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Chinese bishops praise sinicization as synodality at conference in Rome “That’s the main point we need to work on: Being loyal to our government and being loyal to our faith.” Archbishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing and Cardinal Stephen Chow of Hong Kong defended the controversial policy of Sinicization of the Catholic Church in China and obedience to state religious laws at a Nov. 5 conference in Rome, comparing the state ordering of religion to the practice of synodality in the Latin Church.Archbishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing. Credit: Lou Linwei/Alamy Live NewsIn his speech at a Nov. 5 conference...

Cardinal Vesco says Catholic Church is ‘not there to convert’ in interview on evangelisation Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco has said the Church is “not there to convert”, arguing that proselytism is “poison” and that Christians should approach other religions through fraternity rather than seeking conversionsCardinal Jean-Paul Vesco has said that the Catholic Church is “not a proselytising Church, not a Church that is there to convert”, arguing that its role is to form part of Algerian society rather than seek religious conversions.In an interview with Belgian Catholic media outlet CathoBel on 23 October, the Archbishop of Algiers said: “We are the...

Leo XIV omits mention of Christ at Assisi, says ‘peace’ must be man’s ‘guiding star’ The Pontiff spoke as though all world religions are equally legitimate while not once mentioning the name of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, or the Blessed Virgin Mary.In recorded remarks to the international ecumenical gathering in Assisi, Pope Leo XIV proclaimed that “peace” must be man’s “guiding star” while not once mentioning the name of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, or the Blessed Virgin Mary.“Peace must once again become the common ideal of all peoples, the guiding star for all our choices, the standard that exposes injustice,...

Italy’s Catholic bishops promote Koran as ‘revealed Word of God’ in schools Cdl. Matteo Zuppi presented the Islamic education program for state-school religion teachers, saying Catholic religion classes should serve as a ‘laboratory of culture and dialogue.’Italy’s Catholic bishops are promoting a new Islamic education program that describes the Koran as the “revealed Word of God,” while Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has said Catholic religion classes should be treated as a “laboratory of culture and dialogue.”On October 21, Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna and president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), presented the new educational initiative, “Factsheets for Understanding Islam,” at an...

Quran is "Word of God" and Muhammad "chosen by God" - says Italian bishops’ school material. The publication, Schede per conoscere l’Islam (“Sheets for Understanding Islam”), was prepared by the CEI and the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI). It comprises 11 teaching sheets intended for use in Catholic religious instruction in Italian schools. They were presented at Palazzo Borromeo in Rome on October 21, at an event attended by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi.Sheet 2 describes Muhammad as “chosen by God to carry His message and to establish and guide the new community of believers.” It also presents him...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Cupich awards Democrat billionaire who funds abortion Billionaire Democrat Michael J. Sacks donated $600,000 toward Illinois’ ‘abortion access infrastructure,’ and has served as a board member of the Obama Foundation.Cardinal Blase Cupich is honoring Michael J. Sacks, a major abortion funder, in Chicago next week.Sacks is receiving the Nostra Aetate award from the Archdiocese of Chicago despite his publicized, direct financial support of abortion. An announcement from Mundelein Seminary, published by the University of Saint Mary of the Lake, lists Sacks as a recipient of this year’s award from the archdiocese.“Join His Eminence Blase Cardinal Cupich and...

Tucho’s New Document Identifies the Crisis… and Makes it Much Worse Rome knows the Catholic faith is in crisis. But in "Venite ad Me", Tucho’s new document offers a diagnosis that ignores the Vatican II revolution, and remedies that make matters worse. Robert Morrison examines the contradictions, the surprising passages on traditional liturgical sensibilities, and what the Church’s own perennial teaching says about the way forward.“Today, a specific investigation into the sudden decline of Catholicism in countries where it was deeply rooted is necessary to understand its causes and develop an appropriate pastoral response.” (Paragraph 119 from Venite ad Me)On...

Who Needs a Papal Mandate? Mandate From Communist Bishops’ Conference Read at Consecration of Latest Chinese Bishop; Leo Approves It Anyway! Leo XIV’s Church accommodates Communist control, forbidden homilies, experimental liturgy, and moral ambiguity—while conservative Catholics help make the whole spectacle respectable.The Chinese Communist Party Gets Its Bishop. Rome Supplies the Blessing.On October 15, the Vatican announced that Ignatius Ding Zuyao, a 40-year-old priest in China’s Jiangsu province, had been consecrated Bishop of Haimen. Leo XIV, according to the Holy See, appointed him on August 24, having approved his candidacy under the secretive agreement between Rome and Beijing.How reassuring. The...

[Catholic Caucus] Tucho’s new document contradicts John Paul II. Today, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed by the soft-porn author and Cardinal Víctor “Tucho” Fernández, has published Venite ad Me (“Come to Me”), a document on transmitting the Catholic faith. He disclaims “terminological precision and systematic treatment,” instead adopting a more discursive approach.Tucho creates a contrast between faith and its doctrinal formulations. Paragraph 29 of the document states: “The faith is not transmitted primarily as a body of doctrinal content or religious information, but as a form of ecclesial life into which the believer is gradually...

Pope Leo encyclical makes ‘Spirit of Assisi’ Church teaching, cardinal claims Cardinal George J. Koovakad says Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas made the 1986 Assisi interreligious prayer gathering a defining criterion ‘through which to interpret the present.’A Vatican cardinal has claimed that Pope Leo XIV has elevated the interreligious “Spirit of Assisi” to the level of the Church’s ordinary Magisterium.On October 7, during an address delivered at the Pontifical University Antonianum in Rome, Cardinal George J. Koovakad, prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, asserted that paragraph 223 of Pope Leo’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas officially incorporated the “Spirit of Assisi” into...

[Catholic Caucus] The Modernist Gospel of Lived Experience: Rome Rediscovers the Heresy Condemned by St. Pius X At Leo XIV’s Vatican, theology is now said to emerge from people’s experiences. St. Pius X exposed this inversion of Catholic faith 119 years ago.The Modernists Are Finally Saying It Out LoudSometimes the Modernists make their intentions so obvious that one wonders why they bother dressing them up in theological jargon.During the October 14 Vatican press conference marking the tenth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, Fr. Stanislaus Chu Ilo, a Nigerian theologian at DePaul University, offered this remarkable explanation of the theological revolution currently...

[Catholic Caucus] EXCLUSIVE: Amoris laetitia synthesis report to address Communion for divorced Catholics, but issue ‘not the centre’ A member of the committee responsible for the final synthesis report on Amoris laetitia has confirmed to AdVaticanum that the document will address Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, but insists the issue was “not the centre” of discussions, with Pope Leo XIV to review the report before its publicationA member of the committee responsible for reviewing the final report on the tenth anniversary of Amoris laetitia has confirmed to AdVaticanum that the document will address Holy Communion for divorced and...

[Catholic Caucus] Roche falsely claims Summorum Pontificum’s goal was SSPX ‘returning’ to Church Pope Benedict XVI has said it is ‘absolutely false’ that the ‘reauthorization’ of the Latin Mass was ‘primarily a concession’ to the SSPX.Anti-traditionalist Cardinal Arthur Roche has repeated the false claim that Pope Benedict XVI issued Summorum Pontificum to “smooth the way” for the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) to “return to the Church.”The prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship told AdVaticanum in an interview published Tuesday that “Summorum Pontificum was created to accommodate, and also to smooth the way for, the Society of Saint...

[Catholic Caucus] Amoris Laetitia summit speaker falsely claims divorce, ‘remarriage’ is a ‘vocation’Rather than call for the repentance of those living in grave sin, Professor Julie Rubio lamented their ‘marginalization.’A theologian on Monday lamented the exclusion of those living in adultery from Holy Communion in an address delivered at Pope Leo XIV’s Amoris Laetitia summit.Professor Julie Hanlon Rubio on Monday delivered a talk titled “In the difficulties of life: accompanying and supporting — Walking with families in complex situations,” during the Vatican summit marking the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, which claimed the divorced and remarried may receive Holy Communion...

[Catholic Caucus] Should sinners conform to the Church’s moral ideal - or should the Church move closer to them? Should sinners conform to the Church’s moral ideal - or should the Church move closer to them? Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of the Philippines addressed the Vatican’s 10th-anniversary Amoris Laetitia meeting on October 12 in a video presentation. He said the exhortation encouraged pastors “to discern concrete situations rather than begin with classifications, to accompany gradual growth, and to trust that grace can already be at work even in lives and relationships marked by weakness and incompleteness.” And: “Not simply to...

Second cardinal contradicts Leo XIV by defending Mary Co-Redemptrix Cardinal Müller called the Marian title 'Co-Redemptrix' a 'truth objectively contained within Revelation' that 'must not be silenced.'Speaking on Thursday, October 8, at the De Maria Numquam Satis conference in Rome, which was dedicated to the topic of the Blessed Mother in light of dogma and worship, Cardinal Gerhard Müller gave a beautiful presentation of traditional Catholic teaching on the special role of the Blessed Mother in the salvific work of Our Lord.This speech had an especially powerful effect in light of the fact that only a year ago, the Vatican...

[Catholic Caucus] EXCLUSIVE: Cardinal Ferrão defends controversial Amoris Laetitia remarks on changing family structures Ambiguous remarks by the Cardinal of Goa likely to further confuse the faithful, much like original Amoris Laetitia documentCardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão has defended his Amoris Laetitia speech suggesting that the Church must discern how it should change in response to evolving family structures, after questioning over the speech in which he referred to “changing understandings of gender.”The President of the Conference of Bishops of India made the remarks at Pope Leo XIV’s meeting marking ten years since the publication of Amoris Laetitia on 8 October....

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican theologian urges ‘new ways of being’ family, Church at Amoris summit Professor Vincenzo Rosito of the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences praised the 'spirit' of Amoris Laetitia and the 'changes' within the Church and family. Professor Vincenzo Rosito, the Vice Dean of the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences, asked attendees in an address to the ongoing Amoris Laetitia Summit, which praised the 10-year spirit of Pope Francis’ 2016 document, to ponder what is needed to learn new ways of “being a family” and “being a...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal notes “changing understandings of gender,” says Church must discern how to change. At Leo XIV's meeting marking ten years of Amoris Laetitia on October 8, Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão delivered a speech on the challenges facing families in Asia. He is the President of the Conference of Bishops of India.Discussing changes in the “identity, nature and composition of the family,” the cardinal observed that “new forms of partnership and cohabitation are emerging, amid changing understandings of gender and relationships in urban settings.”Reflecting on what the Church has learned from its pastoral work, Ferrão declared: “Pastoral work is...

[Catholic Caucus] EXCLUSIVE: Bishop Schneider says Amoris Laetitia is ‘against divine law’, must be ‘explicitly correctedAs the Pope gathers prelates to the Vatican to discuss Amoris Laetitia, Bishop Athanasius Schneider has expressed his concerns that the text is a practical “denial of the divine truth of the indissolubility of marriage” and an attack on the “ineffable sanctity of the Holy Eucharist”. The prominent prelate, auxiliary of Astana in Kazakhstan, gave a wide-ranging interview to the Catholic Herald recently, discussing issues such as the Society of Saint Pius X, the traditional Mass, Amoris Laetitia (AL), the recent document commemorating Nostra Aetate...