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Being pro-life is not antisemitic Cardinal Cupich (Oct 29, 2026) will today honour Michael Sacks despite his substantial financial support for abortion, while the Archdiocese of Chicago has responded to criticism by warning of the dangers of antisemitismToday, despite widespread indignation from the pro-life movement, Cardinal Blase Cupich will award Michael Sacks the inaugural Nostra Aetate Award at Mundelein Seminary in Chicago. The award will be presented during the annual Rerum Novarum event, “an evening to honour lay men and women who are examples of Catholic Social Teaching in action.”Nostra Aetate, full title Declaration on the Relation of the Church...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo-appointed archbishop of Vienna supports ‘ordination of women’ Archbishop Josef Grünwidl also argued for the abolition of priestly celibacy, stating it has 'nothing to do with our faith, with the truths of the faith, or with dogma.'Archbishop Josef Grünwidl of Vienna has said that he wants the “ordination of women” but thinks it is not “realistic” at the moment.In an interview with Austria’s public radio station Ö1, the new archbishop of Vienna addressed a wide range of issues, including the questions of female ordination, mandatory priestly celibacy, and euthanasia.Grünwidl noted that women are already serving in many areas...

‘Woe To Me If I Do Not Preach’ I’m not sure whether Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, the Archbishop of Algiers, has read the satirical poem “Absolute and Abitofhell” by Monsignor Ronald Knox. The poem describes the Oxford dons and clergymen of his day, who were enamored of theological liberalism, the kind of churchmen that, St. John Henry Newman said, he had spent his life combatting.The lines from that poem that come to mind about our man in Algiers are as sharp as vinegar: “When suave politeness, temp’ring bigot zeal / Corrected ‘I believe,’ to ‘One does feel.’ “Cardinal Vesco has recently...

A hundred Catholic nuns visit a Buddhist temple in Ho Chi Minh and practice meditation A Redemptorist priest maintains that offering incense and praying before a statue of Buddha are incompatible with the Catholic faithThe visit of nearly a hundred Catholic nuns to a Buddhist monastery in Vietnam has sparked debate among the country’s faithful after images circulated showing the sisters participating in religious practices specific to Buddhism. The encounter, held on October 26 in Ho Chi Minh, has drawn criticism from a Redemptorist priest, who recalls that certain gestures performed during the day are incompatible with the Catholic faith.According...

[Catholic Caucus] Dissenters rip Cardinal Ratzinger’s 1986 letter on homosexuality on 40th anniversary October 30, 2026» Continue to this story on National Catholic Reporter CWN Editor's Note: Critics of Catholic teaching on the immorality of homosexual acts strongly criticized the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s letter to bishops on the pastoral care of homosexual persons, 40 years after its publication. At the time, the congregation’s prefect was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. “We were horrified when we read it, but I would say we were not surprised,” said Sister Jeannine Gramick, cofounder of...

Cardinal doubles down after saying Church should not ‘convert’ people Cardinal Vesco responded to Bishop Barron's correction by saying that Catholics, Jews, and Muslims have 'better things to do' than trying to convert one another.Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, the archbishop of Algiers, Algeria, responded to Bishop Robert Barron’s correction of his erroneous statement that the Catholic Church is “not there to convert” by doubling down and saying that Catholics and members of other monotheistic religions have “better things to do” than trying to convert one another.In an October 30 social media post responding to Bishop Barron, Vesco highlighted the actions of...

A Bad Look for the Vatican - On the Blocking of Saint Peter’s to Traditional Pilgrims - by Bishop Marian Eleganti A Bad Look for the VaticanThis year's ban on the traditionally minded "Ad Petri Sedem" pilgrims entering Saint Peter's Basilica on October 24, 2026 borders on hostility toward Catholics who are loyal to the Pope and orthodox in their faith. It has nothing to do with concern for unity in the Church or with operational difficulties in organizing liturgical celebrations in Saint Peter's.The rites that exist in the Catholic Church, in their peaceful coexistence with the Novus Ordo, demonstrate...

[Catholic Caucus] Two Pilgrimages, Two Bans: Traditional Catholics Shut Out of Rome and Lourdes In the same weekend, traditional Catholics were denied their customary prayer service inside St. Peter’s Basilica and barred from public liturgies and processions at Lourdes. Two pilgrimages. Two holy places. And one unforgettable witness to a faith that no ecclesiastical restriction can extinguish. During the “Christ the King” pilgrimage organized by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in October 2026, I learned more vividly than ever that a pilgrimage’s true success does not rest on a basilica, a sanctuary, or even an official authorization from...

Pope Leo meets with Chicago anti-ICE activists at Vatican Pope Leo met with Chicago auxiliary Bishop José Maldonado and members of the so-called Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership, a leftist, pro-immigration group. Following his weekly general audience on Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV met with clerical and lay activists for immigrants detained by ICE in his native Chicago.Following his October 28 audience, the American pontiff met with Bishop José María García Maldonado, auxiliary bishop of Chicago, and several priests and lay members of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL), a group that specializes in “bringing pastoral care” to...

Vatican Welcomes Islam While Traditional Catholics are Rejected: What Happened to the Faith? Why are Catholic leaders welcoming Muslims while traditional Catholics face growing restrictions? Robert Morrison traces the controversy from Vatican II to today’s Church, contrasting the religious outlook of influential postconciliar theologians with Archbishop Lefebvre’s uncompromising defense of the Catholic Faith.In his recent interview with Michael Matt, Bishop Athanasius Schneider spoke of the way in which some bishops in Europe praise and promote Islam:“Many bishops in Europe say this religion is fine, we support this religion, because they believe in one god . . . and by this...

From Dick Durbin to Michael Sacks: Cupich will recognize an abortion-funding donor at a gala for future priests Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, will participate on October 29 in a gala at which the archdiocese will present the Nostra Aetate award to businessman Michael J. Sacks, president and chief executive officer of GCM Grosvenor, who has donated $600,000 to fund initiatives aimed at facilitating access to abortion in Illinois.The recognition will take place during the annual Seminary Salutes Rerum Novarum gala, organized by Mundelein Seminary, part of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake, with the goal of...

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...

[Catholic Caucus]Newly Published Letters Refute Vatican Claim That TLM Pilgrimage Failed to Specify Its Request MiL also publishes the text of a June 12 letter to Pope Leo XIV requesting permission to celebrate Mass.(Pilgrims gather in front of the Obelisk to sing the Credo; Photo: Diane Montagna)New letters have emerged concerning the Vatican’s refusal to let the fifteenth annual Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage Ad Petri Sedem enter St. Peter’s Basilica in procession. They confirm reports on the organizers’ Sept. 8 request and directly refute the Vatican’s claim that the request was not specific enough.Today the Italian blog Messainlatino (MiL) published three...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican warns of ‘extremism’ in faithful who ‘raise issue of’ Communion in hand Receiving Communion on the tongue is important in part because the priest’s hands alone are consecrated to touch the Eucharist.The Vatican has warned of “extremism” by those who “raise the issue” of receiving Communion in the hand and standing or kneeling.In a summary of an ad limina visit of the Episcopal Conference of Panama at the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the dicastery, led by Cardinal Arthur Roche, listed topics discussed during the meeting.On the subject of the liturgy, the...

Rome picks a side: LGBT ‘pilgrimage’ welcomed, Latin Mass shut out OpinionTo oppose the traditional Mass is to oppose the Mass, and to oppose the Mass is to oppose the Catholic faith itself.Catholics who love the traditional Latin Mass (TLM) have now been forcefully shut out from St. Peter’s Basilica. Pro-sodomy “pilgrims” have been deliberately welcomed. All within the span of just a little over a year, under the helm of Pope Leo XIV. A line has been drawn in the sand.The latest move against traditional Catholicism from the Vatican is so remarkable because it is so concrete and clear,...

Cardinal Cupich Will Honor Billionaire Planned Parenthood Donor Michael Sacks A prominent Catholic cardinal is under fire again for yet another decision to honor a radical abortion activist.Cardinal Blase Cupich faced massive criticism last year for his decision to honor pro-abortion Senator Dick Durbin and, this year, he’s facing calls to rescind an honor to a leftist billionaire who donates to the Planned Parenthood abortion business.Cupich and the rector of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake plan to present the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Nostra Aetate Award to billionaire businessman and Democrat donor Michael Sacks at an October 29...

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...

Leo XIV openly rejects the reign of Christ the King over states and nations Errors are found throughout Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas in which he says society has 'autonomy' from religion and that the state has 'full autonomy' from the Catholic Church.“Now, this authority, perfect in itself, and plainly meant to be unfettered, so long assailed by a philosophy that truckles to the State, the Church, has never ceased to claim for herself and openly to exercise. The Apostles themselves were the first to uphold it, when, being forbidden by the rulers of the synagogue to preach the Gospel,...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo’s Amoris Laetitia Summit: Doctrinal Confusion and a Secret Final Report A Vatican summit meant to celebrate Amoris Laetitia instead ignited controversy over marriage, sexuality and the Church’s moral teaching. From a nun’s shocking remarks about Our Lord to calls to recognize new forms of family life, here’s the radical trajectory, Bishop Schneider’s warning, and the final report that never saw the light of day. Amoris Laetitia: An Aberrant DocumentAmoris Laetitia is certainly not the worst of Francis’s magisterial documents, but within the apostolic exhortation it is possible to identify statements and provisions concerning the relevant application...

[Catholic Caucus] The Lepers: Letter from the Secretariat of State blocking entry of Traditional Pilgrims to Saint Peter’s Basilica Three weeks before the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, which is in its 15th year and has always ended on the last Sunday in October, Father Claude Barthe, chaplain of the pilgrimage, received the denial.Diane Montagna reports (main excerpt):A letter from the Vatican Secretariat of State to the organizers of the annual Ad Petri Sedem pilgrimage, obtained by this journalist, confirms reports that the pilgrims were barred from entering St. Peter’s Basilica in procession to pray at the tomb of the Apostle.The letter,...