Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Italian bishops call for ‘research’ into female diaconateThe least-supported proposal that still received approval at the Italian bishops' synod calls for 'research projects' to explore the question of the female diaconate.Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi leaves the Vatican after a College of Cardinals' meeting on April 30, 2025 in Rome, ItalyAs far as the Italian bishops are concerned, the issue of a female diaconate is still on the table.On October 25, the Italian Synod approved a final document of proposals in which the synod affirmed its support and called for research into the issues addressing the ordination of women...

The U.S. Conference Of Catholic Bishops Needs To Stop Apologizing For IslamIslam’s inherent disdain for non-Muslims must not intrude on the pieties of interfaith harmony, according to the USCCB.Earlier this month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published “Islamophobia: A Guide for U.S. Catholics on Anti-Muslim Bigotry.” Showcased on the USCCB website with a lovely Islamic design cover, this 15-page booklet exhorts Catholics to “address the disturbing phenomenon of anti-Muslim sentiment in our times.”Introduced by the co-chairs of the National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue (NCMD) — Bishop Elias Lorenzo of Newark and Imam Kareem Irfan — the USCCB declares dire need...

[Catholic Caucus] Morocco cardinal: ‘We must abandon the false paradigm of true religion, false religion’CWN Editor's Note: In a reflection for the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the archbishop of Rabat, Morocco, said that “we must abandon the false paradigm of ‘true religion, false religion.’” “Religions, for their part, have the responsibility to offer paths of meaning and truth, not of domination,” said Spanish-born Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, SDB. “No religion can appropriate the truth, as if it were its sole owner. No one possesses the truth; if anything, it is the truth that possesses us all, and in every...

[Catholic Caucus] German Bishops Publish Homosexual Handbook for Catholic SchoolsOn 30 October, the German Bishops’ Conference published a guide urging Catholic schools to incorporate homosexual ideology. The title is: 'Created, Redeemed and Seduced Loved: Visibility and recognition of sexual identity diversity in schools”. In it, the bishops adopt the vocabulary and assumptions of gender ideology (queer, non-binary, cis, heteronormativity). They blaspheme that God willed homosexual lifestyles. Main problematic quotes, shortened for clarity.- The primacy of love orders all other perspectives – including sexual-moral ones.- Being loved in creation and redemption applies to the human person in all his or her...

Novus Ordo, the "Only Form of the Roman Rite" -- now with the "Queer Mass" broadcast live on German TV (video) German public broadcaster ZDF has for decades presented Sunday "divine services": Evangelical and Catholic. This past Sunday, for the first time, the Catholic "mass" was a "Queer Divine Service." We take the opportunity to remind all that Traditionis custodes, the document that attempted to abolish the Traditional Rite of the Latin Church, had the illegitimate audacity of stating: "The liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council...

[Catholic Caucus] Italian synod moves to ‘recognize’ homosexual and transgender identities in the ChurchThe document rejects ‘discriminatory attitudes’ in the Church against homosexual and transgender identities despite associated sins having the potential to cause eternal death.The Third Synodal Assembly of Churches in Italy has taken a significant step toward normalizing and affirming homosexual activity and gender dysphoria in a document released Friday.Issued in Rome, “Yeast of Peace and Hope” utilized unprecedented language to express openness toward disordered identities that may encourage those who have fallen into these tragic conditions to further risk the salvation of their immortal souls.Under section 30(c)...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Cupich calls Traditional Latin Mass “a spectacle”Chicago’s Blase Cupich has asserted that the Traditional Latin Mass was “more of a spectacle rather than the active participation of all the baptised”.In a reflection on the liturgical reforms which came from Sacrosanctum Concilium, one of the four constitutions of the Second Vatican Council, the cardinal argued that the document drew on scholarly research which revealed “adaptations that were introduced over time, which incorporated elements from imperial and royal courts.” The reform, he contends, aimed to purify the liturgy of “these adaptations … to enable the liturgy to sustain the...

[Catholic Caucus] New Georgetown University president: ‘I reject the Church’s teachings on homosexuality’‘Every Catholic educator should vigorously oppose what this man embraced,’ Patrick Reilly of the Cardinal Newman Society told LifeSite. ‘Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep, but Georgetown is leading lambs to the slaughter.’The incoming president of Georgetown University has said he repudiates the Catholic Church’s teachings on homosexuality. He also appeared to criticize the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.The nominally Catholic, Jesuit university in Washington, D.C., recently announced its selection of Eduardo Peñalver as its new president, to start next year. Peñalver is currently the...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland on the Cupich promotion: "This is not renewal, it is revolt!"Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cardinal Blasé Cupich of Chicago to the governing council of Vatican City. This is not a small administrative act; it is a declaration of direction. Cardinal Cupich has publicly opposed the Traditional Latin Mass, has tolerated and even celebrated politicians who advance abortion, and has consistently undermined those who defend the sanctity of life and the fullness of Catholic doctrine.My dear brothers and sisters, Today, with deep sorrow for the state of our beloved Church, I must speak. Pope Leo XIV...

[Catholic Caucus] New archbishop of Vienna will be priest who expressed support for ‘women’s ordination’: reportA priest who belonged to a group that promoted ‘women's ordination’ and giving Holy Communion to non-Catholics and the civilly ‘remarried’ is poised to become the archbishop of Vienna, according to reports.A priest with a record of heterodox activism will likely become the new archbishop of Vienna.According to ORF Television, the Austrian national public broadcaster, 63-year-old Josef Grünwidl will be named as archbishop of Vienna after Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn in January.“The long wait for a new archbishop of Vienna...

[Catholic Caucus] Heterodox German bishop criticizes public act of reparation for Vatican LGBT ‘pilgrimage’Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers of Essen, Germany, the queer representative to the German Bishops' Conference, has a history of promoting the LGBT movement.Pro-LGBT Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers of Essen, Germany, who serves as the queer representative of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), slammed in a recent interview the four bishops who recently made a public act of reparation for the Vatican LGBT pilgrimage during this year’s Catholic Identity Conference (CIC).In an interview with the German Catholic News Agency (KNA) published October 10, Schepers called the act of...

[Catholic Caucus] Jubilee: LGBT “Pilgrimage” Received with InsigniaDiane Montagna, on her X account, describes herself as an American journalist based in Rome and accredited to the Holy See. She has conducted a series of interviews with Bishop Athanasius Schneider for the publication of the book Christus vincit, The Triumph of Christ over the Darkness of Our Time, and is the executive director of the website The College of Cardinals Report.On the occasion of the LGBT “pilgrimage” that took place for the Jubilee Year in St. Peter's in Rome on September 6, 2025—officially organized by several associations, particularly by "Tenda di...

U.S. Catholic Bishops Warn of the Greatest Threat We Face: IslamophobiaTalk about poor timing! On the same day that news broke of an Islamist attack on a Catholic Parish in the Congo that left 64 dead and many wounded, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published a 15-page booklet, “Islamophobia: A Guide for U.S. Catholics on Anti-Muslim Bigotry.”The purpose of the booklet is to warn Catholics about “the rising tide of anti-Muslim sentiment.” I’m not aware of any “rising tide” of anti-Muslim bigotry in the U.S., but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a rising tide of anti-Muslim...

[Catholic Caucus] Pro-Abortion Senator Dick Durbin “Overwhelmed” By Pope Leo XIV's DefenceOn Wednesday, pro-abortion Senator Dick Durbin told NBC News that he was "overwhelmed" by the support he received from Pope Leo XIV.Durbin was scheduled to receive a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich in November. However, he declined after facing clear backlash from Catholics, including a few US bishops.Durbin said he was allegedly surprised by "the level of controversy" and "shocked" by Leo XIV's defense: "It's amazing to me. It’s quite a moment. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t know it was going to happen."On Tuesday, Leo...

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) was planning to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich for Durbin's work with immigrants. There was tremendous backlash from some American Catholic bishops and Catholic laity, pointing to Durbin's record on abortion as disqualifying. Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, IL, said giving the award to Durbin would be "scandalous." In a statement sent to Catholic publication The Pillar, Paprocki said, "I was shocked to learn that the Archdiocese of Chicago plans to honor Senator Richard Durbin with a Lifetime Achievement Award." Paprocki continued, "Given Senator Durbin’s long and consistent record of supporting...

“Is there one Republican Senator in this chamber who gives a damn?” Durbin said in his speech on the Senate floorWASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor yesterday, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reprimanded the Trump Administration for weaponizing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to attack President Trump’s personal enemies. In his remarks, Durbin underscored that political retribution was the true intention behind President Trump and Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi’s move to force Erik Siebert, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to resign. With...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Chow denies persecution in Hong Kong, breaking with ZenCardinal Stephen Chow of Hong Kong has said there is no religious persecution in the territory, putting himself at odds with his predecessor Cardinal Joseph Zen, who has long warned that the Chinese Communist Party is steadily tightening its grip on the Church.Speaking in Parramatta on 15 September during a public dialogue in the “Bishop Vincent Presents” series, The Catholic Weekly reported that Cardinal Chow declared Beijing wanted to keep Hong Kong’s religious freedom “intact” and insisted: “I want to invite any one of you, everyone, to come to...

[Catholic Caucus] Head of German Bishops demands rainbow flag be hung in German ParliamentRainbow flag at the Bundestag? Julia Klöckner counters Bätzing's criticismBishop Georg Bätzing had said he would have liked to see the rainbow flag at the Bundestag. The President of the Bundestag poses a counter-question.President of the Bundestag Julia Klöckner (CDU) rejects Bishop Georg Bätzing's criticism of the handling of the rainbow flag in the Bundestag. "The bishop's regret is astonishingly selective. Did the Vatican or did all bishoprics raise a rainbow flag on Pride Day?" she asks in the weekly newspaper "Die Zeit."Bätzing, the chairman of the...

Paprocki ‘shocked’ by Durbin’s Chicago award“This decision risks causing grave scandal,” Bishop Thomas Paprocki said.An Illinois bishop said Friday that he is “shocked” by plans in the Archdiocese of Chicago to honor Senator Dick Durbin, a longtime supporter of legal protection for abortion.Durbin, who is prohibited from receiving the Eucharist in his home Diocese of Springfield, will be feted in November with a lifetime achievement award by the Archdiocese of Chicago’s office of human dignity and solidarity.While the award will be presented at a benefit presided over by Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich, Durbin’s own diocesan bishop — Bishop Thomas Paprocki...

[Catholic Caucus] German Bishop Opposes Using the Bible to Condemn HomosexualityThe Bishop of Mainz, Germany, has spoken out against using Biblical passages as a reason to oppose homosexuality.Bishop Peter Kohlgraf made his statements during an interview on the television show “SWR Democracy Forum in Hambach Castle,” broadcast by Südwestrundfunk (SWR), a TV channel in western Germany, reported Katholisch.de. Bishop Peter KohlgrafKohlgraf said that one “cannot simply derive timelessly valid, eternal truths” in Biblical passages about homosexuality. The topic of the show was “Taboos in our society – between morality, power, and the media.”“I don’t take a single sentence from the...