De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Don’t miss this candid, lively, and extended conversation with Fr. Gerald Murray, Diane Montagna, Edward Pentin, and TCT Editor-in-chief Robert Royal on the recent Vatican document on blessing same-sex “couples” (and the sharp reaction to it around the world), the year of synodality, the cases of Cardinal Burke, Fr. Rupnik, and Cardinal Becciu, Christian persecution, and prospects for the Church in 2024

The full episode of The World Over Live from last night where they discuss the crisis the Pope's remarks over civil unions have caused: The Pope has caused great scandal here: he is at ease with homosexual couples living together and committing sin. As Father Murray points out, this is a very sad day because it is a Pope causing grave scandal to the faithful. The discussion online has moved on from "did he or didn't he" - it's now more "he was being pastoral" versus "he's leading people away from the faith". You might remember I wrongly said he didn't , the Vatican then confirmed he did . This was me trying to think the best of the Pope and not immediately jumping to the worst possible conclusion. You see, along with most of you I imagine, I desperately want the Pope to be excellent. To hold and explain the good news about Jesus Christ and what He came to do. I want him to spread the joy of the Gospel and the excitement that comes wit...

The Papal Posse are always worth a watch. In this episode, they discuss the synod document. Fr Gerald Murray says it was a happy day when Querida Amazonia was released because the synod asked for women deacons and married priests and the Holy Father did not grant those things, he gave an answer which was to pray for vocations. Progressive Catholics are angry and bitter, their reaction, that the pope "lacked courage" is because he set up people's expectations in that regard. Fr Murray: the Amazonian synod was first raised by the pope in the context of ordaining viri probati , naturally there were therefore a lot of expectations. Robert Royal thinks the pope wants to leave the door open with his request for the faithful to read the Final Document. Baldisseri says clearly in the press conference that exhortation does not speak about the approval of the final document, just presentation, therefore it does not have magisterial authority. In this Baldesseri contradi...

Another outstanding & comprehensive synopsis of the Amazon Synod from Raymond Arroyo, Robert Royal & Fr Gerald Murray at EWTN. The Pope acknowledged the idols were "Pachamama" The posse asks how can we simply declare there was no idolatrous intent as Pope Francis did? How does that make it alright? Where was the theological dimension? This speaks to so much that goes on in Rome under Pope Francis. There was no definitive answer as to what the Pachamama idols were or where they came from or what their relevance or importance was. Instead, we were left to speculate — and there was a great deal of speculation! I think, like the vast majority of Catholics, I wanted this to be something the Pope didn't know about, something his poor management had allowed to happen, not something he wanted to happen. I even wrote about it, giving Francis the benefit of the doubt , desperately hoping he is on the side of Christ: What ensued was carnage really where even the po...

The disaffection of Catholics with Pope Francis continues to grow in the wake of the synod. Robert Royal offers a particularly sobering reflection on the Synod's final document in this article : In this article he tries to answer the question “Which future for the Church?” Would the Synod Fathers accept vague language about sexuality and synodality that could lead to anything – and probably will, as the vague formulations of Vatican II did in the 1960s and 1970s – or would they affirm not only Catholic moral teachings in a world that doesn’t understand them, but also the Church’s sense of itself as, of course, engaged with the world, but as possessing a truth and a Spirit that is not of the world. As has come to be the characteristic of Church documents under this pontiff, the final synod document is horrendously long and full of meaningless waffle, as Royal puts it,  if you read through the entire text without specially looking for  the worrying controversial i...