“A hostile takeover of the Church of Jesus Christ.” That was how Cardinal Gerhard Muller of Germany described the Synod on Synodality, the ongoing experiment in church chaos unleashed in 2022 by Pope Francis (Jorge Bergoglio). That’s a serious charge from a high-level prelate and theologian who served as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Another top churchman, the late Cardinal George Pell of Australia, dittoed that evaluation, referring to the Synod as “a toxic nightmare” and as “this potpourri, this outpouring of New Age goodwill.”
The second and final formal session of this ecclesial “nightmare” will conclude at the end of this month. What then? How will this Synod impact the Church and the world? Well, according to the “progressives” in the Catholic clergy and the worldly media, it represents a seismic “paradigm shift” in Catholic Church teaching and will usher in a glorious new age for humanity.
On the other hand, Catholic prelates and lay faithful of the traditional, orthodox persuasion do not dispute that the Synod signals a seismic shift in 2,000 years of Catholic teaching on doctrine and morals. However, they charge that this tectonic move amounts to papal endorsement for a destructive tsunami that includes: open borders, LGBTQ “rights” (including “gay” marriage), married priests (and priestesses), abolition of the death penalty, easier annulment/divorce, de-emphasis of opposition to abortion and euthanasia, worshiping creation rather than the Creator, global government under the anti-Christian United Nations, a Marxian socio-political-economic ideology, accommodation with communist regimes, and more.
“Renewal” or Revolution?
According to Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan, “The so-called ‘synodal path’ is ultimately an attempt to give official approval to truly heretical doctrines.” Schneider, who grew up under communist persecution in the Soviet Union, says the aims of a synod should be to “clarify doctrine without any ambiguity, without any doubt” and to “reject the errors of the time.” But those in charge of the Synod, he asserts, are allowing “poison, spiritual poisons” to spread.
Cardinal Joseph Zen, the heroic 92-year-old bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, who has suffered arrest and persecution under the Communist Chinese regime that Francis now warmly embraces, has repeatedly warned of the subversion taking place under the Synod’s false rubric of “renewal.” In a letter sent last year to all the cardinals and bishops participating in the Synod, Zen took particular aim at the extremely radical “synodal path” of the dissident German bishops, whom Pope Francis has accorded an outsized role at the Synod.
Cardinal Zen’s letter notes that the German clerics “propose a revolutionary change in the constitution of the Church and in the moral teaching about sexuality.” “More than a hundred Cardinals and Bishops from all over the world have written a letter of admonishment to the German bishops,” he writes, “but the latter have not acknowledged their error.” More importantly, the Hong Kong cardinal observes, “The Pope has never ordered this process of the Church in Germany to stop.” This is in marked contrast to Francis’ harsh treatment and removal of conservative bishops Joseph Strickland (Tyler, Texas), Daniel Fernández Torres (Puerto Rico), and José Luis Azcona (Brazil), and his ongoing jihad against traditional Catholics, whom he repeatedly disparages as “rigid.”
Archbishop Héctor Aguer of Argentina is another critic of the Bergoglian “synodal way,” charging that “The Synod on Synodality is leading souls from the truth of Christ and His Church.” “Worryingly,” he continues, “there are some signs of Rome’s benevolence towards the U.N.’s Agenda 2030…. The 2030 Agenda is a globalist project of the United Nations and associated agencies, which pressures states to adopt abortion policies and ‘comprehensive sex education.’”
Suicidal Path
These early alarms by orthodox prelates concerning the Synod and the Bergoglian “synodal path” have proven prophetic. While few pew-sitting Catholics and even fewer non-Catholics have paid much attention to the Synod, the Argentine pope and his globalist allies have invested considerable energy in this revolution. They intend for big things to come from it. The ecclesial assembly is being presented as a “movement of the Holy Spirit” among “the People of God,” but critics see it as a sham that is being orchestrated and influenced by unholy spirits. The Synod was launched in 2022, with its first month-long formal session taking place in Rome in October 2023.
Last year’s session validated suspicions that the assembly would turn into an omnium-gatherum of the heretical and heterodox. Of particular concern (both then and now) is the push by “progressive” forces to get the Church to join the LGBTQ+++ parade, an effort that has already made great progress under Francis. Another “hot button” issue is the ordination of women. The Catholic Church has consistently taught, and recent popes (John Paul II and Benedict XVI) have unequivocally confirmed that the sacerdotal office instituted by Jesus Christ can be filled by males only. Female deacons and priests are not an option. It has been definitively settled. Or has it?
Francis swings both ways on this issue. In his interview with CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell earlier this year, he answered with a succinct “No” when asked if the sacrament of Holy Orders would ever be open to women. Pretty definitive, yes? Well, hold on. As with so many other sensitive matters on which he flip-flops (and then flop-flips), Francis conspicuously has sent the opposite signal by setting up two commissions to “study” women’s ordination and by inviting some of the Church’s most outspoken feminist activists to participate in them. Moreover, he took the unprecedented action of not only appointing women to participate in the Synod, but also awarding them voting status on par with bishops.
Green Paganism
For many Catholics (and non-Catholics as well), one of Pope Francis’ most disturbing characteristics is his near obsession with “climate change,” on which he has firmly allied himself with the globalists, socialists, and communists of the World Economic Forum and the United Nations. On October 4, 2023, at the start of the Synod on Synodality, Francis released his apostolic exhortation titled Laudate Deum (Praise God), an ecological jeremiad blasting Western civilization in general and the United States in particular for promoting an “irresponsible lifestyle” that is pushing the planet to the precipice of a global-warming apocalypse.
Has Pope Francis abandoned the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Church’s concern for saving souls in exchange for the Al Gore-Klaus Schwab-United Nations neo-pagan gospel of “saving the planet”? Many Catholics think so. As do many non-Catholics. Anti-woke psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson (a non-Catholic) took the pope’s green fanaticism to task in an interview earlier this year with Colm Flynn of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), the Catholic global broadcaster.
He blasted the pontiff’s fixation on “climate change” and “saving the planet,” of which he said, “Pope Francis seems to be on about constantly when you should be saving souls.” “That’s how you save the planet, not by worshiping Gaia,” Jordan said, referring to the Mother Earth goddess and possibly referencing the pope’s idolatry controversy surrounding his 2019 Amazon Synod and its attendant Pachamama-worshiping scandal in the Vatican Gardens. (See here, here, and here.)
The “Welcoming” Church
The Amazon-Pachamama controversy was not a one-off event. Like his seeming fetish with LGBTQ issues, Bergoglio appears to be obsessed with a brand of “welcoming” ecumenism that insists on fabricating a world religion that would meld Catholicism not only with other Christian denominations, but also with pagan cults, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and every other religious belief system.
Just prior to the opening of this month’s “synodality session,” the pope dropped a heresy bomb in Singapore. During a meeting with a group of young people in that multi-faith country, the pope casually said that “All religions are paths to God.” He didn’t stop there. The Kumbaya moment (which was videotaped and broadcast to the world) continued with his banal and true assertion that “God is for everyone, and therefore, we are all God’s children.” But he went on: “There is only one God, and religions are like languages, paths to reach God. Some Sikh, some Muslim, some Hindu, some Christian.” And other “languages,” such as Voodoo, Santeria, wicca, luceferianism, and satanism, are the paths to God also? If not, why not?
Bishop Schneider calmly and charitably reproved and corrected Francis in an interview with Raymond Arroyo on EWTN.
Responding to the pope’s shocking statement, Schneider told Arroyo:
Such an affirmation of Pope Francis is clearly against the divine revelation, it contradicts directly the first Commandment of God which is ever valid — “You shall not have other gods beside me” — this is so clear, and such a statement contradicts the entire Gospel.
Moreover, Schneider reminded EWTN viewers, “Jesus Christ said, ‘No one comes to the Father except through me.’”
The LGBTQ “Radical Inclusion” Imperative
On December 18, 2023, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF, formerly the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) released the now-infamous document Fiducia Supplicans (“Supplicating Trust”) calling on Catholic priests to bless “same-sex couples” and heterosexual couples living in polygamous and adulterous relationships. This came only weeks following the first session of the Synod and Synodality and one week before Christmas. Could the timing have been more diabolical than to drop this heretical and blasphemous bomb as Christians were preparing to celebrate the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ? The outraged response from Catholic clergy and lay faithful worldwide was immediate and volcanic. (See our extensive coverage here and here.)
The author of the offending decree, Cardinal Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández, is a protege of Francis from Argentina and, like Francis, is a liberal-left Jesuit. As we have reported, he also has a somewhat checkered past, including authorship of two sexually explicit books. Nevertheless, Francis decided that Fernández was just the guy needed to head the Church’s doctrinal office, the aforementioned DDF. As such, Cardinal Fernández has helped guide the new “synodal path.” He undoubtedly played a key role in formulating the Instrumentum Laboris (Working Document) of the 2023 session that called for “radical inclusion” of those people “on the margins,” especially “LGBTQ+ people.”
Pope Francis’s support for the radical LGBTQ agenda, always camouflaged under the banners of compassion, charity, and mercy, came out into the open during the synod. It was evident from the start that Francis had stacked the deck with the most vocal advocates of the Church’s pro-sodomite lobby.
In a pastoral rebuke issued on October 17, 2024, Cardinal Zen called out the leaders of the synodal circus. He wrote:
From the beginning of this synod, the two cardinals leading the assembly and the Pope’s appointed head of the doctrinal office did not emphasize preserving the faith, but emphasized making changes: changes to, in particular, the operational structure of the Church and its ethical teachings; and the ethical justification of “sex,” especially regarding homosexual relationships.
“Grave Depravity”
Specifically, Cardinal Zen is referring to Pope Francis’ top Synodal appointees:
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.J. — Relator-General (the top dog) of the Synod;
Cardinal Mario Grech — Secretary-General of the General Secretariat of the Synod; and
Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández — Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
But that’s only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In addition, the assembly’s two “special secretaries,” Jesuit Fr. Giacomo Costa and Msgr. Riccardo Battocchio, both from Italy, are well-known publicists for the homosexual “lifestyle.” It doesn’t stop there. Two of the most notorious clerical promoters of Church acceptance of active homosexuals are bosom buddies of Pope Francis: Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe of England and Jesuit Father James Martin of the United States.
Incredibly, Francis invited Radcliffe to serve as the retreat master for both sessions of the Synod, which the dissident cleric was only too happy to do. And on October 6 of this year, during the current Synod session, Pope Francis rewarded the radical Radcliffe with a red cardinal’s cap!
Fr. Martin, an advisor to the pope, is the world’s most high-profile pro-LGBTQ priest, which, of course makes him the darling of the secular media. He is a big fan of Cardinal Fernández and Fiducia Supplicans, of course. In fact, on December 19, 2023, the day after it was published, he rushed to get a story on himself blessing a “same sex couple” — complete with photo — in The New York Times. He then promptly posted it on X (see below). He was rewarded by being invited to the Synod by Francis, where he hosted a pro-LGBTQ event attended by Synod participants, including cardinals. Just prior to the synod, Francis penned a preface for Martin’s latest book and gave him a papal photo-op to help sales.
It doesn’t end there. During the Synod this year, as in 2023, Pope Francis scheduled a private meeting and photo-op with leaders of New Ways Ministry, the militantly pro-homosexual “Catholic” group that has defied bishops, popes, and Church teaching for four decades. The organization proudly displays the promo photo with Bergoglio on their website in an article titled, “New Ways Ministry Brings Transgender, Intersex, Ally Catholics for Dialogue with Pope Francis.”
Pope Francis, Fr. Martin, Fr. Radcliffe, Cardinal Fernández and the rest of the perversion posse are bucking two millennia of constant Church teaching. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2357) notes that Sacred Scripture “presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity” and that Church tradition “has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’” Moreover, it says, “They are contrary to the natural law.”
Note that the teaching is that homosexual “acts” are condemned as sin. A person with a homosexual inclination or attraction can live a Christian life if he abstains from his “intrinsically disordered” lusts. The sodomite lobby, however, cannot abide any restriction on their libidinal impulses. They demand that the Church change, that Christianity change, to accommodate their depravity.
Shepherds or Wolves?
The Church has always taught that to “admonish the sinner” is a spiritual work of mercy and an act of charity. If done in a spirit of meekness and love for the other, it is not an act of sanctimony or self-righteousness. We are to love the sinner, hate the sin. Jesus Christ teaches this in the Gospel according to St. Matthew (18:15-20), and St. Paul does likewise in his Epistle to the Galatians (6:1). In the Gospel according to St. John (Chapters 5 & 8), Jesus tells sinners to “Go and sin no more.” In the Gospel according to St. Mark (1:15), Jesus says “Repent and believe the good news!”
Repent? Why? Because He loves them and wants to save their souls. He wants to save them from wallowing in their sins. He offers mercy to all who will repent and believe. This is basic Christianity.
We see the same message of mercy in the Old Testament, where the prophet Ezekiel (3:18-19) delivers this stark warning from God:
When I say to the wicked, You shall surely die, and you give him not warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.
The prophet reiterates this Divine pronouncement in even greater detail in Chapter 33. Such a harsh judgment, one would hope and pray, would be sufficient to shake unfaithful shepherds — priests, bishops, cardinals, and, yes, Pope Francis — from their calamitous course that is encouraging millions of souls to die in iniquity and leaving oceans of blood that will be required at the shepherds’ hands.
Related articles and videos:
Pope Francis’ Revolution: The Synod on Synodality
Is the Pope Catholic? | Beyond the Cover
Defying Francis’ Same-sex ‘Blessings’: A Rising Chorus of Cardinals, Bishops, Clergy, Faithful
Pope’s Same-Sex Blessing: Opposition and Shockwaves Build Worldwide
Archbishop Vigano’s Excommunication — Pope Francis and His Synodal ‘Church of Accompaniment’
Defiant Archbishop Viganò: Another Blow to Pope Francis and the New World Order
