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[Catholic Caucus] Head of Italian bishops’ conference welcomes papal document permitting blessing same-sex ‘unions’Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, has endorsed Pope Francis' controversial declaration allowing blessings for homosexual 'couples.'Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, has welcomed Pope Francis’ declaration opening up blessings for homosexual “couples.”In a statement to the winter session of the conference’s Permanent Episcopal Council on Monday, Zuppi stated that he has “accepted the Declaration of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, Fiducia Supplicans,” penned by the dicastery’s Prefect Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández and authorized by Pope Francis on...

First gay blessing in Italy, diocese of Italian bishops’ presidentFirst, the civil union at the registry office, then the blessing in church. It’s the first time a gay couple has been blessed in public in an Italian church. What’s more, it took place in Bologna which is the diocese of Cardinal Zuppi, the president of the Italian Bishops' Conference. An act which is in open violation of the Responsum of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which forbids such blessings. It’s a demonstration of the pharisaic hypocrisy of certain pastors who, instead of calling the sheep back, proudly...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis Fights a “Preconciliar Mentality” in the Church In an interview given to the Corriere della Sera on May 3, 2022, in addition to the war in Ukraine and his health problems, Pope Francis returned to the ecclesial questions that regularly concern him.The sovereign pontiff has let it be understood that the implementation of the guidelines given by the Second Vatican Council was “perhaps more difficult” in Italy than in Latin America or Africa: “I often found a pre-conciliar mentality that disguised itself as conciliar.”He nevertheless points out the qualities of many Italian priests, parish priests, nuns...