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[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis personally invites pro-LGBT Fr James Martin, Cardinal Cupich to October SynodPope Francis' personal picks for the Synod remain largely the same this year as last year, including controversial figures such as Cardinals Blase Cupich, Jozef De Kesel, Wilton Gregory, Robert McElroy and Father James Martin, S.J.The Vatican’s press office released details of the upcoming Synod on Synodality starting later this month, which, like last year, includes a list of heterodox attendees invited by Pope Francis.While the Synod begins on Monday, September 30, with all participants taking part in a two-day retreat, meetings do not begin in...

CHICAGO (AP) — More than 450 Catholic clergy in Illinois sexually abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950, the state’s attorney general found in an investigation released Tuesday, revealing that the problem was far worse than the church had let on.Attorney General Kwame Raoul said at a news conference that investigators found that 451 Catholic clergy abused 1,997 children in Illinois between 1950 and 2019, though he acknowledged that the statute of limitations has expired in many cases and that those abusers “will never see justice in a legal sense.”“It is my hope that this report will shine light both on...

A priest is suing the gay dating and “hookup” app Grindr after the company reportedly failed to protect his data, leading to his resignation from a top position at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). In July 2021, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill resigned from his post as the general secretary of the USCCB ahead of a report by The Pillar alleging that he had engaged in inappropriate behavior and frequent use of Grindr. The app advertises itself as “the largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people.” Its geolocation feature is popularly known to facilitate sex hookups...

[Catholic Caucus] Father James Martin says he knows ‘hundreds’ of homosexual priests: ‘They’ve been my mentors’James Martin wrote that in his ’25 years as a priest and almost 40 as a Jesuit,’ he has ‘known hundreds’ of homosexual priests, including some of his ‘superiors,’ ‘mentors’ and ‘spiritual directors.’The prolific pro-LGBT Jesuit Father James Martin has attested he has known “hundreds” of homosexual priests, as the fallout continues from Pope Francis’ reported statement that is there being too much “f–ggotry” in seminaries.The heterodox Jesuit wrote that in his “25 years as a priest and almost 40 as a Jesuit,” he has...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope sends support to LGBTQ ministry conference as online petition tries to cancel eventPope Francis greets Jesuit Fr. James Martin, author and editor at large of America magazine, during a private meeting at the Vatican in this Oct. 1, 2019, file photo. Francis has sent a message of support to a conference that will discuss LGBTQ ministry in the Catholic Church, being held June 16-18 at New York's Fordham University. Martin released the handwritten letter from Francis June 14. (CNS/Vatican Media)Pope Francis has sent a message of support to a conference that will discuss LGBTQ ministry in the...

The hierarchy remains silentNEW YORK (ChurchMilitant.com) - A so-called LGBTQ Catholic resource is touting a self-proclaimed gay priest's recent speech in which he expresses his dream for the Church to offer the sacrament of marriage to same-sex couples. The website Outreach recently published an adapted version of Fr. Bryan Massingale's speech, which he delivered on April 21 at the Ignatian Q conference held at Fordham University's Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York. The speech, titled "I Dream of a Catholic Church That Celebrates and Embraces LGBTQ People," took place at a "gathering of LGBTQ students from Jesuit...

The Bishop of Worcester has written an open letter to his diocese detailing why he thinks same-sex unions should be celebrated by the Church. It comes after a number Church of England bishops declared their support for same-sex marriage last November. Rt Rev Dr John Inge has written an open letter to the Diocese of Worcester, setting out why he believes the "celebration and honouring of monogamous, faithful same-sex relationships" is a good witness and the Church of England's teaching on the issue should change. Last year Bishop John confirmed his support for same-sex marriage in response to a booklet...

Cardinal Hollerich appeared to describe homosexuality as a 'fruit of creation' and admitted that there are a disproportionate number of homosexuals in Church institutions.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the relator general of the Synod on Synodality, has called for a “change of cultural paradigm” regarding the Church’s condemnation of homosexual activity and said that there is a “higher” percentage of homosexuals in “Church institutions” than in civil society. Hollerich made his comments in a lengthy interview given to L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s daily newspaper. Speaking extensively about the Synod on Synodality, Hollerich first praised Pope Francis for being...

[Catholic Caucus] German Synodal Way approves text calling homosexual acts ‘not sinful’ and ‘not intrinsically evil’The eight orthodox bishops who voted against the document were Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki and Bishops Gregor Maria Hanke, Matthias Heinrich, Stefan Oster, Dominikus Schwaderlapp, Rolf Steinhäuser, Rudolf Vorderholzer, and Florian Wörner.FRANKFURT AM MAIN (LifeSiteNews) – At the fourth Assembly of the German Synodal Way, a large majority of the bishops and laity present voted to approve a text that demands the Church change her teaching on homosexuality. Entitled “Magisterial reassessment of Homosexuality,” the document includes the following statement: “Same-sex sexuality – also realized in...

Kentucky Catholic church hosts ‘unprecedented’ service of apology to LGBTQ+ communityLEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - On the last day of Pride Month, a Lexington church is apologizing to the LGBTQ+ community.Leaders at St. Paul Catholic Church said they want to make amends for the church’s discrimination and lack of compassion.“I felt betrayed by an institution. A divine institution, and I was heartbroken,” said JR Zerkowski, director of the Catholic LGBTQ+ Ministry.Multiple religious leaders made remarks Thursday evening about their mistreatment within Catholic congregations and the long road they took just to be accepted.“It took me 20 years for my mom to...

Brother Markus Fuhrmann opposes Catholic Church teaching not only on homosexuality, but on the issues of priestly celibacy and women’s ordination.(LifeSiteNews) – German Franciscans have elected a provincial superior who publicly revealed that he is homosexual only weeks prior. Brother Markus Fuhrmann, referred to as the first openly homosexual Franciscan in his office, said that he has received a “lot of encouragement” regarding his open homosexuality in his position as Provincial Minister, despite the condemnation of homosexuality by Scripture and Church teaching. The Catechism of the Catholic Church declares that “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as...

Pope announces pro-LGBT Brazilian bishop will be elevated to cardinal'There needs to be a dialog on the rights of shared life between people of the same sex who decide to live together. They need legal support from society," Archbishop Leonardo Steiner said in a 2014 interview. ROME (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis will elevate a pro-LGBT Brazilian archbishop to the rank of cardinal. The pontiff has named 21 new cardinals to be elevated to the sacred college at a consistory in August. Included among them is Leonardo Steiner, O.F.M., secretary general of the National Confederation of Bishops of Brazil, the archbishop...

Pope Francis appoints pro-LGBT cardinal praised by top Freemason as president of Italian bishops’ conferenceCardinal Zuppi ‘would be a very good pope’ said Masonic Grand Master Gioele Magaldi in 2020.Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and Pope FrancisVATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has appointed a pro-LGBT cardinal to be the new president of the Italian Bishops Conference, two years after a Masonic Grand Master praised him as a potential Pope.On the second day of the 76th General Assembly of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), Pope Francis chose Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, the 66-year-old Archbishop of Bologna, to lead the CEI for the...

Pope Francis ends automatic dismissal of religious-order priests for [sexual] abuseLess than a year after he strengthened the Code of Canon Law’s section on crimes, Pope Francis has issued an apostolic constitution motu proprio (on his own initiative) that alters the wording of one of the canons.As a result of the alteration, religious-order priests who sexually abuse minors and other vulnerable persons, or who commit canonical crimes related to child pornography, will no longer be automatically dismissed from their religious institutes.In addition, religious-order priests who “force someone to perform or submit to sexual acts” will no longer be automatically dismissed...

They Hire an Idol of the ProLGBTBI Song to Fill the Plaza de San PedroFor the Pope's meeting with young people in San Pedro, promoted by the Italian Episcopal Conference, they had no better idea than to hire a music idol, the winner of the Sanremo Festival with a song that exalts homosexual love.It has been a long time since Francis seemed to be a 'prophet in his own land', so to speak, in the sense that Saint Peter's Square, a recurring scene of historical 'full houses', often appears in papal addresses with such a small audience that I would...

'I believe it is time for us to make a revision in the basic foundation of the teaching,' Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich said.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) has voiced support for changing the Church’s teaching on homosexual acts, describing the biblical determination of sin as “false.” Jesuit Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, who is also the Archbishop of Luxembourg and was appointed by Pope Francis as Relator General of the 2021–2023 “Synod on Synodality,” made the remarks in comments to the German Catholic news agency KNA. Asked by reporters how...

Pro-LGBTQ+ archbishop of Malta tipped off to be Vatican doctrinal czarVALLETTA, Malta (ChurchMilitant.com) - Catholics have expressed outrage after Malta's archbishop demonstrated solidarity with LGBTIQ+ activist organizations a couple of days before a faithful priest was dragged to court for "hate speech" against homosexuals. Archbishop Charles Scicluna and auxiliary bishop Joseph Galea-Curmi met Drachma LGBTI, Allied Rainbow Community, Drachma Parents' Group, LGBTI+ Gozo, and LGBTIQ Rights Malta at the archdiocesan curia in Floriana on Tuesday, a Drachma press release announced. During the two-hour "positive and flowing conversation," the bishops and the LGBTIQ+ community explored ways of how to make pansexual...

The German cardinal’s views contradict the Catholic Church’s long-standing ban on the ordination of homosexual men.MUNICH, Germany (LifeSiteNews) – The most senior German cardinal in the Catholic Church has expressed his support for ordaining homosexual men to the priesthood, in the latest attack on Magisterial teaching by the prelate. Cardinal Reinhard Marx made the comments at a press conference yesterday in Munich where he was responding to a new report alleging he and several of his predecessors, including then-archbishop Josef Ratzinger (Pope emeritus Benedict XVI), mishandled multiple sexual abuse cases as archbishops of Munich and Freising. After reading a prepared...

Homosexuals do not need a cure, but accompaniment and discernmentVATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Rome is rejecting the use of "reparative" or "conversion" therapies by Catholic groups to heal homosexuals of same-sex attraction, a Spanish Catholic weekly is reporting. But homosexuals who have benefited from therapy are urging Pope Francis to meet with those who have found healing from unwanted same-sex attraction. The Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy (CC) instructed the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) in June to disavow the Granada-based Truth and Freedom (Verdad y Libertad) apostolate for its practice of reparative therapy, Vida Nueva reported last Thursday.The bishops are...

For residents of Rome, the sight of courting priests is hardly an anomaly. But a recent exposé is rocking the Catholic Church. In the basement dining room of Le Mani In Pasta, a trattoria in central Rome, a young, glossy-eyed couple stare at each other across a table for two. They smile and blush over a private joke. There is no handholding or kissing, but they are clearly more than friends, even though they are both wearing dark shirts and the telltale white clerical collar.