Critics Say Synod Report Undermines Church Teaching, Misrepresents Courage International

“This Vatican-sponsored destructive subversion must come to an end now. Souls are endangered by the scandalous false teachings being propagated by the Synod. Pope Leo needs to strengthen the brethren in the Faith by putting an end to this poisonous betrayal of God’s truth.”

Critics Say Synod Report Undermines Church Teaching, Misrepresents Courage

The final report of Study Group 9 includes testimonies from ‘married’ gay men, questions whether same-sex relations are sinful, and draws strong criticism for its treatment of Courage International.

The Vatican is seen on May 6. (photo: Matteo Pernaselci / Vatican Media)

Edward Pentin VaticanMay 8, 2026

A study group’s final report from the 2024 Synod on Synodality released Tuesday has been roundly criticized for attempting to change the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and for misrepresenting an apostolate, in good standing with the Church, that ministers to same-sex-attracted faithful.

The final report of Study Group 9 — entitled “Theological Criteria and Synod Methodologies for Shared Discernment of Emerging Doctrinal, Pastoral, and Ethical Issues” — is part of a broader set of ten study groups established by Pope Francis in February 2024. He said he had set aside the issues from the Synod on Synodality assemblies because there was not enough time to study them before the 2024 assembly. Other topics included ecumenism and the role of bishops.

Study Group 9's remit was to discuss “controversial” doctrinal, pastoral and ethical issues, including those surrounding same-sex relations. The report explains that the word “controversial” was replaced in the report with “emerging issues” in the final report in order to “experience an authentic ‘paradigm shift.’” The report maintains that a “paradigm shift” was a process initiated by the Second Vatican Council to challenge models of ecclesial life prevalent over the past centuries.

Setting the stage for what Catholic LGBTQ-rights activists have described as a “surprisingly progressive” view of same-sex relations, the report goes on to say that “pastorality” is its interpretative horizon. It underscores a concept of “relational conversion” that “demands learning through experience,” and offers guidelines for pastoral discernment on two specific emerging issues: the experience of homosexual Catholics and the commitment to active non-violence.

The report speaks of “discernment through conversation in the Spirit” having three “modes” which it defines as “listening to ourselves,” “paying attention to reality,” and “summoning various forms of expertise.”

The authors of the report included Cardinal Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio of Lima, Peru, known for some theologically heterodoxpositions, including on homosexuality; Archbishop Filippo Iannone, the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops; Italian moral theologian Father Maurizio Chiodi, who has argued that contraception can be morally permissible for married couples in some circumstances based on Amoris Laetitia, and that homosexual relationships “under certain conditions” could be “the most fruitful way” for those with same-sex attractions to enjoy good relations; and Jesuit Father Carlo Casalone, a moral theologian who in 2022 was criticized for urging support for assisted suicide as a tactic to prevent the legalization of voluntary euthanasia in Italy.

More: https://x.com/edwardpentin/status/2053026224318910467?s=46&t=IydJ-X8H6c0NM044nYKQ0w

Miranda Devine Beats AI

 

Bill Donohue April 9, 2026 We deal with issues all the time that require multiple rounds of fact checking. That’s because there are so many bogus comments, stories, reports and studies that have surfaced that it makes us skeptical. There is no substitute for doing your own homework.   The latest “arbiter” of truth is AI. From our perspective, AI is a useful tool, but it is no more dispositive than any other resource. This is particularly true when it is generating interpretative responses, or making normative judgments about persons or events.    Here is one example where AI did not fare well. We sought to evaluate a comment recently made by Miranda Devine, a columnist for the New York Post.    In her April 2 column, Devine wrote the following:   “When a black cop, Michael Byrd, shot dead an unarmed white woman, Iraq war veteran Ashli Babbitt, on January 6, 2021 during the Capitol riot, Democrats conspired to hide his identity, pay him secret bonuses, and ensure he suffered no consequences.”    Asking Google AI to evaluate the veracity of Devine’s statement generated this response: “The claim is largely false or misleading, mixing verified facts with unsupported conspiracy allegations.” The response also notes “there is no evidence of a partisan conspiracy to hide his identity or provide secret bonuses.”   The AI response offers these points as evidence for its claims:   “Shooting Fact: U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd shot and killed Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt on January 6, 2021, as she attempted to climb through a broken window near the Speaker’s Lobby while lawmakers were being evacuated.   “No Consequences/Clearance: The U.S. Department of Justice (April 2021) and the Capitol Police Office of Professional Responsibility (August 2021) concluded the shooting was lawful, within department policy, and did not violate criminal law. Byrd was not disciplined and was later promoted to captain.   “Hidden Identity & Threats: Byrd's identity was not ‘hidden’ by Democrats, but rather withheld for months by Capitol Police due to ‘numerous credible and specific threats’ against him and his family after his name was leaked on right-wing websites.   “Secret Bonuses: While Byrd has been praised by his department, claims of ‘secret bonuses’ to reward the shooting are largely unsupported or misinterpret standard department retention or security actions.   “Pardon Claim: Claims that Joe Biden granted a ‘secret pardon’ to Byrd are false; Reuters reports that Byrd's name does not appear on any official pardon lists.”   We investigated Google’s AI statement and found it wanting.    “Shooting Fact:”   This is an accurate summary.   “No Consequences/Clearance:”   As AI notes, Byrd was investigated by Capitol Police and the Justice Department for the shooting. Both investigations cleared him of wrongdoing. But as Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton points out, in most officer involved shootings the cop is usually investigated by a grand jury. In this instance, Byrd faced no such scrutiny. Rather, he was investigated by his own agency and the Justice Department. This may be defensible, but it is in stark contrast to how Black Lives Matter offenses are handled. Grand juries are typically demanded to ensure there is no cover-up. Apparently, AI cannot make this connection.    “Hidden Identity & Threats:”   AI tries to make a technical distinction between the Capitol Police and Congress. Yes, technically the Capitol Police withheld Byrd’s identity. However, as the attorney for the Babbitt family, Terrell Roberts, claimed, “The U.S. Congress wants to protect this man. He’s got friends in high places, and they want to protect him.” AI did not seem to believe this information was worthy of consideration.    “Secret Bonuses:”    It was later disclosed that Byrd received a $37,000 retention bonus, and that he received help accessing funds for officers wounded in the line of duty. But this was not well reported, and indeed it was kept under wraps for some time. The chairman of the Capitol Police Union complained that the bonuses were above what other officers received. This prompted the union boss to call on Capitol Police to either give everyone else the same bonus that Byrd received or force him to repay the excess amount.   “Pardon Claim:”   This is a red herring. Devine never said he received a pardon. Thus, no correction was needed. AI could just as well have told us that Byrd was suspended for leaving his loaded firearm in a public restroom in the Capitol, or that he was disciplined for shooting at a moving car while he was off-duty. In other words, AI not only makes a false comment, it makes no mention of relevant facts.   AI is not a light switch that either works or it doesn’t. It is a resource that requires discernment, and a willingness to probe further.   In the showdown between Miranda Devine and AI, she wins going away.

Cardinal Müller: Synod's homosexuality report leads to ‘heretical relativization’ of marriage

The prominent German cardinal roundly slated the latest text to emerge from the Synod, as well as any proposals for blessing of same-sex unions.

MICHAEL HAYNES

MAY 08, 2026

Cardinal Müller’s full commentary on the report, as sent to this correspondent from his office:

On God’s Blessing and the False Blessings of This World

By Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Rome

The study groups established by Pope Francis during the 2024 Synod on Synodality are now gradually publishing their — albeit highly controversial — findings. 

They are fatally similar in two respects: 1. Through their distrust of the central tenets of Catholic doctrine, which they confuse with a time-bound system of thought, rather than recognizing them as the unabridged and complete transmission of God’s revelation to present and future generations; and 2. in their attempt to align themselves with prevailing ideologies through a so-called “paradigm shift from rigid dogmatism to a people-friendly pastoral approach” in order to gain recognition from their proponents. 

They do not openly deny the revealed truths. But they ignore them and build their own house of a comfortable and worldly-conforming Christianity alongside them. 

To confuse the naive fellow believers, one garnishes it with biblical and spiritual-sounding platitudes: “what the Spirit says to the churches,” discernment instead of condemnation, the merciful and all-accepting Jesus pitted against the rigorist teachers of the law and the conservative theology professors trapped in their systems, who are more concerned with fidelity to the letter of the law and rigid doctrine than with people in their weakness and vulnerability. 

In disregard of or ignorance of Catholic tradition, this leads to the sophistically exaggerated claim that sin does not consist in conscious and voluntary acts against God’s commandments, but rather in the refusal of all-encompassing mercy toward those who cannot or will not fulfill them.

In reality, the Church teaches that Christ died on the cross for the sins of all people and that the Holy Spirit withholds God’s grace from no one who converts to the Gospel, so that they may lead a new and holy life in the following of Christ. Only for this reason can the Apostle say to the baptized: “Do not live any longer as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds… Put off the old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; be renewed in the spirit of your minds; and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph 4:17, 22–24).

In the context of the Synods of Bishops and the national synodal paths in the local churches, the favorite topic of certain bishops, theologians, and laypeople in tune with the spirit of the times keeps cropping up. Instead of leading people to the God-man Jesus Christ, the one and true Mediator between God and humanity, they see the future of the Church — in a monothematic and spiritually limited way — in the adoption of gender and rainbow ideology. 

Therefore, they even risk the visible unity of the Church in the truth of Christ, as the Lord Himself, as Head of the Church, has entrusted to the entire College of Bishops with and under the Pope as the personal successor of Peter on the Roman See. 

The private or even paraliturgical blessing of same-sex and opposite-sex couples in irregular relationships is based on the heretical denial of the revealed truth that God created human beings as man and woman.

Jesus, who in his person is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, confirmed the Creator’s original will against the Pharisees’ casuistry regarding divorce and definitively revealed that man and woman become one flesh only through the marital “I do” (cf. Mt 19:3–9). Thus, in marriage, man and woman form a personal and sexual two-in-one unity in mutual love, in shared life, and in openness to the children God wishes to give them. And only a man and a woman in marital union are blessed by God so that they may be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and rule (wisely) over all other creatures of the earth (cf. Gen 1:28). There is no mention in Sacred Scripture or in the entire tradition of the Church of a blessing for people in adulterous relationships, nor is there any indication that bishops are authorized to ordain or permit fraudulent and blasphemous blessings.

Georgetown Professor On Muslim Rape Gangs: Get Over It

Where you have Islam, you have rape. The Muslim conception of the perfect human being, in the early days of his cult, recruited converts by offering them sex slaves captured in raids on caravans. Those in countries targeted for Islamification who are horrified by Muslim rape gangs will just have to “get over it,” according to a Georgetown University professor.

Via Daily Caller:

Jonathan A. C. Brown, chair of Islamic Civilization at Georgetown, posted the dismissive remark twice on X in response to users discussing a link between Islam and an escalating crisis of rape gangs in the United Kingdom, archived versions of the now-deleted posts show.

Brown is an American who converted to Islam. He is married to Laila Al-Arian, a journalist for the Al Jazeera Media Network.

Libs of TikTok

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Jonathan Brown, a Professor at @Georgetown, responded to a post calling out Islamic rape gangs in the UK, saying, "Get over it." He deleted the comment, but then DOUBLED DOWN using the SAME disgusting response when another user called him out. Do you support this @Georgetown?

2:47 PM · Mar 31, 2026

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As Islam resumes its expansion, even kittens may be prey. Via Bare Naked Islam:

In Rome, a beloved kitten, known as Rosi, belonging to a feline colony in Tor Tre Teste, was found dying in a condominium garden, after being brutally raped and nearly killed by an African migrant, most likely an illegal Muslim migrant.

Elsewhere in Italy,

Police in Catania, Italy, say seven Egyptian Muslim migrants – some of whom are underage – have been arrested and charged for allegedly gang raping a 13-year-old girl.

No doubt Professor Brown would advise the young girl as well as Rosi the kitten to get over it.

On tips from abcanc, seaoh, and patthedog.