, with my emphases:Your Excellency, we were just talking about the different...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Eleganti: Vatican trying to play both sides of the women deacons question It is all too obvious that, despite the historical findings regarding female ordination, the aim is to keep the issue alive and the question open.The study commission on the question of women’s ordination concludes, on the one hand, that the possibility of admitting women to the diaconate (as part of the sacrament of ordination) must be ruled out, but at the same time that it is not possible to “make a definitive judgment, as in the case of priestly ordination.”[1]This makes little sense. It is...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis Has Bequeathed Money to Pro-Homosexual Dominican SisterPope Francis, who died in April 2025, set aside funds in his will for a humanitarian project run by Dominican sister Lucía Caram, she said in remarks reported by Spanish media. According to Sister Caram, the funds were explicitly intended to support medical care in war-affected areas of Ukraine, in particular the purchase of ambulances. The exact amount designated in the pope’s will has not been disclosed.Sister Caram said that Francis had expressed support for her work on several occasions: “I never imagined it would come in this form.”Born in...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis-instituted Vatican Commission says NO to Female Diaconate - English Translation of Full ReportAnnounced today -- report by Vatican News (followed by our translation of the full text of letter and report submitted to Pope Leo XIV):Petrocchi Commission says no to female diaconate, though judgment not definitiveA report presenting the results of the Commission’s work has been released. It rules out admitting women to the diaconate understood as a degree of the sacrament of Holy Orders, but says that it is not currently possible “to formulate a definitive judgment, as in the case of priestly ordination.” [Vatican News]***Summary...

[Catholic Caucus] Tucho's Marian Kerfuffle - by Roberto de MatteiThe Consequences of the Marian Note of Cardinal Fernandezby Roberto de Matteifor Corrispondenza RomanaOn November 4, 2025, the doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis was published, with which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sought to clarify the meaning and limits of certain Marian titles referring to Mary's cooperation in the work of salvation. The statement caused dismay and consternation among the faithful, but also among Mariologists, because it represents an objective diminution of the privileges traditionally reserved for Our Lady by the Tradition of the Church. One wonders now...

[Catholic Caucus] Towards the Francis Dream of an Extermination of Opus Dei?When Summorum Pontificum was promulgated, we had great hopes for a liturgical renewal of Opus Dei, the particular order founded by Josemaría Escrivá and later transformed in the only Personal Prelature, a novel figure created (for them, apparently) in the new Code of Canon Law.We knew many priests of "The Work" loved the Traditional Mass, that Escrivá celebrated until the end of his life. But the order from above, as far as we could discern, was that the priests of Opus should, whenever possible, refrain from the Traditional Mass,...

How do you solve a problem like Fernández?The Advent season begins this Sunday, and that means The Sound of Music will soon be on television in the United States. The ABC network airs the film classic starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer each year before Christmas, a broadcasting tradition that began in 2002. (It would air before Easter when I was a child, which shows my age.)As I considered the latest contretemps involving the prefect of the Dicastery of for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), Argentine Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, a song from the film came to mind.“How do...

[Catholic Caucus] New Cardinal of Krakow: “I Don't Want Any Other Church Than That of Francis”Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, 61, has learned “everything I believe in about the Church from Francis,” he said according to Onet.pl after Leo XIV appointed him as Archbishop of Krakow on November 26.Francis taught Cardinal Ryś “how to understand the Church”.And: “I don't want another Church. I simply don't want it. I cannot imagine another Church than the one Francis taught us.”Experience at Francis’ TombCardinal Ryś recounted an experience during the days leading up to the conclave. He visited Francis' tomb with Cardinal Konrad Krajewski. There,...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Fernández Clarifies: “Co-redemptrix” Off Limits in Official Vatican Documents, Permitted in Private DevotionIn comments on “Mater Populi Fidelis,” the DDF Prefect explains what the doctrinal Note means in stating the Marian title is “always inappropriate.”Three weeks after Mater Populi Fidelis sparked debate over its statement that the Marian title Co-redemptrix is “always inappropriate,” the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has clarified that the phrase is not a sweeping rejection of the title itself. The Cardinal said the word “always” applies only to official Church usage from this point forward, not to every...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican says 4 papal documents issued under Leo XIV are part of the ‘mandate’ of Pope FrancisWith two new documents in addition to the notes on marriage and Marian titles, 'the mandate Pope Francis had given us two years ago comes to an end,’ declared Fr. Armando Matteo.During the presentation of the doctrinal note on marriage, Una Caro, in the Holy See Press Office on November 25, Father Armando Matteo, secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated that the two documents published this month – along with two soon to be released – are...

Tucho Doesn’t Necessarily Dislike Mary, Just True CatholicsIf we had to pinpoint an even stronger motivation for Mater Populi Fidelis, it seems that it would be Tucho’s dislike of “conservative” and “traditional” Catholics, who are almost certainly the groups most offended by the rejection of Our Lady’s titles.In his June 11, 2025 tribute to Francis, Cardinal Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández expressed his sensitivity to the way in which people perceive his words:“Therefore, when faced with a complex theological moral issue, we must always consider how it impacts real people, their lives, and their suffering. We should ask ourselves what effect...

The Liturgy of the Ages and the Pastoral OptionIn recent months, we have heard a great deal about traditional liturgies being canceled in certain dioceses. Of course, this is nothing new. The tenacity of certain bishops, however, in eliminating not only these liturgies but also the groups devoted to preserving and transmitting the Catholic liturgical treasure cannot fail to worry us.First, it must be said that the core of the heated debate surrounding the right of the Traditional Latin Mass to exist is not liturgical in nature. A certain vision of the evolution and state of the world over the...

[Catholic / Anglican Caucus] Cardinal Zen warns against synodality: ‘Isn’t this the Catholic Church committing suicide?’The retired 93-year-old cardinal has issued yet another sharp critique of the Synod on Synodality and the late Pope Francis.In a blog post published on his personal website this week, 93-year-old retired Chinese Cardinal Joseph Zen has issued yet another sharp critique of the Synod on Synodality and the late Pope Francis.Francis left behind “chaos and division,” His Eminence said. “Our greatest hope is that Pope Leo will unite the Church on the foundation of truth, rallying us all to the mission of evangelization. We...

[Catholic Caucus] Fitting for Chaos-Tucho: Allowing Women an Acolyte-Like "Deaconess"The Synod's general secretary has prepared a document on a 'female diaconate', for which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will be responsible for drafting the final report.ElWanderer.com wrote on 19 November that this is an "imminent danger" because of Tucho’s track record of never missing an opportunity to cause serious problems for the Church.In Catholicism, Holy Orders in the three forms deacon, priest and bishop are reserved for men for ontological reasons.ElWanderer speculates that Tucho will resort to the tactic he applied in Fiducia Supplicans, which he likely...