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[Catholic Caucus] IMBISA theologians study challenges of inculturation in Africa The pastoral challenges of accompanying those in polygamous situations and the wider question of inculturation in the African Church were at the centre of a gathering of theologians representing the six episcopal conferences that make up the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA): Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe (CEAST), Lesotho (LCBC), Mozambique (CEM), Namibia (NCBC), South Africa, Botswana, and Eswatini (SACBC), and Zimbabwe (ZCBC). At the Padre Pio Retreat Centre in Pretoria, South Africa, participants recently examined how the Church can respond to African cultural realities...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Zen urges Pope Leo to stop Synod, remove Cardinal Fernández Cdl. Zen slammed the Synod’s ‘hidden agendas,’ including on homosexuality and ‘women’s ordination,’ and called on Pope Leo to give Cdls. Mario Grech and Jean-Claude Hollerich a ‘long vacation.’Cardinal Joseph Zen, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, in a blog post last week, reflecting on the fruits of the Second Vatican Council, called on Pope Leo XIV to put a stop to the Synod and condemned the initiative’s “hidden agendas” on LGBT ideology, female “ordination,” and clerical celibacy.In his blog post, translated into English on November 6, Cardinal...

[Catholic Caucus] Ohio cathedral to offer funeral Mass for man in homosexual ‘marriage’ The Cathedral of Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, of the Diocese of Toledo will host a Catholic funeral Mass for a man who lived for decades in a homosexual relationship, threatening grave scandal.The Catholic Cathedral of Toledo, Ohio, is set to offer a Catholic funeral for a man who lived in a homosexual “marriage.” The funeral will be in direct violation of ecclesiastical law regarding the refusal of Christian burial for manifest sinners.A visitation for John Arthur Park will take place Monday, November 9,...

[Catholic Caucus] Exclusive interview: Archbishop Aguer on the papal visit to Argentina and the legacy of Pope Francis n an exclusive interview with AdVaticanum, Archbishop Héctor Aguer discusses Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Argentina, the legacy of Pope Francis, the state of the Church in his country and the place of tradition in its futureArchbishop Héctor Rubén Aguer is the Archbishop Emeritus of La Plata, Argentina. Born in Buenos Aires on 24 May 1943, he was ordained a priest in 1972 and served as Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires from 1992 to 1998 before being appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of La...

Vatican’s ‘Venite ad me’ Document: Seven Troubling Changes to the Understanding of Faith The new Vatican 'Venite ad me' document is quietly redefining Faith. Beneath its pastoral language lie seven deeply troubling departures from traditional Catholic teaching, from the meaning of faith itself, evangelization, and the authority of revealed doctrine. Is this the latest manifestation of Neo-Modernism inside the Church?On October 22, 2026, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published a series of “considerations” entitled “Venite ad me. Considerations on the Transmission of the Faith in an Epochal Change”.As the document itself specifies, it is neither a magisterial...

[Catholic Caucus] The Fifth Mark of the Church: Why Traditional Catholics Are Being Persecuted The Catholic Church is known by four marks: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. But there is a fifth mark that Catholics have long recognized: Persecution. As traditional Catholics face mounting restrictions from Rome, could the persecution of those who remain faithful to Tradition be helping preserve the visible identity of the true Church?One of the most intriguing aspects of the current crisis in the Catholic Church comes to light when we consider the following truths of our religion:The Catholic Church is a perpetually visible society.The Catholic...

Pope Leo gives top post to feminist who supports gay blessings Claudia Leal Luna criticized the Vatican's 2021 ruling against blessings for gay unions, arguing that Catholic sexual morality needs to take 'some steps.' Pope Leo XIV named Chilean theologian Claudia Leal Luna as undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, placing a vocal critic of the Church’s 2021 rejection of blessings for homosexual unions in a senior Vatican post.The appointment, announced Thursday, pairs Leal with Jesuit Father Avelino Chicoma Bundo Chico. Vatican News and the dicastery’s own announcement confirm that Leal, born December 12, 1977, holds a...

Cardinal Bernardin’s Victim Speaks Out Last week I (Fr. David Nix) had a four hour dinner with Bernardin’s victim and her husband. She is now 80 years old. The Satanic Ritual Abuse happened to her about 70 years ago by Fr. Joseph Bernardin (later Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago, top-left.) The abuse happened at St. Mary’s Church in Greenville, SC (top-right.)My mother is from Chicago (and my father is from West of Chicago) so I grew up hearing from extended family that one day Cardinal Bernardin would be canonized. Much in my life has changed since then. Another thing that has...

[Catholic Caucus] Marian Theologians Renew Appeal to Cardinal Fernández Over Vatican Doctrinal Note A year after the publication of Mater Populi Fidelis, the International Marian Association says its detailed criticisms remain unanswered.A year after the Vatican published its controversial instruction Mater Populi Fidelis, a group of leading Marian theologians has sent a new letter to Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández noting that he has yet to respond to criticisms they had made of the document last December.The Theological Commission of the International Marian Association (IMA) also mentioned in their Nov. 4 letter to the Vatican’s prefect of the Dicastery for the...

[Catholic Caucus] Considerations on the Traditional Pilgrimage to Rome -- by Roberto de Mattei Considerations Sine Ira et Studio on the Ad Petri Sedem Pilgrimage Roberto de MatteiNow that the polemics that arose in the heat of the moment have settled, let us attempt to offer some dispassionate considerations, sine ira et studio, as the Romans used to say, on the fifteenth Peregrinatio ad Petri Sedem, held in Rome from October 23 to 25, 2026.The Roman pilgrimage is organized by the Coetus Internationalis Summorum Pontificum, chaired by Christian Marquant. It takes place each year at the end of October and...

[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...

Leo XIV-led Vatican sends Diwali message to Hindus The Vatican extended its ‘warmest prayerful and festive wishes’ to Hindus on Diwali while suggesting the ‘spirit of Assisi’ could help Christians and Hindus ‘forge pathways of peace’ together.The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue (DID) under Pope Leo XIV on Friday published a special message to Hindus ahead of their Diwali holiday next week, stressing the Vatican’s commitment to peace “in the spirit of Assisi.”In its October 30 message, published the day before Allhallowtide and signed by Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad and Monsignor Indunil Janakaratne Kodithuwakku Kankanamalage – prefect and secretary of the...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV appoints a 🌈 Jesuit - who defended homosexual "marriage" already in 2008 (!) Today, Pope Leo XIV has appointed Jesuit Fr. Giacomo Costa and Salesian Sr. Elena Massimi as undersecretaries of the General Secretariat of the Synod for five-year terms.Costa replaces Spanish Augustinian Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín, appointed Prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity in March.Sister Massimi succeeds French Sr. Nathalie Becquart, who had served as undersecretary since February 2021. Cardinal Mario Grech remains Secretary General.Costa defended homosexual “marriages”Fr. Giacomo Costa SJ's involvement in debates over the homosexual civil unions dates...

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] Leo-appointed bishop urges Catholic brotherhoods to welcome ‘gay couples’ Spanish Bishop José Antonio Satué exhorted the Council of Brotherhoods of Cadiz to love gay couples ‘as they are’ while welcoming ‘with joy’ the ‘divorced and remarried,’ without mentioning a call to conversion.The bishop of Málaga, Spain, urged Catholic religious brotherhoods to welcome “with joy” gay couples and other people living in situations contrary to Catholic moral teaching.Pope Leo XIV appointee José Antonio Satué, at the beginning of a training course of the Council of Brotherhoods of Cadiz, said that in the brotherhood everyone should feel “welcomed, respected and...

[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] Faith should ‘become culture,’ Pope Leo emphasizes at audience on Vatican II Continuing his series of Wednesday general audiences on the Second Vatican Council and its documents, Pope Leo XIV devoted his October 28 audience (video) to the relationship between faith and culture.The audience, which took place in St. Peter’s Square, was the thirtieth audience in the series and the seventh devoted to the Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (1965). The audience was devoted to the second chapter of Part II of the pastoral constitution; the chapter is entitled “The...