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[Catholic Caucus] Extraordinary Consistory: what is its true meaning?The Extraordinary Consistory of January 2026 was not a mere consultative moment, but a strategic turning point: beneath the appearance of dialogue and “synodality,” a parliamentary model of the Church is being consolidated that relativizes the Petrine primacy and makes the neo-modernist drift allegedly irreversible, while Pope Leo XIV appears increasingly as an arbiter of power balances. The extraordinary Consistory of January 2026 should not be read as a simple consultative moment, but as a decisive step in the attempt to refound the Church on procedural and parliamentary bases, foreign to its...

[Catholic Caucus] Open letter to Pope Leo XIV: The heresy of Modernism lives on through Vatican IILegal scholar Raymond Marcin has urged the Pope to reject Vatican II’s path, calling it a covert revival of what St. Pius X condemned as the ‘synthesis of all heresies.’Editor’s note: Below follows the full text of an Open Letter to Pope Leo XIV by Emeritus Professor of Law at the Catholic University of America Raymond B. Marcin.(LifeSiteNews) — Your Holiness, The purpose of this letter is to express a concern regarding the path that our Catholic Church has been following for six decades...

Cardinal Zen Denounces “Bergoglian Synodality” as “Ironclad Manipulation” at Extraordinary ConsistoryFull text of Cardinal Joseph Zen’s intervention at the two-day meeting of cardinals convened by Pope Leo XIV.(Cardinal Joseph Zen and his personal secretary with Pope Leo XIV.) ROME, 9 January 2026 — In his intervention at the Extraordinary Consistory of Cardinals held at the Vatican on January 7–8, Cardinal Joseph Zen delivered a searing critique of the Synod on Synodality, denouncing its process as an “ironclad manipulation” and warning that its continual invocation of the Holy Spirit is “ridiculous” and verges on “blasphemy.”Delivered behind closed doors in the presence...

[Catholic Caucus] The cardinals dodge the key issueLiturgy is off the agenda for the consistoryHelp is not on the way.Yesterday, in a cautious optimistic post about this week’s meeting of the College of Cardinals, I observed that “it is difficult to imagine how the consistory could discuss the liturgy without immediately raising the most contentious subject under that heading: the suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass under Traditionis Custodes.”Well, the cardinals managed to shatter my hopes immediately. Even before my comments were posted, they had voted to take the topic of liturgy off the agenda for the consistory. Instead the...

[Catholic Caucus] A letter to Aldo Maria Valli on the syndrome called "inclusivitis.” How it is made manifest and how to combat it.October 23rd 2025 Dear Aldo Maria, It seems that after reading the text of the Summary Document of the Synodal Path of the Churches in Italy, the ineffable World Health Organization has discovered the existence of a new terrifying epidemic triggered by the terrifying disease called syndroma inclusivitatis viralis, also generally known as Charles V syndrome or todos (todos todos) caballeros syndrome. It's an insidious syndrome, but luckily, a swab isn't needed to identify it. It primarily affects...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo again champions ‘synodality’ despite controversy, says it’s about ‘openness’‘Synodality is an attitude, an openness, a willingness to understand,’ Pope Leo said, presenting the concept as the hallmark of his papacy though without emphasizing doctrinal clarity.Pope Leo XIV has placed the controversial concept “synodality” at the center of his vision for the Church, describing it as an attitude of “dialogue” meant to bring together clergy and laity.His comments, released on September 18 in León XIV: ciudadano del mundo, misionero del siglo XXI, a new biography by Crux reporter Elise Ann Allen, were accompanied by a video excerpt...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo XIV says synodality is key to unity in newly released interviewPope Leo XIV has spoken at length about the role of synodality in the life of the Church in a newly released interview published by Crux on 14 September.The remarks on synodality form part of a forthcoming biography, León XIV: ciudadano del mundo, misionero del siglo XXI, written by Crux senior correspondent Elise Ann Allen and to be published in Spanish by Penguin Peru on 18 September. English and Portuguese editions will follow in 2026.In the video excerpts, Pope Leo is shown seated against a wall...

[Catholic Caucus] What If “Synodality” Means Nothing?There’s good news and there’s bad news. The problem is that the good news isn’t very good, and we don’t know (yet?) how bad the bad news can be. Yes, you guessed it: I’m talking about “synodality.” The good news is that “synodality” might actually be meaningless. (That raises some questions about why, then, we are spending so much time, energy, and money on the topic; but let’s try to manage one conundrum at a time.) The bad news is that, precisely because “synodality” is a meaningless term (and “meaningless” will be defined below,...

Anglican Priestess "concelebrates" Catholic Mass? A Case Study in SynodalityIt seems that one of Mackinlay's priests has allowed an Anglican priestess to feign the concelebration of a Catholic Mass during which she also received Holy Communion. The woman, a known lesbian and LGBT-rights advocate, was one of two Anglican women who were dressed in vestments and remained near the altar throughout the Mass. Although the 'Canon' did not speak, she attempted to read the Gospel and helped herself to a chalice containing the Precious Blood.It is fairly common to hear that the definition of Synodality remains a mystery, even years...

[Catholic Caucus] The Sham of SynodalityThe selective listening of our bishops is on full display.Catholic commentator Dr. Larry Chapp nailed it in his recent column reacting to Cardinal Cupich’s ban on kneeling to receive communion said it well:[The] letter from the Cardinal shows us is that for all the talk about a more “inclusive” and “listening” and “synodal” Church, and for all the agitprop pontifications from folks like Cupich about how in a synodal Church the “people of God” are “finally” getting their say, all the rhetoric surrounding the Synod about listening to all voices is an empty sham.Chapp’s article...

[Catholic Caucus] At Synod ecumenical vigil Pope emphasizes link of ‘unity and synodality’Marking the anniversary of Vatican II's opening, Pope Francis led Synod participants and ecumenical delegates in a prayer vigil at the Vatican, during which the link between Synodality and ecumenism were emphasized.Pope Francis joined with ecumenical delegates and participants of the Synod on Synodality in an ecumenical prayer vigil at the Vatican this evening, during which the link between ecumenism and synodality were once more affirmed.Closing the full day of Synod meetings Friday, October 11, the participants took part in a highly anticipated ecumenical prayer vigil in the...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis' Synod: Lesbian Fury Shouts at CardinalMan was created by God as male and female so that there could be a spiritual and physical love relationship between the two.This truism was proclaimed by the outgoing Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, at the European meeting of the Francis Synod in Prague on 6 February.Ouellet called on the Synod participants to base their deliberations and decisions on the anthropology of the Bible. He warned against "interpreting the Word of God in a way that contradicts what it actually says".The meeting in Prague began on Sunday. Each...

From Santa Marta an Order Has Gone Forth. But Cardinal Bassetti Is Not Obeying Italy is Pope Francis’s backyard, in addition to being his country of origin. And so it comes as no surprise that he should take a strong interest in the who and how of leadership at the CEI, the Italian episcopal conference.This has been seen since 2013, when Francis imposed as secretary general of the organism the semi-unknown Nunzio Galantino, who essentially took over - strong as he was with the authority of his backer, the pope - for the president of the CEI at the time,...

Anything but a synodal Church. After extolling “synodality” as the preeminent fruit of last October’s synod of bishops, and after promising since 2013 more autonomy and powers for the episcopal conferences, including some “authentic doctrinal authority,” Pope Francis has dismembered the agenda of the plenary assembly of one of the biggest episcopates in the world, that of the United States, which has been meeting in Baltimore since Monday, November 12. And at the same time he has abandoned to themselves, in China, those bishops who are not part of the secret accord signed at the end of September between the...