Australian bishop testifies for prosecution in former Broome bishop’s abuse trial

An Australian bishop has appeared in court as a witness for the prosecution in the trial of the former head of the neighboring diocese on charges of sexual abuse.

Bishop Michael Morrissey of the Diocese of Geraldton appeared in court to give evidence in the trial of Bishop Christopher Saunders, the former leader of the Diocese of Broome on Monday, August 4, in Perth, Western Australia.

Bishop Saunders led the Broome diocese from 1996 until 2021, when he stepped down citing “ill health” amid allegations of grooming and sexual abuse of young Aboriginal men. 

He has since been charges with 19 counts of sexual abuse, as well as pleading guilty to multiple firearms charges last year.

On Monday, Bishop Morrissey was called as a witness by prosecutors and answered questions on “Integrity in Ministry,” a document first issued in 2004 by the Australian bishops’ conference outlining principles and standards for clergy in the country.

Morrissey was specifically asked about the allegations that Saunders used alcohol as a means of grooming and assaulting young men and minors. While Morrissey said he could conceive of offering some kind of pastoral contact in informal situations “over a beer,” he would never provide “pastoral care” to someone who appeared to be intoxicated, nor involve alcohol in a one-on-one pastoral setting, WAToday reported.

It is believed to be the first occasion a serving diocesan bishop has appeared as a witness for the prosecution in the criminal trial of another bishop charged with sexual abuse. 

After Saunders stepped down from ministry, Morrissey was appointed apostolic administrator of the Broome diocese until Saunders’ successor was appointed in 2025.

Lawyers for Saunders argued that even though the document was issued by the bishops’ conference, of which he was a member at the time of the allegations, it did not represent a binding “one-size-fits-all” code of conduct. The bishop denies all criminal charges.

Lead prosecutor Adam Ebell had previously told the trial that Saunders was sexually attracted to Aboriginal males and invited them to “alcohol-fueled” parties at Church properties across the state’s Kimberley region.

The prosecutor said the dress code at the parties was “shirts off” and there was a “seemingly endless supply of alcohol and cigarettes,” bought using Church funds.

The prosecutor alleged that Saunders used boxing and wrestling as a “subterfuge” to engage in physical contact with the young men.

Most of the charges reportedly concern one alleged victim, who was 16 when the claimed sexual contact began and 19 when it ended. According to the prosecutor, the young man “felt shame” at what had occurred but “felt like he could not say no.”

Saunders is also accused of committing offenses against a 24-year-old man and another man who was in his late teens. 

The jury heard that additional men would give evidence about their encounters with Saunders, though these encounters did not result in charges.

The court has also been shown surveillance footage of Saunders, covertly recorded at his home in Broome in 2024. 

The footage, which did not lead to any charges, reportedly showed Saunders and another man shirtless and drinking, resting their feet on each other’s laps.

Also in court on Monday to appear for the prosecution was Saunders’ former assistant Cherrille Quilty, who told the trial that she was tasked by the bishop with processing for purchase cell phones and alcohol running into the thousands of dollars, allegedly used as gifts for young men.

In a 2024 interview with The Pillar, Quilty said that she was among the first to raise a criminal complaint against the bishop, whom she also accused of abusive bullying as an employer.

She also said that there was “a list of names on the wall in the secretary’s office with victims, potential victims, and their bank account details,” and that “was ostensibly for the payment of men who had done ‘odd jobs’ for the bishop.”

“It wasn’t for odd jobs, I can tell you that now,” she told The Pillar. “It was hush money. One of the first victims that came forward was the one that I paid most frequently and it was to shut him up.”

“You didn’t dare ask why [Saunders] was paying them. Didn’t dare. He wasn’t the sort of person you would ever cross or ask him anything… And he would make me drop whatever I was doing to go to the bank, get petty cash out, go to the bank, and bank that money immediately.”

Saunders formally resigned from office as bishop of the Broome diocese in 2021 after stepping back from governance of the diocese in 2020, after accusations surfaced that he had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of Church funds on gifts for vulnerable young men, including cash, phones, alcohol, and travel.

The bishop was arrested and charged after a second police investigation was opened in 2024 into accusations against Saunders. 

That investigation followed a previous police inquiry, closed in 2021, which filed no charges for lack of evidence, but the case was reopened after law enforcement authorities were given a copy of the results of an internal Church investigation conducted under the norms of Vos estis lux mundi.

Previous statements from the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference have said that Saunders’ case is before the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome and he is charged with “alleged canonical crimes, as defined by Vos estis lux mundi, and alleged breaches of the Church’s Integrity in Ministry protocols.”

Leaked portions of the report produced by the Church’s investigation, which triggered the renewed police action against the bishop last year, identified a pattern of behavior by Saunders consistent with grooming dozens of young men over a period of decades.

According to media reports on the leaked text, one man told Vatican-commissioned investigators that Saunders had employed him to do gardening work at his residence and offered him the use of his shower afterwards. According to the alleged victim, the bishop then climbed into the shower with him.

“I was scared. He was a big fella and I was just a teenager at the time,” he told investigators, and that the bishop subsequently started showering him with gifts of cash, phones, cigarettes and alcohol.

Another man testified that Saunders threw so-called “bunga bunga parties,” to which only male guests were invited and at which he saw the bishop ask attendees to strip, and kiss and grope young guests.

“The bishop has been variously described by witnesses as … a sexual predator that seeks to prey upon vulnerable Aboriginal men and boys,” the report said.

But the bishops’ conference also claimed initially that the investigation into Saunder did not identify any alleged or potential victims under the age of 18, even while Saunders has now been criminally charged with multiple sexual offenses against a person under 18.

Following his resignation and the opening of the Vos estis investigation, Saunders was ordered by the Vatican to reside outside the diocese, a directive he ignored, continuing to live in a Church-owned house in Broome and to exercise considerable influence over diocesan affairs. 

By December 2023, Saunders was still listed as the “responsible person” for nine Catholic charities in his former diocese, several of which are affiliated with local parishes.

The Broome diocese covers the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of the sparsely populated state of Western Australia, serving around 15,000 Catholics out of a total population of 44,000 people.

Bishop Timothy Norton, S.V.D., was installed as the new Bishop of Broome on Dec. 4, 2024.

Australian media said Norton stressed that the Broome diocese would continue to cooperate with police amid an ongoing investigation.

“Accordingly, no further comment will be made regarding the former bishop of Broome until such time as all legal proceedings are concluded,” he said.

“The protection of children and adults at risk remains our highest priority. We encourage anyone who has experienced abuse, or suspects abuse within the community, to come forward and report it to police.”

The Wandering Bishops (Opinion)

Immediately after the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) consecrated four new bishops in an Alpine meadow next to its seminary at Écône, Switzerland, it received a personal message from the pope. 

But, from the Society’s point of view, it was the wrong message: All Lefebvrists would remain excommunicated until they renounced their heretical doctrines.

Also, it was the wrong pope—not Leo XIV but Peter III of the Palmarian Catholic Church in Palmar de Troya, Andalusia, which his followers believe is the new Holy See. 

Their “Vatican” is the gigantic Cathedral-Basilica of Our Crowned Mother of Palmar, whose domes and towers are surrounded by fortified walls topped with barbed wire.

In a statement reported by the Ad Vaticanum website, Pope Peter, the Swiss-born Joseph Odermatt, said he wished to “address all Catholic faithful who are wandering through the spiritual desert after witnessing the collapse and the general excommunication of the followers of Marcel Lefebvre.” 

As he explained, the SSPX had been excommunicated decades ago by Gregory XVII.

There has, of course, never been a Catholic pope with that name. Odermatt was referring to the founder of the Palmarians, Clemente Domínguez y Gómez (1946–2005), a Spanish office clerk and alleged Marian visionary who rejected Vatican II, had himself illicitly ordained bishop, and then assumed the title of pope. 

He is not to be confused with another “Pope Gregory XVII,” the French-Canadian Gaston Tremblay, who ruled a sect called the Apostles of Infinite Love in Quebec from 1968 until his death in 2011.

It goes without saying that no one in the SSPX cares what Peter III, or any other antipope, thinks about their canonical status. 

The history of the Palmarian Catholic Church is riddled with criminal behavior that stands in sharp contrast to the austere discipline of the Society. 

Why, then, does the subject of the Palmarians touch a raw nerve with the SSPX? 

Why do Lefebvrists on social media respond so furiously to any mention of the Andalusian “Holy See”?

The truth is that, having carried out consecrations that excommunicated all six of its bishops, the SSPX has moved closer to the ecosystem of episcopi vagantes or “wandering bishops.” 

For centuries, and especially since the fractures created by the First Vatican Council, there have been independent prelates with more or less valid Catholic orders. 

They consecrate and excommunicate each other, their lines of succession becoming ever more entangled as they form and dissolve minuscule denominations, some of which have more bishops than priests and more clergy than laity.

A new episcopus vagans was created as recently as July 25 this year, when Fr. Michael Mary, founder of the Transalpine Redemptorists (FSSR), which was associated with the SSPX before reconciling and then breaking with Rome, was ordained bishop on Papa Stronsay, an island in the Orkneys. The consecrator was Pierre Roy, a Québécois sedevacantist bishop. 

The FSSR Oratory is tiny; rarely can so much silk and lace have been crammed into such a small space.

It was a scene worthy of the heyday of wandering bishops in the early twentieth century. Their pretensions are hilariously described in Peter Anson’s classic study Bishops at Large, which devotes a chapter to Arnold Harris Mathew (1852–1919), self-styled Earl of Landaff and Count Povoleri, an English Catholic priest who left to become a Unitarian and then an Anglo-Catholic curate. 

Mathew was consecrated bishop by the Old Catholics of Utrecht before adopting the titles of Metropolitan of the Western Orthodox Church, Ancient Catholic Archbishop of London, and Patriarch of the Old Roman Catholic Church. 

He ordained an unknown number of bishops and priests; many formed their own denominations, including the theosophical Liberal Catholic Church, which believes in reincarnation.

The dozens of sects created via the “Mathew succession” illustrate the tendency of schismatic consecrations to spin out of control. 

The SSPX, however, is by any standards a special case. It maintains that the Vatican has breached canon law by declaring it schismatic. Its official line is that its bishops must not be confused with sedevacantist episcopi vagantes.

The reality is considerably more messy. Bishop Roy is a former Lefebvrist priest. So is America’s most prominent sedevacantist prelate, Bishop Donald Sanborn, who was rector of the SSPX seminary in Michigan before breaking away to form the Society of St. Pius V (SSPV). 

He is now superior general of the Roman Catholic Institute (RCI) in Reading, Pennsylvania, whose dictatorial style has earned it the nickname “Crazy Church” among ex-members. 

Sanborn is what is known as a “Thuc-line” bishop. 

He and his SSPV colleague, the late Bishop Daniel Dolan, were ordained into the episcopal succession established in the 1970s by the sedevacantist Monsignor Ngo Dinh Thuc, former Catholic Archbishop of Hué, Vietnam, and the older brother of the assassinated South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem. 

Meanwhile, another ex-Lefebvrist priest, Michael Kelly, rejecting Thuc, was consecrated by a first-generation Catholic bishop from Puerto Rico.

Until this point, there was no “Lefebvre line” of episcopi vagantes. That is no longer true. One of the bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre at Écône in 1988 was the late Richard Williamson. 

After expulsion from the SSPX in 2012, he consecrated five bishops to serve the so-called “SSPX Resistance,” a loosely organized group of Lefebvrist hardliners who, while not formally repudiating Pope Leo XIV, might be described as “sedevacantist-adjacent.”

Williamson was an infamous Holocaust denier; one can readily understand why the SSPX prefers not to discuss him, and also plays down the Lefebvrist connections of so many sedevacantist episcopal entrepreneurs. 

But why should it recoil from mention of the Palmarian Catholic Church? 

The history of this sect is unbelievably grotesque; in terms of doctrinal orthodoxy it is at the other end of the schismatic spectrum from the SSPX. Yet from the Society’s point of view there is an awkward plot twist. 

When the alleged apparitions of the Virgin began at Palmar in 1968, Clemente Domínguez became their main interpreter. He founded a quasi-Carmelite order and was given funds by a gullible baroness to build the Palmarian cathedral. 

After becoming a bishop in 1975, he was involved in a car accident that necessitated the removal of his eyeballs.

Declaring himself Supreme Pontiff in 1978, the blind “Pope Gregory the Very Great” imposed extreme asceticism on his followers while embracing personal debauchery. 

Enemies accused him of being incapably drunk while he was carried aloft by gorgeously vested clergy whom he would consecrate bishop at the drop of a hat. 

Palmarian ceremonies might last for hours or, alternatively, five minutes: A truncated version of the Tridentine Mass boiled it down to 117 Latin words. 

Gregory XVII was succeeded by the self-styled Pope Peter II, Manuel Alonso Corral, who died in 2011, and by Ginés Jesús Hernández, who, as Pope Gregory XVIII from 2011 to 2016, modeled himself on General Franco (a canonized Palmarian saint alongside, implausibly, Paul VI, who is venerated as a martyr drugged by Freemasons). 

But the Palmarians regard Hernández as an antipope rather than as a pope emeritus, and with good reason. 

After suddenly abdicating, he claimed that the Palmarian church was “all a hoax from the beginning.” 

In June 2018 he and his new wife broke into the cathedral-basilica, allegedly attacked a Palmarian bishop with a hammer, and were later both convicted of armed robbery and assault.

None of which would have happened if Domínguez had not been made a bishop by none other than Archbishop Thuc. 

According to Professor Magnus Lundberg of Uppsala University, an authority on fringe Catholicism, this is where the story of the Palmarians intersects with that of the Lefebvrists. 

Lundberg writes that in 1975 individual members of the SSPX “seem to have been attracted by the antimodernist messages from Palmar.” 

He cites Noël Barbara, a French sedevacantist priest who claimed that “Lefebvre did not want to go to Palmar de Troya, but suggested that they should approach Archbishop Thuc instead.” 

This may or may not be true; what we do know is that Thuc was taken to Palmar by Maurice Revaz, who taught canon law at Écône.

The Society of St. Pius X has maintained that its dispute with Rome is confined to aspects of the Second Vatican Council and the liturgy it inspired. 

Yet such protestations ring increasingly hollow in the light of what appears to be the growing influence of anti-Vatican hardliners inside the Society. 

Moreover, they take no account of the further rebellions facilitated by Lefebvre, without whom there would have been no SSPV, RCI, SSPX Resistance, and - if Barbara is to be believed - no Disneyland-baroque cathedral-basilica shimmering like a mirage in the fields of Andalusia.

Making sense of all this is not easy. There is a fine line between drawing attention to the surprising number of episcopi vagantes who were at some point associated with the SSPX and unfairly attributing guilt by association.

In the conclusion to Bishops at Large, Anson writes that once you stray off the beaten track into the ecclesiastical forest, “It is hard to distinguish the wood from the trees, even more to memorize the names of its galaxy of fauna and flora. One almost despairs of disentangling the infinite ramifications of splinter-churches . . .”

Six decades later most of those churches have vanished, but it is in the nature of freelance consecrations that disappearing sects are supplanted by rivals that anathematize each other. 

For observers, this is the stuff of comedy—Monty Python’s People’s Front of Judea vs. the Judean People’s Front and the Judean Popular People’s Front. 

Unfortunately, it is also in the nature of these consecrations that they attract psychologically damaged men under whose autocephalous rule devotees are bullied or sexually abused.

Pope Leo is aware of this - and, also, that some responsibility for such abuses lies with dissident bishops who, however lofty their intentions, pass on episcopal orders in defiance of the Church. 

Hence, perhaps, the unusual severity of his reminder to the SSPX that “to tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity.”

Clerical Changes 2026 - Clonfert

This morning Bishop Michael appointed Fr Pat Conroy PP Ballinakill and Derrybrien to minister simultaneously as Parish Priest of Woodford and Looscaun effective 31 August 2026.

Our sincere thanks to Father Pat for his generosity in accepting this new additional ministry. May God bless him into the future. 

Our thanks also to Fr Kieran O Rourke for his many years of dedicated service to the Parish of Woodford and Looscaun. 

We pray God's blessing on him as he takes up his new responsibilities as Parish Priest of Eyrecourt, Meelick and Clonfert, Parish Priest of Lusmagh, Rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Clonfert and Episcopal Chaplain to Emmanuel House of Providence.

The Catholic Church’s New Schism

At an open-air Mass in Écône, Switzerland, before a crowd of about 16,000 people, four priests became bishops last month. 

The men professed their fidelity to tradition against “heretics, schismatics, and those who rebel against our Holy Father.” 

They did so knowing full well that, in becoming bishops, they lacked something the Catholic Church deems essential: permission from the pope.

All four of these men are members of the Society of Saint Pius X, or SSPX, an arch-traditionalist group of clergy founded in 1970 by the French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. 

For decades, SSPX has battled with the Vatican over the group’s fear that, as one theologian told me, “in reading the signs of the times, the Catholic Church is more beholden to the times than she is a light to the nations.” 

Now tensions have reached a breaking point.

The Vatican warned SSPX before the Écône Mass that consecrating bishops without a papal mandate would be considered a “schismatic act,” a formal separation from the Catholic Church. 

After the Mass, the Church issued a decree saying that the new bishops, plus the two who ordained them, incurred an automatic excommunication: 

They can neither receive communion nor celebrate licit Masses nor officiate valid marriages and confessions.

The 700 or so SSPX priests worldwide will also fall into schism, and thereby be excommunicated, if they remain with the society. 

Even lay churchgoers who “formally adhere” to the group may face the same sanction.

Maine Catholic Diocese Reaches Financial Settlements With Victims Of Priest Sexual Abuse, Critics Skeptical

The bishop of Maine says the Catholic diocese has arrived at “financial resolutions” with a number of clergy sexual-abuse victims.“

Even though pending cases that were decades old no longer had legal standing based on the ruling, the diocese recognizes that the harm caused by sexual abuse is not erased with time and still desired to respond with compassion,” Bishop James Ruggieri said in a statement.

Ruggieri said the payments are *intended to acknowledge, in a tangible way, consistent with our resources and obligations, the seriousness of what has been reported and the lasting impact of abuse.”

Paul Kendrick of Freeport, a spokesman for clergy sexual-abuse victims, called the bishop’s announcement “a public relations ploy designed to protect the identities of priest abusers, keep secret evidence of the church’s failure to protect children and low ball financial compensation for the lifelong harms and injuries inflicted upon victims.”

The Portland-based diocese has faced numerous civil lawsuits and allegations regarding clergy child sexual abuse spanning from the 1950s through the 1980s, though recent state supreme court rulings have significantly impacted ongoing litigation.

Ruggieri argued that even though the church may be legally immune based on a court ruling from last year, he decided an obligation to make financial offers.

Lawsuits against the diocese have claimed that church leaders were aware of rampant abuse by clergy members, failed to report or stop it, and actively concealed the actions from families and law enforcement.

Pope recalls that "the liturgy is the first school of the spiritual life"

After the summer recess, Pope Leo XIV has resumed this Wednesday the cycle of catechesis dedicated to the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, the document of the Second Vatican Council on the sacred liturgy.

At the general audience held in the Vatican, the Pontiff focused his reflection on the ecclesial dimension of liturgical prayer, emphasizing that the liturgy is not an individual practice nor a wellness technique, but the privileged place of encounter with God and the source of the Church’s spiritual life.

In a cultural context marked by efficiency, consumerism, and the search for merely technical solutions to human needs, Leo XIV warned of the risk of reducing prayer to a psychological exercise or considering it a useless activity. In the face of this mentality, he recalled that the liturgy constitutes “the first source of divine life” and called for rediscovering especially the Liturgy of the Hours as a school of prayer for the faithful and for those preparing to receive Baptism.

Below, we reproduce the full text of the Holy Father’s catechesis:

Brothers and sisters, good morning!

In this catechesis we resume our reflection on the conciliar Constitution on the liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC). Today we focus on the ecclesial dimension of liturgical prayer.

As the Apostle Saint Paul suggests, it is the Holy Spirit who teaches us to pray. Since the day of Pentecost, the Spirit dwells in the Church, inspiring all its activities and, in particular, prayer.

The life of the first community, born in Jerusalem after the Passover of Jesus, is a life in the Spirit given by the Risen Lord.

“From that time on,” says the Council, “the Church has never ceased to come together to celebrate the paschal mystery: reading ‘what refers to him in all the Scriptures’ (Lk 24:27), celebrating the Eucharist, in which ‘the victory and triumph of his death are once again made present,’ and at the same time giving thanks ‘to God for the ineffable gift’ (2 Cor 9:15) in Christ Jesus, ‘to the praise of his glory’ (Eph 1:12), by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 6).

In our time, in contexts dominated by a mentality centered on efficiency and consumerism, prayer can seem something useless and ridiculous. In a world where science and technology claim to give all the answers, praying can seem a form of escape. Moreover, even in many Christian families prayer is no longer handed down, while numerous people run the risk of confusing it with yet another technique, psychological in nature and oriented toward personal well-being.

Prayer, on the other hand, as a fundamental dimension of our humanity, deserves to be rediscovered in its truth.

The Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium took this demand seriously. And this deeply pleased Pope Saint Paul VI, who, when promulgating this first document approved by the Second Vatican Council, declared:

“God in the first place; prayer, our first duty; the liturgy, the first source of the divine life that is communicated to us, the first school of our spiritual life.”

(Address in St. Peter’s Basilica, December 4, 1963).

In the Constitution, in fact, the term “prayer” designates the entire liturgy. This perspective is decisive, because it guided the liturgical reform by making the active participation of the faithful its central axis. The liturgy is presented above all as the place of encounter, of God’s initiative who draws near to humanity in his Son, “the Word made flesh, anointed by the Holy Spirit” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 5), to whom we can respond “through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,” that is, thanks to “the prayer of Christ, with his Body, to the Father” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 84).

For this reason, Saint Paul VI ardently desired that the Liturgy of the Hours, that is, the Church’s daily public prayer, inseparable from the Eucharist, deeply permeate, revive, guide, and express all Christian prayer and effectively nourish the spiritual life of the people of God (cf. Ap. Const. Laudis canticum).

For this desire to become a reality, the Liturgy of the Hours must be welcomed and lived more and more in the ordinary life of the baptized and of communities.

To the many people who wish to learn to pray, especially catechumens, it can offer the path and the school of Christian prayer.

Each week and each day, the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours are the breath of the Church’s life that makes the Holy Spirit circulate through her Body. In this prayer, Christ “unites to himself the entire community of men and associates it with the singing of this divine hymn of praise” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 83); thus, day by day, we are more and more associated with the paschal mystery and conformed to it.

Saint Augustine affirms:

“When we speak to God in prayer, we must not separate the Son from him; and when the body of the Son prays, let it not separate its head from itself; let it therefore be the same only Savior of his body, the Lord our Jesus Risen, the Son of God, who prays for us, who prays in us and who is prayed to by us. He prays for us as our priest; he prays in us as our head; we pray to him as our God. Let us recognize, then, our voice in him and his voice in us.”

(Enarrationes in Psalmum LXXXV, PL 37, 1081).

Linked to the Eucharist, whose light it prolongs, the Liturgy of the Hours sanctifies the time of our daily life: in the morning, we begin the day with joy and gratitude; at midday, we ask for the strength of fidelity amid fatigue; in the evening, once work is finished, Vespers accompany the moment of sunset; at night, we fall asleep entrusting ourselves to God’s peace. Each hour is an act of hope: during our earthly pilgrimage we keep watch with the whole Church, awaiting the glorious return of the Lord.

Pragmatism of Schönborn: when ceding churches to other denominations becomes a pastoral priority

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has recognized as one of the priorities of his previous ministry at the head of the Archdiocese of Vienna the transfer of Catholic churches no longer used for worship to other Christian denominations, especially to the Coptic Orthodox Church. 

Beyond the specific fact, his statements reflect a certain way of addressing the profound religious transformation that Europe is experiencing: instead of focusing on the causes that have led certain temples to no longer be necessary for parish life, the emeritus archbishop emphasizes finding them a new ecclesial purpose.

In an interview granted to the magazine Information Christlicher Orient, Schönborn defended this policy naturally when commenting on the recent transfer of the Lazarist church, in Vienna’s seventh district, to the Coptic Orthodox Church. 

This is the fourth temple transferred to this community in the Austrian capital: three of these transfers were carried out during his episcopate and the last under the current apostolic administrator of Vienna, Monsignor Josef Grünwidl.

«This path makes sense and has yielded good results»

Far from presenting these transfers as an exceptional measure or one imposed by circumstances, the cardinal described them as a fully assumed pastoral option.

«In other countries, churches are deconsecrated and converted into libraries, cafés, or gyms. I always wanted to avoid that path whenever possible», he stated. 

Instead, he explained, he preferred to «perhaps forgo an economic benefit» to offer «Christian brothers and sisters an ecclesial home».

Schönborn also assured that this policy was not limited to the Coptic Church, but extended to other Eastern Christian communities present in Austria. «This path is sensible and successful. I hope it continues», he stated.

Half a million Eastern Christians

The emeritus archbishop recalled that around half a million Christians from the Middle East and Asia live in Austria, many of them belonging to Eastern Churches.

Facilitating these communities having temples where they could celebrate worship was, according to him, one of the objectives of his episcopal ministry. 

In that context, he also framed the close relationship he has maintained for years with Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II, who again thanked the transfer of several Catholic churches to his community during a visit to Austria last May.

Schönborn also highlighted the fidelity in faith of Coptic Christians and stated that «what separates us is incomparably less than what unites us».

A pastoral response that raises questions

The cardinal’s statements draw attention not so much for the transfers themselves—which have precedents and may respond to legitimate decisions by ecclesiastical authority—but for the way he presents them. 

At no point does he allude to the phenomenon of secularization, the decline in religious practice, or the loss of Catholic presence in much of Western Europe, realities that explain why some dioceses no longer occupy all temples for worship.

His reflection focuses, on the contrary, on the subsequent fate of these buildings and the convenience of them continuing to be places of Christian prayer rather than becoming properties for civil use.

From this perspective, the transfer of churches appears not as a last-resort solution, but as a pastoral policy that Schönborn himself claims as part of his legacy.

For centuries, these temples were built to proclaim the Gospel, celebrate the sacraments, and lead souls to Christ. 

That today some of them are no longer «necessary» for Catholic worship constitutes, more than a patrimonial or administrative problem, a reason for examination regarding the state of faith in Europe. 

Finding a dignified use for these buildings is a practical response; recovering the evangelizing fervor that gave them origin remains a much deeper challenge for the Church and its pastors.

Rome confirms Pope Leo XIV's first trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in November

The Holy See has confirmed today, in its information bulletin, that Pope Leo XIV will make his apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to 17, 2026. 

The Pontiff has accepted the invitation of the respective heads of state and ecclesiastical authorities of the three countries, in what will be one of the most extensive international visits of his pontificate.

The itinerary will begin in Uruguay, where he will remain from November 6 to 8 and visit Montevideo, Paysandú and Florida. 

He will then travel to Argentina, from November 8 to 11, with stops in Buenos Aires, Córdoba and the Marian shrine of Luján, before concluding the journey in Peru, where he will remain from November 11 to 17 visiting Lima, Chiclayo, Cuzco and Pucallpa.

Return to the diocese he shepherded

The Peruvian stage will have a particularly personal significance for Leo XIV. 

Among the cities included in the itinerary is Chiclayo, the diocese of which he was bishop before his election as Successor of Peter and where he carried out a good part of his pastoral ministry for several years.

It will be the first time the Pontiff returns to the northern diocese since his election, a much-awaited reunion for Peruvian faithful who knew him as their pastor.

A long-awaited trip to Argentina

The visit will also include Argentina, a journey long awaited by the country’s Catholics. 

In addition to Buenos Aires, Leo XIV will visit Córdoba and the national shrine of Our Lady of Luján, one of the main centers of Marian pilgrimage in Latin America.

In Uruguay, the Pope will travel through three cities, including Montevideo, the country’s capital, and Florida, home to the national shrine of the Virgin of the Thirty-Three.

The program will be announced later

For the moment, the Holy See has only made public the general itinerary of the trip. 

The detailed program, with the liturgical celebrations, meetings and events planned for each of the stages, will be announced in the coming weeks by the Vatican Press Office.

Lourdes will cover the Rupnik mosaics during the visit of Leo XIV

The mosaics by former Jesuit Marko Rupnik will remain covered during the visit that Pope Leo XIV will make to the Lourdes shrine next September. 

However, the bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Jean-Marc Micas, has made it clear that the decision is not due to the Pontiff’s presence, but to the desire that no victim of sexual abuse should feel prevented from coming to the Marian shrine in search of comfort and healing.

In an extensive interview given to OSV News at the end of July, the French prelate explained that covering part of Rupnik’s mosaics was a decision born from direct contact with abuse victims, who made him understand that the works had become, for many, an obstacle to approaching one of the world’s main Marian pilgrimage sites.

«My mission is that anyone can reach the grotto»

Micas recalled two moments that shaped his discernment. The first took place in February 2023, when an English volunteer who had suffered sexual abuse explained to him that many victims were no longer able to make a pilgrimage to Lourdes since the accusations against Rupnik became known.

Months later, the bishop received several women who reported having been victims of the Slovenian artist himself. 

According to his account, those conversations helped him understand the deep suffering caused by the fact that Rupnik’s works continued to preside over the entrance of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.

«My mission is to allow anyone to enter the shrine and reach the grotto to find comfort», the bishop stated.

«It was impossible for some people to have to pass in front of those mosaics to access the place where they sought to heal their wounds».

For that reason, in March 2025 he ordered part of the mosaics on the basilica’s façade to be covered, a measure that will now be extended throughout Pope Leo XIV’s visit.

A decision that does not depend on the trial against Rupnik

The bishop also addressed the canonical process the Vatican is following against Marko Rupnik for multiple accusations of spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuse.

In recent weeks, rumors circulated about a possible acquittal of the former Jesuit, which prompted a statement from the Holy See. Nevertheless, Micas assured that the outcome of the trial would not change the pastoral criterion that led him to cover the mosaics.

«The reason for my decision is the effect that the presence of these works has on the hearts and lives of people who have suffered abuse», he explained. Even if the judges did not find canonical criminal responsibility, he added, that would not mean that those who reported the facts had lied.

The prelate also stressed that Lourdes was one of the first major shrines in the world to adopt a measure of this kind, convinced that the Church must offer concrete gestures of closeness to victims.

Leo XIV will arrive as a pilgrim

The Pope will visit France from September 25 to 28. On the 27th he will preside over the Eucharistic celebration in the esplanade in front of the grotto of the apparitions, pray the Rosary of the Torches, and greet the sick and pilgrims.

Micas insisted that Leo XIV did not choose Lourdes because of the Rupnik controversy, but because «Lourdes is Lourdes»: a place of prayer, conversion, and hope to which hundreds of thousands of faithful come each year, especially the sick and those seeking comfort.

The bishop also confirmed that the Pontiff will probably meet with victims of sexual abuse during his trip to France, although the final program has not yet been published.

A message about life for a divided France

The papal visit will take place after France approved the law legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide under certain conditions, a decision that has caused deep concern in the French Church.

For Micas, the Pope will not come to France to deliver a political speech, but to proclaim the Gospel. 

«The Gospel speaks of life», the bishop stated, convinced that Leo XIV will remind people that «the value of life does not depend on the decisions of parliaments or human conventions, but on God’s gaze upon each person».

In his view, that message will resonate with particular force precisely in Lourdes. 

While any reference to the defense of life made in Paris could be interpreted in a political key, in the Marian shrine it will be received, above all, as the word of a shepherd who comes to confirm in the faith a people who continue to see in the Virgin a refuge for the sick, those who suffer, and those who seek hope.

Christian Brothers' focus on settling claims 'without litigation'

The head of the Christian Brothers has said that contrary to recent commentary, the focus of the congregation remains "resolutely on settling claims in a timely manner without the stress and delays of litigation".

In a statement, Br David Gibson said that in addition to contributions to Redress and Statutory Funds, the congregation had provided compensation of over €40 million including legal fees to over 200 claimants, and provided counselling for the survivors of abuse.

Br Gibson said that the typical approach of the congregation was to acknowledge a claim with an offer of mediation, and he confirmed that at present, a majority of notified claims are settled within 12 months "without the stress of a court appearance".

In the statement, he said claimants were listened to in a non-adversarial setting, and their claims were settled in a timely manner.

"The vast majority of claimants and their legal representatives are opting for non-adversarial resolution of claims," he said.

He added that the experience of the congregation was that protracted litigation had very little, if any, benefit to claimants.

Br Gibson noted that compensation in protracted litigation was not materially different to what they would have received via early settlement; that legal fees in protracted litigation are typically four times the compensation received by claimants.

However, he said some are significantly higher and that in one recent case the claim for legal fees by a law firm was almost 19 times the compensation paid to the claimant.

The head of the congregation said that "regrettably protracted litigation diverts and depletes resources available for future claims and serves only to enrich the legal firms focusing on protracted litigation".

The primary focus of the Christian Brothers, according to the statement, "remains on ensuring just, timely and appropriate settlements for survivors without the stress of litigation, and we invite any past-pupil of our schools who may have experienced sexual abuse to make contact with a view to timely resolution".

The statement follows the publication of the names of over 300 former Christian Brothers in a national newspaper yesterday, following an order from the High Court.

Last week, the High Court ordered that 341 former members of the congregation be served with a summons by way of a newspaper advertisement, as part of a claim for damages for child sexual assault and rape, although it is not being alleged that the men whose names have been published had anything to do with the crimes.

The High Court hoped they will now come forward in relation to a case in which a man is seeking damages for the sexual and physical abuse he suffered at the hands of Liam Coughlan, a former Christian Brother, at CBS primary school on Stephen Street in Kilkenny in the 1970s.

Liam Coughlan of Pine Grove, Tramore, Co Waterford was jailed in 2023 for sexually assaulting numerous boys at the school during the 1970s, including the man at the centre of the case.

The decision by Judge Mary Rose Gearty to publish the summons was as a result of the congregation's decision not to provide a nominee for the purposes of litigation in the case.

As an unincorporated body, the Christian Brothers cannot be sued if it does not provide a 'nominee'.

In circumstances where no member of an unincorporated body puts themself forward to represent a body as a whole in litigation, all of the relevant members may be pursued.

Philip Treacy, of Coleman Legal, who is representing the claimant, described yesterday's publication as a significant, unprecedented and a necessary step in circumstances where no member of the Christian Brothers organisation has confirmed that it will represent the congregation.

"The big difficulty is in particular with those that are no longer members, there's very little information as to their whereabouts. So the reason why the judge has made this decision is because they said (Christian Brothers) they have little to no information and certainly they don't have the addresses that will enable us to find these former members and serve them with proceedings."

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland yesterday, Mr Treacy described the handling of the situation by the Christian Brothers as shocking, appalling, totally unnecessary and completely avoidable.

He said there was nothing in law preventing any member of an unincorporated body when faced with litigation from acting as nominee and that the congregation was "still perfectly entitled to fully defend the case" and that it was "in no way prejudicial".

Christian Brothers insists it is not delaying abuse settlements and says it has paid over €40m to more than 200 claimants

The Christian Brothers has denied claims it is delaying settlements, adding it has paid out over €40m to more than 200 victims of abuse.

The Roman Catholic congregation has been accused of using tactics that delay settling civil abuse claims and litigations by legal representatives for victims of historical childhood abuse.

Last week, the High Court granted permission for the publication in the Irish Independent of the names of 341 former Christian Brothers who are now co-defendants accused of a breach of duty in a civil abuse claim. They are not accused of any assaults.

The names were published on Tuesday this week in a legal notice in the Irish Independent.

In a statement to the Irish Independent on Wednesday, the Christian Brothers said its focus remained “resolutely on settling claims in a timely manner without the stress and delays of litigation.”

“Our typical approach is to acknowledge a claim with an offer of mediation, and we can confirm that, at present, a majority of notified claims are settled within 12 months without the stress of a court appearance,” the statement said.

‘It’s not good enough to go silent,’ solicitor tells 341 former members of Christian Brothers named in civil claim

“Claimants are listened to in a non-adversarial setting and their claims are settled in a timely manner. The vast majority of claimants and their legal representatives are opting for non-adversarial resolution of claims.

“Our experience is that protracted litigation has very little, if any, benefit to claimants.”

The Christian Brothers said it had paid compensation of over €40m, including legal fees, to over 200 claimants, and provided counselling for the survivors of abuse. 

These figures were in addition to its contributions to the Redress and Statutory Funds, a scheme set up to compensate survivors of abuse.

The congregation said compensation in protracted litigation is not “materially different” to what is received through an early settlement. The statement added that legal fees in longer cases was “typically four times the compensation received by claimants” and could be significant higher.

“In one recent case the claim for legal fees by a law firm was almost 19 times the compensation paid to the claimant.

“Regrettably protracted litigation diverts and depletes resources available for future claims and serves only to enrich the legal firms focussing on protracted litigation.”

The Christian Brothers invited any past-pupil of its schools who may have experienced sexual abuse to make contact with a view to a timely resolution.

On Tuesday, a lawyer representing the claimant in the breach of duty civil abuse claim against the Christian Brothers said he would pursue “civil judgments in default of appearance” later this year if those named in the Irish Independent legal notice did not answer the claim.

The civil case was brought by a plaintiff who was abused by Christian Brother Liam Coughlan (90) while he attended a school in Co Kilkenny in the 1970s. Mr Coughlan was jailed in 2023.

As an unincorporated association, the Christian Brothers cannot be sued if it does not provide a “nominee” for the congregation to deal with lawsuits.

The only way around this is for a survivor to sue everyone who was a member of the community at the time they were abused, under the doctrine of vicarious liability.

The now-head of the Christian Brothers, David Gibson, has refused to act as a nominee for the congregation, leaving litigants needing to bring legal action against individual members or former members of the order.

In response to the statement, the lawyer representing the claimant, Philip Treacy, a senior solicitor at Coleman Legal, questioned who “we” and “our” were in the quotes from the Christian Brothers.

He said Mr Gibson had been offering to meet in a personal capacity only.

“The offer to meet victims in a personal capacity only is disingenuous given those legal implications,” he claimed.

“Victims of sexual abuse have a right of access to justice through the Courts, to seek vindication for the heinous actions of the perpetrators and the Order who failed for decades to prevent these sexual abuses being carried out on children.

“Nothing we have done on behalf of our clients has been unnecessary. It is all a direct consequence of the Christian Brothers choosing to not nominate a member to act on behalf of the Congregation.

“They should be pressed on why they refuse to nominate, which they fail to address in their statement, and which would be in no way prejudicial to them, they can still meet for settlement or fully defend a case.”

Treacy said he believed it was the Christian Brothers who were causing protracted litigation by failing to nominate, resulting in delays and “additional stress on victims of childhood sexual abuse.”

“As Solicitors for many clients who are victims of childhood sexual abuse, we make every effort to bring litigation to completion as soon as possible for our clients in a timely, just and equitable manner.”

On Tuesday, Mr Treacy said he would pursue “civil judgments in default of appearance” later this year if those named in the legal notice did not answer the claim.

Rainbow Catholic Network takes over the Comarca Lagunera with pro-LGBT bishops

The bishops of Torreón and Gómez Palacio opened their cathedrals to the IV National Meeting of the Catholic Rainbow Network of Mexico. 

At the closing Mass, the emeritus of Saltillo, Raúl Vera, proclaimed from the altar that homosexuality “is not a sin,” without any reference to the call to chastity or the proposal of Catholic life.

From July 30 to August 2, the Mexican city of Torreón (Coahuila) hosted the IV National Meeting of the Catholic Rainbow Network of Mexico (RedCAM), the platform that brings together a dozen “LGBT+ Catholic” collectives from the country —Kadima (Chihuahua), Otro Rebaño (Morelia), Betania (Irapuato), La Viña (Hermosillo), Todos somos Lambda (Saltillo), among others—. Nearly a hundred participants gathered under the motto “Brotherhood and service.”

What in previous editions had taken place with a discreet profile, this time counted on the public and explicit support of two diocesan bishops in office. 

On Friday, July 31, the bishop of Torreón, Monsignor Luis Martín Barraza Beltrán, presided over the Eucharist of the meeting in his cathedral, concelebrated by the Dominican friar Raúl Vera López, emeritus bishop of Saltillo, famous for having invited an Anglican pastor to concelebrate Mass, a sacrilegious scandal for which he was never sanctioned. 

The following day, “by express invitation” of Bishop Jorge Estrada, the participants also celebrated Mass in the cathedral of Gómez Palacio (Durango).

The organizers later released an image of Monsignor Barraza posing smiling, with mitre and crozier, alongside members of the collective Otro Rebaño wearing T-shirts with the group’s logo: a lamb with the colors of the rainbow carrying the pride flag. “Thank you, Mons. Luis Martín Barraza, Bishop of Torreón, for your closeness and support,” reads the poster.

“Homosexuality is not a sin”

The most controversial moment came from Raúl Vera, an old acquaintance of these causes. During the Eucharistic celebration, the emeritus of Saltillo stated —according to El Heraldo de Saltillo, Vanguardia, and Periódico La Voz, which broadcast the video— that homosexuality “is a thing of nature and is not human perversion or disease,” and that “it is not a sin.”

He went further: “Accompanying and strengthening these people is a serious responsibility that we have with them. They have the right to participate in our meetings and also to exercise leadership of the faith among us,” he said, claiming for members of these collectives even “responsibilities of religious leadership.” 

And he concluded: “Without you, the Church is not complete. You are our family; do not leave us alone in this journey with the Lord Jesus.”

The method is well known: deliberate confusion is played. It starts from a truth —the condition or inclination, per se, is not a sin, as the Catechism teaches (n. 2358)— to then settle into calculated ambiguity. Never is what that same Catechism says immediately afterward mentioned: that persons with this tendency “are called to chastity” (n. 2359), and that homosexual acts “are intrinsically disordered” and “under no circumstances can they be approved” (n. 2357). Not a word about chastity was heard in Torreón. 

Nor is it clarified that these unions are not and cannot be equivalent to the family: one thing is the family, founded on marriage between a man and a woman, and quite another what is intended to be presented as its substitute under the rainbow flag. On that first half-truth the entire edifice is built: the rest is silenced and the silence is left to do the rest.

James Martin, via Zoom

The program of the meeting also included a “magisterial conference” delivered by videoconference by the American Jesuit James Martin, a world reference of intra-ecclesial LGBT activism, as well as workshops, a Holy Hour at the sanctuary of the Cristo de las Noas, and —according to Milenio— a “consecration to the Virgin Mary.” 

The meeting closed with the election of the new board of RedCAM and the announcement of the venue for the V National Meeting: Morelia (Michoacán), in 2027, the city where the collective Otro Rebaño is based, founded just a year ago and which maintains institutional relations with the state’s Human Rights Prosecutor’s Office.

The unofficial chronicle of the meeting, published in Religión Digital, does not hide the objective: it laments that “many dioceses refuse to allow spaces of accompaniment where sex-gender diversity is recognized” and presents the gestures of Barraza, Estrada, and Vera as the model to imitate. 

With two cathedrals granted, two diocesan bishops involved, and an emeritus openly preaching against the moral doctrine of the Church, the question is inevitable: will the Mexican Episcopal Conference say anything? And Rome?

Appeal to Catholic Church to halt sale of community hall in Limerick

A community action group in Co Limerick are appealing to the Catholic Church to halt its planned sale of a community hall in the area.

Árus na Gaeilge is a community hall built in 1926 in Newcastle West.

It was built by the local community with the help of Conradh na Gaeilge, to facilitate community and cultural events in the town.

But the hall has been placed on the market for sale.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Limerick said: "There are two active community centres in Newcastle West parish with modern facilities that cater for the community needs- previously looked after by the 100-year-old Árus na Gaeilge building.

"Over recent years Árus na Gaeilge has been used for storage.

"As it is no longer core to the mission of the parish, a decision was taken, with the support of the Parish Trust, to sell the property.

"The property has since been sold and the proceeds will support the ongoing needs of the Newcasle West Parish."

The decision to sell the hall has been met with anger and disappointment by some members of the community.

An action group has been established to stop the sale.

Shirley O'Regan from the group said that there is huge disappointment in the community at the decision.

She said that it is unclear whether the Catholic Church has the right to sell the building.

Ms O'Regan said: "The hall was built by the community for the community. There was no public consultation on the proposed sale by the Church.

"I have written on a number of occasions to the diocese expressing our opposition to the plan and seeking clarity on whether they have the right to sell the building. I have received no reply."

Jess O'Riordan is another member of the action group.

She said that that Árus na Gaeilge is the only hall available in the community with a stage.

"The other two centres don't have a stage that local dramas could be performed in. There is a lot of disappointment and opposition in the community to these plans," she added.

A sign stating 'our community hall is not for sale’ has been erected on the building.

The local action group has started fundraising and say they will begin proceeding to legally challenge the sale.

Burke calls for defending marriage and family "to the point of martyrdom," two months before the meeting on Amoris laetitia

A little over two months before the meeting convened by Leo XIV to reflect on the ten years of the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke has issued a call to Catholics to be prepared to defend marriage and the family even at the cost of martyrdom.

The American cardinal made this exhortation during the homily for the feast of Saint James the Apostle at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Wisconsin, where he presented the Apostle as an example of fidelity unto martyrdom and proposed that same spirit for those living the vocation of marriage.

“Let us be prepared for martyrdom”

Drawing inspiration from the figure of Saint James the Greater, Burke encouraged the faithful to renew their commitment to the sacrament of marriage and to the Christian family.

“Moved by the example of Saint James the Greater and helped by his intercession, let us resolve to take up with new enthusiasm and new energy the spiritual practices by which our hearts remain fully in the Heart of Jesus for the transformation of the world through the sacrament of holy matrimony and its incomparable fruit, the family,” he said.

The cardinal then urged Catholics to be ready to bear witness to the truth of marriage even in a context of growing hostility toward the faith.

“Let us be prepared for martyrdom, if not the red martyrdom of blood, at least the white martyrdom of faithful witness to Our Lord in the face of indifference, mockery, and persecution,” he noted.

Burke further explained that the example of Saint James teaches Christians to have “one single concern”: “to serve our Lord with faithful and persevering love, trusting in his victory over sin and death, even if that service demands dying for love of Him.”

Marriage, a path of Christian perfection

A significant part of the homily was devoted to the teaching of Saint John Paul II on marriage. Burke recalled the reflections that Karol Wojtyła wrote before being elected Pope and emphasized that the sacramental grace of marriage constitutes a true path of holiness.

“The grace of holy matrimony is not an ideal to which only a few may aspire, but an objective reality, a supernatural gift, which leads the man and the woman to seek the eternal salvation of the other through the path of divine love,” he stated.

Citing the then-Bishop Karol Wojtyła, he also recalled that “Christian perfection consists in love. Love is also the moral foundation of marriage. Therefore, marriage opens the possibility of Christian perfection.”

Burke concluded this reflection by noting that “all our questions about marriage must be raised at the level of the Eucharistic Sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ, at the level of the perfection of divine love,” presenting the Eucharist as the source that sustains the fidelity of spouses.

A concern shared by Cardinal Zen

Burke’s words come just days after Cardinal Joseph Zen, Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, also called for the protection of the family to become “the principal mission” of the Church’s pastoral action.

Zen warned that the weakening of the family institution and the abandonment of the defense of life constitute some of the greatest challenges currently facing evangelization.

The meeting convened by Leo XIV

The interventions of both cardinals come on the eve of the meeting that Leo XIV has called in the Vatican from October 7 to 14 with the presidents of the episcopal conferences from around the world to reflect on the application of Amoris laetitia ten years after its publication.

The Holy See has clarified that this is not a synod, but a consultative gathering intended to study how to proclaim the Gospel to families in the current context and to understand the pastoral reality of the different particular Churches.

When announcing the convocation last March, Leo XIV explained that the goal will be to discern how “to proclaim the Gospel to families today, in the light of Amoris laetitia.”

A debate that was never closed

The apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, promulgated by Pope Francis in 2016 following the synods on the family, gave rise to one of the most intense doctrinal debates of recent pontificates, especially regarding the question of access to communion for some divorced persons who have entered into a new civil marriage.

That same year, Cardinals Raymond Burke, Walter Brandmüller, Carlo Caffarra, and Joachim Meisner addressed the so-called dubia to the Pope, requesting clarifications on various passages of the document. Those questions never received a direct response.

Subsequently, Francis confirmed as an authentic interpretation of Amoris laetitia the pastoral guidelines of the bishops of the Buenos Aires region, which allowed, in certain cases, access to the sacraments for divorced persons who have entered into a new civil marriage. 

In 2023, a response from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to Cardinal Dominik Duka reiterated that this interpretation forms part of the authentic magisterium, having been published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

In this context, Burke’s words take on particular relevance. 

The American cardinal is, together with Walter Brandmüller, the only surviving signatory of the four who signed the 2016 dubia, and he once again insists on the need to firmly defend Catholic doctrine on marriage precisely when the Church is preparing to reflect once more on Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation.

A concern shared by Cardinal Zen

Burke’s words come just days after Cardinal Joseph Zen, Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, also called for the protection of the family to become “the principal mission” of the Church’s pastoral action.

Zen warned that the weakening of the family institution and the abandonment of the defense of life constitute some of the greatest challenges currently facing evangelization.

The meeting convened by Leo XIV

The interventions of both cardinals come on the eve of the meeting that Leo XIV has called in the Vatican from October 7 to 14 with the presidents of the episcopal conferences from around the world to reflect on the application of Amoris laetitia ten years after its publication.

The Holy See has clarified that this is not a synod, but a consultative gathering intended to study how to proclaim the Gospel to families in the current context and to understand the pastoral reality of the different particular Churches.

When announcing the convocation, Leo XIV explained that the goal will be to discern how “to proclaim the Gospel to families today, in the light of Amoris laetitia.”

A debate that was never closed

The apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, promulgated by Pope Francis in 2016 following the synods on the family, gave rise to one of the most intense doctrinal debates of recent pontificates, especially regarding the possibility that some divorced persons who have entered into a new civil marriage might have access to communion.

That same year, Cardinals Raymond Burke, Walter Brandmüller, Carlo Caffarra, and Joachim Meisner addressed the so-called dubia to the Pope, requesting clarifications on various passages of the document. Those questions never received a direct response.

Subsequently, Francis confirmed as an authentic interpretation of Amoris laetitia the pastoral guidelines of the bishops of the Buenos Aires region, which allowed, in certain cases, access to the sacraments for divorced persons who have entered into a new civil marriage. 

In 2023, a response from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to Cardinal Dominik Duka reiterated that this interpretation forms part of the authentic magisterium, having been published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

Cardinal Burke is, together with Walter Brandmüller, the only surviving signatory of the four who signed the 2016 dubia, and he once again insists on the need to firmly defend Catholic doctrine on marriage precisely when the Church is preparing to reflect once more on Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation.

Below is the complete homily of Cardinal Burke:

The Perfection of Marital Love

July 25, 2026

Feast of Saint James the Apostle – Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

La Crosse, Wisconsin

2 Cor 4:7-15 / Ps 126:1bc-2ab. 2cd-3. 4-5. 6. / Mt 20:20-28

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Apostle Saint James the Greater, together with Saint John, the beloved disciple, his blood brother, and Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, enjoyed the special favor of Our Lord. Our Lord chose them to be witnesses of His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor and to accompany Him in His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane before His cruel Passion and Death. Saint James the Greater also had the privilege of being the first of the Apostles to suffer martyrdom, thus fulfilling his apostolic mission with faithful and persevering love for his Master. The Acts of the Apostles tell us that King Herod Agrippa I “had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword.”

Herod Agrippa, thinking to please the Jewish people and rid himself once and for all of the trouble caused by the preaching and apostolic ministry of Saint James the Greater, had him executed. Yet James continues his apostolic ministry from the place of glory where he is with his Master, interceding for the flock. His tomb, in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, remains one of the greatest holy places of pilgrimage for Christians. We see in the life of Saint James the truth proclaimed by Saint Paul about his own apostolic ministry:

For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Indeed, eight centuries after the burial of Saint James, his tomb in the great Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela witnessed his powerful intervention against the advance of the Arian barbarians and, later, of the Muslims against Christian Spain. His shrine continues to be a powerful place of pilgrimage to invoke his intercession in the struggle against the powerful contemporary forces of secularism, apostasy, heresy, and the Islamic persecution of Christians.

But Saint James had to undergo purification in order to give his heart ever more perfectly to the gloriously pierced Heart of Jesus in the exercise of the apostolic ministry. The Gospel recounts how his mother sought for her sons, John and James, earthly honors and power. They clearly shared the desire expressed by their mother. Let us listen to the reflection of a commentator on this episode in the life of Saint James the Greater:

The two sons of Zebedee spoke through their mother, as well as for themselves; but Christ directed His answer to them, telling them that they did not know what they were asking, because in His Kingdom dignities are not attained by the bold and ambitious, but by the most humble, the most laborious, and the most patient… Our Lord told them that, indeed, they would have their share in suffering; but He could not distribute the honors of His Kingdom otherwise than according to the measure of charity and patience of each one in suffering: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Saint James clearly learned the saving correction of his ambition and, from then on, directed all his energy according to the mind and Heart of his Master. He became a most venerable collaborator of Our Lord, faithfully bearing from the gloriously pierced Heart of Christ the graces of truth and love for the salvation of many souls. He became ambitious, no longer for himself, but only for Our Lord.

Saint James the Greater is for us a great teacher and intercessor in following Christ according to our vocation, using the gifts with which God has enriched us to love as Christ loves. We, like Saint James, need purification. We too must walk each day the path of perfection like that of Christ, trusting in the grace poured into our hearts from the gloriously pierced Heart of Jesus, remembering His words in the Sermon on the Mount: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Too often we seek recognition and admiration for the good we do. We want to make sure everyone knows how much we sacrifice and how hard we work. Too often we fall into self-pity and discouragement in the face of the challenges our vocation encounters in a culture marked by widespread secularism. Saint James teaches us that we must have one single concern: to serve our Master with faithful and persevering love, and to trust in His victory over sin and death, in His victory of eternal life, even if our service demands giving our life for love of Him. With Saint Paul, we give ourselves up to death “for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh,” thereby drawing many souls to know, love, and serve Our Lord. We are truly happy when we die more fully to self and to sin, so that others may live more fully and perfectly in Christ.

It was in this way that Saint John Paul II developed The Rule for marriages, the measure by which those called to married life must seek the perfection of the love they promised each other on their wedding day, the path by which they are to respond to the heavenly grace conferred by the sacrament of Matrimony. In his “Reflections on Marriage,” the then-Father Wojtyła teaches us:

The sacrament, as an efficacious sign of grace, creates in nature supernatural forces, forces that make possible the full life of the human being, that is, a life in accordance with the plans and designs of the Creator for humanity. These forces make that life possible for the human person, but they do not bring it about by themselves. It is necessary, therefore, to draw from them all that they contain and apply it to personal life. This is already the task of man, or of the persons who, through the sacrament, enter into the orbit of grace.

The marital covenant and conjugal life, to which nature directs man and woman, participate, through the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, in the victory over sin that Christ won for us on the Cross.

The grace of Holy Matrimony is not an ideal to which only a few attain, but an objective reality, a supernatural gift that leads the man and the woman to seek the eternal salvation of the other through the path of divine love. In the text accompanying The Rule, entitled “Love is the Moral Foundation of Marriage,” the then-Bishop Karol Wojtyła wrote:

We must clearly recognize that the sacramental grace of marriage is not simply a theory, but a true gift from which the spouses can and must build a certain Christian perfection proper to their vocation and to the multiform totality that constitutes their conjugal life…

Christian perfection consists in love. Love is also the moral foundation of marriage. Therefore, marriage opens the possibility of Christian perfection…

Modern man frequently finds himself before this fundamental challenge: you impose on me an unbearable burden and, at the same time, you compare it with that “state of perfection” in which, who knows, it may be easier to live… Above all, this raises the question of whether our whole way of thinking about marriage is not “too low,” while at the same time we demand so much of it. Perhaps it is better to raise the whole question to a much higher level…

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the heavenly Bread of our earthly pilgrimage, by which Our Lord renews His sacrifice of Calvary and in which we unite our hearts to His, gloriously pierced, in the most perfect way possible on this earth, constitutes that higher level of pure and selfless love that sustains married life. All our questions about marriage must be raised at the level of the Eucharistic Sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ, at the level of the perfection of divine love.

Inspired by the example of Saint James the Greater and helped by his intercession, let us resolve to take up with new enthusiasm and new energy the spiritual practices by which our hearts remain fully and firmly in the Heart of Jesus for the transformation of the world through the sacrament of Holy Matrimony and its incomparable fruit: the family. Let us be prepared for martyrdom, if not the red martyrdom of blood, certainly the white martyrdom of faithful witness to Our Lord in the face of indifference, mockery, and persecution.

Approaching the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Virgin Mother of God, let us entrust our hearts to Our Lord in His Eucharistic Sacrifice. Let us prepare to receive the incomparable fruit of His Sacrifice: His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. May our hearts, in the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, be purified of all sin and inflamed by His pure and selfless love. Thus we may live “always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Cardinal Raymond Leo BURKE

"The liturgy is Tradition in its most powerful and solemn form"

The auxiliary bishop of Astana (Kazakhstan), Athanasius Schneider, defended the traditional liturgy as a privileged expression of the transmission of the faith during a homily delivered on August 2 at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Limerick (Ireland), on the occasion of his visit to the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.

Throughout his preaching, the prelate maintained that since its origins the Church has remained “firmly committed” to fidelity to Sacred Tradition, both in the doctrinal and liturgical spheres. In that context, he recalled the well-known expression attributed to Pope Saint Stephen I :

“Let nothing be innovated that has not been handed down.”

The liturgy, expression of the Church’s Tradition

Schneider affirmed that the Church’s public worship possesses an essentially traditional character, since it must be celebrated “according to the norms established by divine authority and handed down by our ancestors.”

Drawing on Saint Vincent of Lérins, he recalled that “true piety admits no other rule than faithfully transmitting to our children what we have faithfully received from our fathers” and added that it is the duty of Christians “to preserve and keep what we have received from those who preceded us.”

The bishop insisted that this principle has guided the life of the Church throughout the centuries. “Antiquity was preserved; novelty was rejected. This is the apostolic rule,” he stated.

Citing the Benedictine Dom Prosper Guéranger, Schneider emphasized that “the liturgy is Tradition in its most powerful and solemn form,” an idea he linked to the Church’s mission of safeguarding and transmitting the deposit of faith in its entirety.

“Preserving the traditional liturgy is preserving the deposit of the faith”

During his homily, the bishop also recalled a teaching of Pius XI, who stated that the faithful receive the Church’s doctrine more effectively through the celebration of the liturgical mysteries than solely through the documents of the Magisterium, since the liturgy speaks not only to the intellect but also to the heart.

In this line, he defended that the beauty of the liturgy forms part of the transmission of the faith and rejected the idea that it constitutes a secondary or merely aesthetic element.

“Those who maintain that the Church is not a museum and that the truly pious man must be indifferent to these aspects only show their blindness to the important role played by an appropriate and beautiful expression,” he affirmed.

Schneider added that “history has shown a thousand times that there is nothing more dangerous for a religion, nothing more capable of provoking discontent, uncertainty, division, and apostasy than interfering in the liturgy and, therefore, in religious sensibility.”

For this reason, he maintained that “preserving the precious treasure of the traditional liturgy forms part of preserving the depositum fidei,” evoking Saint Paul’s exhortation to Timothy to guard faithfully the deposit of the faith.

Amid the debate on the traditional Mass

In recent months, Schneider has publicly defended the desirability of finding a stable solution for the faithful attached to the traditional Mass. After his private audience with Leo XIV last December, he explained that he had proposed to the Pontiff the publication of a document that would regularize the situation of the liturgy prior to the post-conciliar reform, with the aim of promoting “justice and peace in the Church.”

Recently, the prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, Cardinal Arthur Roche, stated that Leo XIV would not repeal or modify Traditionis Custodes, however, the Holy See has not announced any modifications—through an official communiqué—to the motu proprio promulgated by Francis in 2021.

Below we reproduce the homily delivered by Bishop Athanasius Schneider at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Limerick, Ireland.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Dear brothers and sisters:

From its beginnings, the Catholic Church has remained firmly committed to preserving and transmitting, in all its life, both doctrinally and liturgically, its fidelity to Sacred Tradition. The phrase of Pope Saint Stephen I, who governed the Church between the years 254 and 257, became famous: “Let nothing be innovated that has not been handed down.”

Public worship is, by its very nature, traditional. That is to say, it must be celebrated according to the norms established by divine authority and handed down by our ancestors. 

The Church of the first centuries considered its liturgy as a continuation of the divinely ordered liturgy of the Old Testament. 

It shared with it its essential features: the profound sense of reverence, silence, the veil that guards the mystery of divine reality, the separation of the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies from the people, a hierarchically ordered liturgy, and the appreciation of the symbolic meaning of gestures and sacred objects.

Saint Vincent of Lérins, a Father of the Church of the fifth century, formulated a principle that he applied to a controversy related to rebaptism and that also affects the laws of divine worship. He said:

“True piety admits no other rule than faithfully transmitting to our children what we have faithfully received from our fathers. Our duty is not to lead religion where we wish, but to follow it where it leads us. Christian modesty consists not in transmitting our own opinions or practices to those who will come after us, but in preserving and keeping what we have received from those who preceded us.”

Antiquity was preserved; novelty was rejected. That has been the rule of all centuries. Antiquity was preserved; novelty was rejected. This is the apostolic rule.

Dom Prosper Guéranger stated: “The liturgy is Tradition in its most powerful and solemn form.”

Pope Pius XI left this memorable teaching:

“The faithful are instructed in the truths of the faith and come to appreciate the interior joys of religion much more effectively through the annual celebration of the sacred mysteries than solely through the official declarations of the Magisterium. These usually reach few and the more learned; the feasts reach all. The former speak once; the latter speak every year, in fact, forever. The teaching of the Church affects primarily the intellect; the feasts affect the intellect and the heart and exercise a wholesome influence on the whole person. Man is composed of body and soul, and needs these external celebrations so that the sacred rites, with all their beauty and variety, may impel him to drink more deeply from the source of God’s doctrine and to incorporate it into his own spiritual life.”

Dom Prosper Guéranger also said:

“Every heretic or sectarian who wishes to introduce a new doctrine inevitably finds himself confronted by the traditional liturgy, because the liturgy is tradition, and the strongest and best tradition.”

How mistaken is he who considers the beauty of the Church and of the liturgy as something that might distract us from the true content of the liturgical mysteries and lead us toward something superficial. Those who proclaim that the Church is not a museum and that the truly pious man is indifferent to these accidental aspects only show their blindness to the great role played by a beautiful and fitting expression. They forget that authentic beauty contains a specific message from God that elevates our souls. As Plato said: “Before beauty, our souls sprout wings.”

History has shown a thousand times that there is nothing more dangerous for a religion, nothing more capable of provoking discontent, uncertainty, division, and apostasy than interfering in the liturgy and, therefore, in religious sensibility.

Preserving the precious treasure of the traditional liturgy forms part of preserving the depositum fidei.

The Apostle Saint Paul exhorted Timothy: “Guard the deposit entrusted to you.” Saint Vincent of Lérins interpreted this exhortation also in a liturgical dimension when he asked: “Who is this Timothy today, if not the whole Church and, in a special way, those who govern it, called to preserve intact the knowledge of the worship of God and to transmit it to others?”

Yes, the liturgy is Tradition in its most powerful and solemn form.

Only the Catholic Church can say: “I handed on to you what I myself received from the Lord.”

Every true Catholic should be able to say:

“I love the beauty of the house of the Lord. I love the beauty and integrity of the immutable Catholic faith. I love the beauty of holy Tradition, the beauty of the liturgical tradition of the Church. I love the beauty and truth of the faith, of the Holy Mass, and of the holy life of all the centuries and of all the saints.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Catholic priest is hacked to death with machetes in Nigeria

Father Samuel Opeyemi Oyetoro, a priest of the Diocese of Lokoja, was murdered on July 29 after being attacked with a machete on Church Road in Ajaokuta, Kogi State, in central Nigeria. 

The news was communicated by the diocese through a statement issued by the diocesan curia and reported by the Fides Agency.

«With deep sorrow and with the hope of the resurrection, the Catholic Diocese of Lokoja announces the death of our beloved priest, Father Samuel Opeyemi Oyetoro», the statement reads, inviting priests, religious, and the faithful to commend his soul in prayer and to also pray for his family and the diocese.

Found lifeless beside a road

According to the Kogi State Police, the priest’s body was discovered on the morning of July 29 beside a road in Ajaokuta, after authorities received a report about the presence of a corpse.

Officers dispatched to the scene confirmed that the victim had severe machete wounds to the head. 

The body was taken to ASCL Hospital, where death was certified, before being transferred to the morgue for an autopsy.

Subsequently, authorities identified the deceased as Father Samuel Opeyemi Oyetoro, parish priest of St. Paul’s Church in Ayetoro Gbede, within the Ijumu Local Government Area, also in Kogi State.

Condemnation of the murder

The Governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Ododo, described the crime as «an atrocious and unacceptable act» and expressed his condemnation of the priest’s murder.

For its part, the Diocese of Lokoja has asked the entire Catholic community to remember Father Oyetoro during Eucharistic celebrations and to accompany his family and the local Church with prayer during this time of mourning.

Violence against priests continues in Nigeria

The murder of Father Samuel Opeyemi adds to the long list of priests, religious, and faithful who have fallen victim to the violence that has affected various regions of Nigeria for years. 

Kidnappings, murders, and attacks on Christian communities have become a recurring reality in different parts of the country, especially in the center and north, where insecurity remains one of the main challenges for the Church and the civilian population.