Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Italian diocese tries to normalize homosexual, divorced and ‘remarried’ relationshipsA Catholic diocese in Italy has released a pamphlet of various 'Christian testimonies' that included two homosexual couples and one civilly remarried couple. A Catholic diocese in Italy has released a pamphlet of various “Christian testimonies” that included two homosexual couples and one civilly remarried couple.On December 4, the Family Pastoral Service of the Diocese of Chiavari, Italy, directed by Father Marco Torre, published the pamphlet “There Is No Greater Love.” It includes autobiographical testimonies presented as “exemplary,” without additional doctrinal notes or commentary. There were no official statements...

[Catholic Caucus] Lesbians ‘dressed as brides’ receive ‘blessing’ in Argentine cathedral, priest reports‘Heartbreaking. This Pastor is a wolf in sheep's clothing,’ one Catholic laywoman remarked.A priest in the Cathedral of San Isidro in Argentina blessed two lesbian women dressed as brides, a traditional missionary priest reported.“In the chapel where the Tabernacle is, at 6.15 pm, there was a blessing of two lesbian women dressed as brides,” Father Joao Silveira shared on Twitter. “I told the priest: ‘One thing is accompaniment, but we can’t consent to sin, much less bless it.’ He replied, ‘It’s pastoral,’” Fr. Silveira said. He did not...

[Catholic Caucus] New ‘pornographic’ texts by Cardinal Fernández discovered‘Cardinal Fernández's problem also explains the contempt with which he gratuitously treated the Blessed Virgin Mary, denying her two titles used by saints and popes,' observed El Wanderer.More erotic filth by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, Prefect for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) — formerly the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — has been reported by the Argentine Catholic website El Wanderer, which described the newly unearthed material as “not only pornographic but also detestable.”The “disgusting” erotic texts are in line with the DDF head’s previously known...

Leading Mariologists Publish Scathing Critique of Vatican Note on Mary’s TitlesIn a lengthy response, the International Marian Association Theological Commission highlights what it sees as significant errors and omissions in the Vatican’s controversial doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis.One of the Catholic Church’s foremost associations of Mariologists has issued a strongly critical response to Mater Populi Fidelis, a recently published Vatican doctrinal note that has been criticized for its diminution of some long-established devotional Marian titles.In a 23-page document published Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the International Marian Association Theological Commission (IMATC) points to various elements of Mater...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis Has Bequeathed Money to Pro-Homosexual Dominican SisterPope Francis, who died in April 2025, set aside funds in his will for a humanitarian project run by Dominican sister Lucía Caram, she said in remarks reported by Spanish media. According to Sister Caram, the funds were explicitly intended to support medical care in war-affected areas of Ukraine, in particular the purchase of ambulances. The exact amount designated in the pope’s will has not been disclosed.Sister Caram said that Francis had expressed support for her work on several occasions: “I never imagined it would come in this form.”Born in...

SSPX Bishop Fellay calls Vatican’s latest Marian document ‘pitiful,’ ‘insult to God’‘If you pray and make sacrifices, you can really save souls. If that’s true for any souls, how much more for the Blessed Virgin Mary?’ Bishop Bernard Fellay said.Bishop Bernard Fellay of the traditional priestly Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) denounced the Vatican’s rejection of Mary’s titles of Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces as an “insult to God.”Asked how the faithful should interpret the recently issued doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis, Bishop Fellay said in an interview with Kenya’s Immaculata TV, “I would dare to use the...

[Catholic Caucus] Tucho's Marian Kerfuffle - by Roberto de MatteiThe Consequences of the Marian Note of Cardinal Fernandezby Roberto de Matteifor Corrispondenza RomanaOn November 4, 2025, the doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis was published, with which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sought to clarify the meaning and limits of certain Marian titles referring to Mary's cooperation in the work of salvation. The statement caused dismay and consternation among the faithful, but also among Mariologists, because it represents an objective diminution of the privileges traditionally reserved for Our Lady by the Tradition of the Church. One wonders now...

How do you solve a problem like Fernández?The Advent season begins this Sunday, and that means The Sound of Music will soon be on television in the United States. The ABC network airs the film classic starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer each year before Christmas, a broadcasting tradition that began in 2002. (It would air before Easter when I was a child, which shows my age.)As I considered the latest contretemps involving the prefect of the Dicastery of for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), Argentine Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, a song from the film came to mind.“How do...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Fernández Clarifies: “Co-redemptrix” Off Limits in Official Vatican Documents, Permitted in Private DevotionIn comments on “Mater Populi Fidelis,” the DDF Prefect explains what the doctrinal Note means in stating the Marian title is “always inappropriate.”Three weeks after Mater Populi Fidelis sparked debate over its statement that the Marian title Co-redemptrix is “always inappropriate,” the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has clarified that the phrase is not a sweeping rejection of the title itself. The Cardinal said the word “always” applies only to official Church usage from this point forward, not to every...

Tucho Doesn’t Necessarily Dislike Mary, Just True CatholicsIf we had to pinpoint an even stronger motivation for Mater Populi Fidelis, it seems that it would be Tucho’s dislike of “conservative” and “traditional” Catholics, who are almost certainly the groups most offended by the rejection of Our Lady’s titles.In his June 11, 2025 tribute to Francis, Cardinal Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández expressed his sensitivity to the way in which people perceive his words:“Therefore, when faced with a complex theological moral issue, we must always consider how it impacts real people, their lives, and their suffering. We should ask ourselves what effect...

Is Mary Co-Redemptrix? The Whole Doctrine Explained On November 4, 2025, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published a doctrinal Note in which it stated that the use of the traditional Marian title of Co-Redemptrix would be not only unnecessary, but even harmful. In the same document, however, the doctrine contained in that title is at the same time reaffirmed—though not always with precision. This article seeks to clarify the traditional meaning of this truth of faith, which for centuries has accompanied the Christian people in their sensus fidei.The Marian dogmasTo understand who the Most Holy Mary is,...

[Catholic Caucus] Fitting for Chaos-Tucho: Allowing Women an Acolyte-Like "Deaconess"The Synod's general secretary has prepared a document on a 'female diaconate', for which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will be responsible for drafting the final report.ElWanderer.com wrote on 19 November that this is an "imminent danger" because of Tucho’s track record of never missing an opportunity to cause serious problems for the Church.In Catholicism, Holy Orders in the three forms deacon, priest and bishop are reserved for men for ontological reasons.ElWanderer speculates that Tucho will resort to the tactic he applied in Fiducia Supplicans, which he likely...

[Catholic / Orthodox Caucus] Pope Leo XIV can work towards attaining “Church unity” by first removing Cardinal (“Tucho”) Fernández from the DDFThey say that a quickfire way to start a schoolyard brawl is to start downplaying or insulting someone’s mother.On November 4, the Vatican’s doctrinal office, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), led by prefect Cardinal Víctor Manuel (“Tucho”) Fernández, did just that in the Catholic world when it published the document “Mater Populi Fidelis”( “The Mother of the Faithful People of God”). Strikingly and disturbingly, the document claimed that the title of “Co-Redemptrix” was not an...

[Catholic/Anglican Caucus] Bishop Schneider on the Co-Redemptrix ControversyThey Could Not Have Been Mistaken: The Voice of the Saints, Doctors, and the Ordinary Magisterium of the Church in Affirming Mary as “Co-Redemptrix” and “Mediatrix of All Graces”Over the course of time, the Ordinary Magisterium, together with numerous Saints and Doctors of the Church, have taught the Marian doctrines of Coredemption and Mediation, employing among other expressions the specific titles “Co-Redemptrix” and “Mediatrix of All Graces.” Consequently, it cannot be maintained that the Ordinary Magisterium, along with Saints and Doctors of the Church over so many centuries, could have led the faithful...

Fr. Heimerl: Of course the Blessed Mother is ‘Co-Redemptrix’The pious tradition of the Church has always known this and always understood it correctly. Is the Blessed Virgin Mary “Co-Redemptrix” and “Mediatrix of Grace”? Of course she is, I would say, because it was only through Mary’s “Fiat” that the only redemption through her Son became possible, and it was only through her that God gave us the fullness of grace in Jesus Christ.The pious tradition of the Church has always known this and always understood it correctly. No one would seriously have thought of “deifying” Mary or denying Christ’s unique...

[Catholic Caucus] Dear Pope Leo and Fernandez, Mary is Not the ProblemThe Virgin Mary is Co‑redemptrix, for no other creature was so intimately associated with the Passion of the Son. The liturgy says it, Tradition says it, the faith of the Christian people has said it for centuries. A Note, which in a year will already be forgotten, will not change what is eternal.On October 4, 2025, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith promulgated the Mater Populi Fidelis Note. As the title indicates, it is a doctrinal Note and concerns “certain Marian titles referring to Mary’s cooperation in...

[Catholic Caucus] Quis ut Virgo? - Who is like unto Mary? -- Reflections on the Document of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, by Roberto de MatteiOn October 16, 1793, what was perhaps the most disgusting crime of the French Revolution took place: the execution of the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, after a sham trial before the Revolutionary Tribunal. Plinio Correa de Oliveira wrote of Marie Antoinette: "There are certain souls who are only great when the winds of misfortune blow upon them. Marie Antoinette, who was futile as a princess and unforgivably frivolous in her life...

[Catholic Caucus] Rediscovered book by Cardinal Fernández features graphic erotic passages on ‘spirituality and sensuality’A 1998 book by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández featuring provocative, sexually-charged themes has resurfaced, likely adding further scrutiny to the already embattled prefect of the Vatican’s doctrine office.Titled “Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality,” the 26-year-old work includes graphic descriptions of human sexual relations and discussion of what the Argentinian theologian describes as “mystical orgasm.”The nearly 100-page-long book also depicts in detail an imaginary erotic encounter with Jesus Christ on the shores of Galilee, which Fernández said was based on a spiritual experience disclosed to him by...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican rejects Marian titles ‘Co-Redemptrix’ and ‘Mediatrix’ in new doctrinal noteMater Populi Fidelis, approved by Pope Leo XIV, rules the expressions inappropriate and theologically 'unhelpful.'The Vatican has declared the Marian title “Co-Redemptrix” to be both inappropriate and theologically “unhelpful.” The statements came in a doctrinal note titled Mater Populi Fidelis (“Mother of the Faithful People of God”), issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) on November 4 and signed by its prefect, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández. The document was approved by Pope Leo XIV on October 7.“When an expression requires many, repeated explanations to...

Op-Ed: Mary, the Co-Redemptrix and Mater Populi FidelisThe document Mater Populi Fidelis of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, specifically in numbers 17 and 18 gives a undeservedly over-simplified overview of this important doctrine of the Catholic Faith. The fact that Our Lady cooperated in the work of the Redemption, at least mediately, is a de fide teaching. To doubt it would incur theological censure.For a clear and comprehensive overview of the main lines of this teaching and its historical development, I refer the reader to J. A. de Aldama, S.J., “De Corredemptione,” in Sacrae Theologiae Summa,...