Debate about sex ed guidelines for schools in German archdiocese continues after Vatican letter

The Dicastery for Culture and Education has confirmed to the parents of students at Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Hamburg in Germany that the Vatican document “Male and Female He Created Them” remains the authoritative guide for sex education.

With this, the Vatican appears to contradict a framework regarding sex education that the archdiocese’s vicar general said must be used in all Catholic schools and that some parents reject.

Father Sascha-Philipp Geißler, SAC, implemented the document “Male, Female, Diverse: Framework for Sexual Education at Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Hamburg” first in 2025, and all Catholic schools in the archdiocese are expected to use it beginning with the 2026–2027 school year.

The framework, in line with influential sexologist Uwe Sielert, describes sexuality as “general life energy.” On the issue of gender, it states: “Biological sex does not necessarily have to correspond to social identity.”

Regarding conflicts of values with parents, the document notes that it may be “the school’s role to ‘stand on the children’s side.’”

After receiving a response to their complaints to the Vatican, the Parents’ Network for Child Protection and Prevention asked Hamburg’s Archbishop Stefan Heße once again to withdraw the framework. They asked that it be replaced by guidelines that “in particular guarantee parental rights and child protection and are in full accordance with Catholic doctrine and the requirements of the Holy See.”

Monsignor Matthias Ambros, the undersecretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, wrote in the letter dated July 6, which was obtained by CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News: “After due consideration of its contents, this dicastery confirms that, with regard to the question of possible guidelines on sex education, the position remains the one set forth in the document ‘Male and Female He Created Them’ … published by the Congregation for Catholic Education on February 2, 2019.”

According to the dicastery, the parents’ petition was received on July 2. The letter thanks the parents for their “commitment to Catholic education.” It does not explicitly mention the framework the Archdiocese of Hamburg wants Catholic schools to use. In fact, the dicastery did not comment on the substance of the parents’ objections at all.

Based on the answer from Rome, the parents’ network compared the Vatican document from 2019, which firmly rejects gender ideology, with the Hamburg framework. The comparison lists 20 contradictions the parents see. These relate to the view of human nature, the assessment of marriage and family, and parents’ rights to educate their own children. The framework concept “adopts, in essential parts, the premises of that gender ideology which the congregation’s letter … has expressly rejected in the spirit of respectful dialogue,” the parents’ network concluded.

“We ask you: Do not view our concern merely as the protest of a group of parents. Read the response from Rome and compare it with the concept that is to be implemented in Catholic schools in Hamburg. Rome has once again reaffirmed the Church’s continuing position on sexual morality. If you, too, recognize the contradiction we have pointed out, we ask you: Do not remain silent! This is not merely a matter of defending our children and families but also of standing up for the teaching of our Church and remaining faithful to what it itself proclaims,” the network’s spokeswoman, Varinia Arauco Vera, said.

When the framework first took effect in 2025, the archdiocese described it as a sign of “contemporary, values-based, and scientifically sound sex education.”

“We advocate for the acceptance of diversity with regard to sexual orientations and gender identity,” said Geißler, the vicar general, at the time.

Christopher Haep, head of the Department of Schools and Higher Education in the archdiocese, added: “We want Catholic schools to be safe places where sexuality is not treated as a taboo but is recognized in all its complexity and dignity.”

The department’s spokesperson, Christoph Schommer, told CNA Deutsch in March that “as the school operators, we are in regular and intensive dialogue with parents and parent representatives.”

When the policy was implemented, it received “broad approval from the general parents’ council, school administrations, and the representatives for school pastoral care.”

“But of course, we also engage constructively with critical voices,” Schommer said.

Vatican still hasn’t approved Germany’s new synodal body, bishop says

The president of the German Bishops' Conference has announced the bylaws for the German Synodal Conference are still under review in Rome.

The Synodal Conference is intended to serve as a permanent body implementing the controversial German Synodal Way. The Vatican continues to review the bylaws of this new national-level body, which is to consist of bishops and non-bishops.

“The statutes are currently being reviewed in Rome,” Bishop Heiner Wilmer of Münster said in an interview Sunday with the Kirche+Leben website.

“I know from those responsible there that it will still take some time. I am confident that we will make progress on this.”

Wilmer confirmed what he had already hinted at in May: “Personally, I do not expect us to meet as early as November, given the dynamics involved, because the matter is being passed from one dicastery to the next.”

The first meeting of the new German body was scheduled for Nov. 6–7 in Stuttgart. The next session was then scheduled to take place in Würzburg on April 16–17, 2027.

The Synodal Conferenceʼs bylaws have been under review in Rome since the end of March. Nearly half a year has now passed. That leaves just over two months until the originally planned date in November.

Originally, the German organizers had planned a permanent “Synodal Council.”

Who makes decisions?

The issue regarding the bylaws that remains contentious is that of joint deliberation and decision-making by diocesan bishops and non-bishops, which has met with resistance in the Vatican, at least in recent years.

Specifically, the bylaws state that the Synodal Conference “deliberates and makes decisions in the spirit of ‘synodal decision-making processes’” on important issues of Church life of supra-diocesan significance.

Despite all the criticism of the Synodal Way, the Vatican under Pope Francis — and now under Pope Leo XIV — has never formally demanded that the process, with its sometimes radical attempts to change traditional Church teaching, be terminated, nor has it demanded that bodies be established only in ways that are unproblematic under canon law and that already exist at all levels in Germany.

Meanwhile, in his interview with Kirche+Leben, Wilmer emphasized: “For me, the Church is synodal. I associate synodality with deep respect and great appreciation. We can only move forward if we journey together.”

In the Diocese of Münster, synodality is “deeply rooted,” according to the bishops’ conference chairman. 

As the new bishop of the diocese, he is looking forward “to walking this path together with so many baptized people here, but also internationally, ecumenically, and with our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters.”

Bishops who opted out

Three sitting diocesan bishops — Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne; Bishop Stefan Oster, SDB, of Passau; and Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg — have already withdrawn from the Synodal Way some time ago, after the relevant Vatican authorities had issued several clear warnings. 

The now-resigned bishop of Eichstätt, Gregor Maria Hanke, OSB, had also withdrawn from the Synodal Way.

As a result, the Synodal Committee for the Preparation of the Synodal Conference was not supported by the German Bishops' Conference but rather by an association established specifically by the 23 other dioceses.

Should the Vatican approve the bylaws, it is possible that these three diocesan bishops could also join the committee.

Oster stated in March: “I have always said that I will follow the universal Church. I am waiting with some anticipation to see how Rome will respond. But fundamentally, my position is this: If we do this in agreement with the universal Church, then I will participate.”

The bishop of Passau emphasized that the “German side” had “tried to make it clear” in discussions with the Vatican that “passing resolutions” is different from “deciding.”

"Iʼm curious to see how the Romans will respond to this,” he said.

Nevertheless, he expressed confidence, because “the process has been going on for over two years now. A sense of reciprocity has developed in the meantime. Theyʼre not going to run this thing into the ground. The Romans, too, have an interest in ensuring that no one walks away having lost face. Thatʼs why I believe the Synodal Conference will take place.”

Man in viral church video was removed by outsiders, Los Angeles Archdiocese says

A video that went viral on social media of a man being forcibly removed from Precious Blood Catholic Church in Los Angeles involved people with no ties to the archdiocese or church, according to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Eoin Richard Connolly had organized an anti-Islam demonstration near the church just west of downtown on Aug. 23. An Instagram video captures him being chased from the church and doused in blue paint before he flees into a Starbucks.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said in a statement: “Several individuals participating in a rally at a nearby location moved their demonstration to the sidewalk directly outside of Precious Blood Church. Then, when the demonstrators made their way into the church they were asked to leave by a surprised group of women volunteers who were cleaning and locking up the church following the 12:30 p.m. Mass.”

The archdiocese said the parish had no participation in the demonstration, nor did it give permission for its filming.

“The individuals shown in the filming removing another person from the church are not staff nor are they affiliated with the parish in any way. In addition, the man wearing a clerical shirt seen in some of the videos is not part of the parish nor Archdiocese and is believed to be clergy member of another Christian denomination,” the statement said.

“The Archdiocese respects the right to peaceful expression while also recognizing the importance of maintaining a safe and orderly environment for those gathering for religious worship,” the statement said.

Jeff Lee, spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department, said officers responded around 2:25 p.m. on Aug. 23 to a report that 20 to 30 protestors were inside the church. No charges have been filed, Lee said.

Connolly said on Instagram that he planned the “march to the Southern California Islamic Center to stand against the war on AMERICANS by Jihadist sympathizers and Antifa Terrorists.” 

He could not immediately be reached for comment.

Papal Almoner’s Office supports solidarity kitchen in Ukraine

In the village of Berestia, in the Rivne region of northwestern Ukraine, there is a solidarity kitchen, which was founded by volunteer Tetiana Pinchuk. 

As Father Viktor Bilous, a staff member of the Apostolic Nunciature in Ukraine, explains, Pinchuk turned to the Holy See’s diplomatic mission for assistance.

“The Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, asked me to take care of the matter,” the priest recounts. “I looked into the kitchen and prepared a project, which we subsequently sent to the Office of Papal Charities at the Vatican. In a relatively short time, the Office provided funding specifically for this initiative. I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to the Rivne region, to the village of Berestia, to deliver the assistance in person.”

Tetiana’s idea

Tetiana is a Ukrainian volunteer who has brought together many women from her village and neighboring communities to prepare meals for Ukrainian soldiers in retort pouches—special packaging that allows food to be stored for long periods without refrigeration.

The women regularly gather at Tetiana’s home, where dedicated facilities have been set up to prepare the meals.

“When we arrived there,” Father Viktor recalls, “we were welcomed with great hospitality. I wasn't expecting it. We went together with the pastor of the Latin Catholic Church in Sarny, since this is part of his parish territory. They welcomed us with traditional bread, a korovai, which they had made especially for us, and they explained the entire process of preparing the meals, from beginning to end.”

Papal assistance

The priest noted that the assistance from the Vatican has a twofold significance for these volunteers. They are people of faith. None of them are Catholic; they are Orthodox and Protestant.

“I didn't expect them to place so much emphasis on having received the assistance specifically from the Office of Papal Charities,” Father Viktor says. “Even when they welcomed us, they told us, ‘Representatives of the Pope have come to us.’ They also shared the news on social media. We prayed together, I blessed the food, and we also prayed for our soldiers.”

Secondly, he explained, they wanted others to see the assistance coming from the Vatican and the Pope through his Almoner, in the hope that this might encourage others to come forward and become more involved in this work.

The painstaking work of ten women

“What moved me was the fact that the volunteers organized themselves and have always relied heavily on Providence and divine help, because they do not have many personal resources at their disposal,” Father Viktor recounts.

“I was also deeply moved by the dedication of Tetiana and the women who help her, because this is truly difficult work. I saw the large cauldrons in which the food is prepared, then the meals being packaged in retort pouches, and finally the pouches being placed in autoclaves (or pressure cookers) for sterilization and heat treatment.”

“All of this,” Father Viktor continues, “requires physical effort. The autoclave has to be placed on a gas stove and then removed. After that, labels with information about the food are put on the pouches, the boxes are packed and then sent to soldiers in different areas along the front line.”

He explains that it is a long process as it can take entire day to make a single batch. “About ten women take part, sometimes more, sometimes fewer,” Father Viktor says.

The beauty of the Church

The priest explains that, in general, the State provides food for its soldiers, so at first glance it might seem that there is no longer a need for volunteers to work in this area. However, the meals they provide have a longer shelf life and are of better quality and more enjoyable to eat.

“Therefore, if soldiers have the contact details of the volunteers who prepare this food,” he observes, “they contact them directly to get good food and thus have greater strength for their extremely demanding service on the front line.”

The volunteers have recently been preparing mainly grain-based dishes—buckwheat, barley, rice and so on. In some cases, these meals are even delivered to soldiers by drone.

Food packaging equipment

“Soldiers tell us that during shelling, a food pouch can be damaged, but because it contains grains, the food can still be gathered up,” Father Viktor explains.

“It is clear that supporting initiatives like these, however small, is very important, because so many people are involved in this work and so many soldiers receive good, nutritious food,” he stresses.

The priest adds that, as a staff member of the Apostolic Nunciature in Kyiv, he has the opportunity to see how beautiful and effective the Church—the universal Church—can be.

“Since the Nunciature coordinates various projects, I have the opportunity to see how all of this happens. I am proud that the Catholic Church can do so much good without waiting for better times. The good it does truly reaches the people who genuinely need it. This is something that always moves me, and I am happy to be involved, at least in some small way, in all of this.”

“I am proud that the Catholic Church can do so much good without waiting for better times. The good it does truly reaches the people who genuinely need it.”

Pope to Celebrate Mass for the Care of Creation at Castel Gandolfo

Pope Leo will preside over Mass for the Care of Creation at the Laudato Sì Village on September 1st, it has been announced. 

The Mass, which will be celebrated in the Laudato Si’ Garden within the Pontifical Gardens of Castel Gandolfo, was announced today in a joint statement by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Laudato Si’ Centre for Higher Education.

The Mass marks the annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and the opening of the Season of Creation—an ecumenical journey of prayer and commitment to safeguarding our common home. The period concludes on October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi and the 800th anniversary of his passing.

During this season, the Church and other Christian communities are invited to renew their commitment to creation through prayer, conversion, and concrete acts of stewardship.

On September 1, the Pope will celebrate a special "Mass for the Care of Creation," which was developed by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

Cardinal Czerny: "Every gift generates a responsibility"

"Celebrating the Eucharist around an altar immersed in a garden," said Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, "helps us remember that all creation is a gift, and every gift generates a responsibility."

"Faith teaches us to recognize our common home not primarily as a resource to be used, but as a gift to be welcomed with gratitude and cared for with love," the cardinal continued. "In the Mass, our thanksgiving to God also becomes a commitment: caring for creation means caring for life, for people—especially the most vulnerable—and for future generations."

Cardinal Baggio: Loving your neighbour means safeguarding creation

"For the Church," emphasized Cardinal Fabio Baggio, Director General of the Laudato Si’ Centre for Higher Education, "safeguarding Creation and promoting human dignity are two sides of a single mission, strongly rooted in the Christian faith. We believe God created the world and the human family out of love, and precisely out of love, He entrusted us with the care of our brothers and sisters and the custody of Creation."

"Safeguarding our common home," the Cardinal added, "means loving our neighbor, particularly those who suffer most from the consequences of environmental degradation, poverty, the climate crisis, and conflicts. Faith reminds us that we cannot love God without caring for what He has created and those He has entrusted to us."

Pope Leo: Liturgy must nourish faith, fraternity and peace

Pope Leo XIV is calling on the Church to strengthen the relationship between catechesis and liturgical celebration so that Christian initiation may lead people to Christ.

The Pope sent his greetings in a message to participants in the 76th National Liturgical Week, taking place in the Italian city of Catania.

The event takes place on August 24-27 under the theme, “A Church that generates: Liturgy and Christian Initiation.”

Signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the message described the theme as being of “particular importance” for the Church today.

Pope Leo recalled that Christian initiation cannot be understood merely as “preparation for the Sacraments.”

Rather, he said, it should be the “womb” in which a community gives birth to faith and communion with the Lord.

The Pope pointed to the unity between catechesis and celebration that marked the Church from its beginnings, when the first Christians “devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

He therefore invited Christian communities to return to this source by strengthening the value of the liturgy in Christian formation.

In the liturgy, Pope Leo said, “the mystery of Christ takes hold of us, transforms us, and causes us to be born as new creatures.”

Drawing on his catecheses concerning the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Pope stressed that Christian liturgical rites are “the ecclesial mediation through which the divine gift reaches us.”

This understanding, he said, requires the Church to recover the deeper meaning of liturgical gestures and symbols as expressions of actuosa participatio—the active participation of the faithful.

Catholics, especially those beginning a journey of faith, should therefore be introduced to forms of celebration that open their heart to God’s action.

The Pope also reflected on the communal dimension of the liturgy.

He said the liturgy forms Christians in communion, as it is celebrated as the action of one ecclesial body, which requires respect and fidelity towards the rites.

Pope Leo encouraged pastors and catechists to teach people to appreciate the “sober solemnity of liturgical gestures,” helping them understand and experience their meaning in all its richness.

He called the liturgy “a privileged place for listening to the Word of God” through the proclamation of Sacred Scripture.

In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV urged pastoral leaders in the Church to foster welcome, mystagogy, and witness of life.

“Only in this way,” he said, “will faith, born from the altar, be able to reach the streets of humanity, bearing fruits of goodness, reconciliation, and peace.”

Polish bishops condemn education changes ahead of new school year

At the start of the 2025-2026 academic year, the Ministry of Education cut religious education classes in schools from two hours per week to one, and required that those classes be scheduled directly before or after compulsory classes.

Poland’s bishops called for the restoration of religious education in schools ahead of the start of the new academic year.

In a statement on 24 August titled “Young People Deserve More”, the Polish Episcopal Conference (KEP) said religious education classes should return to their proper place in school timetables and criticised the government’s decision to make health education classes mandatory from September.

“At the threshold of a new school year and in the face of the serious challenges facing education, the Presidium of the Polish Episcopal Conference feels obliged to speak out in the spirit of pastoral care for the young generations in our homeland,” it said.

At the start of the 2025-2026 academic year, the Ministry of Education cut religious education classes in schools from two hours per week to one, and required that those classes be scheduled directly before or after compulsory classes.

The classes essentially teach the Catholic catechism and rarely include information on other religions. Grades from religious education classes no longer count towards a pupil’s average grade each year.

“We appeal for the immediate restoration of these classes to their proper place and for a genuine dialogue with religious communities,” the KEP statement said.

It backed a citizen’s bill sent to parliament that proposes the restoration of a weekly two hours of religious education or ethics classes with results counting towards final grades.

The bishops also expressed concern about the ministry’s decision to make health education classes compulsory at the start of this academic year.

The classes were introduced last year but attendance was optional and only around 30 per cent of pupils nationwide chose to attend. The ministry said pupils will still be able to opt out of the classes this year when they deal with matters concerning sexual health.

The KEP said it recognises the need for health education in schools and its important role in the promotion of mental health and in disease prevention.

“Our concerns, however, are about the vision of humanity, marriage and family that emerge from the curriculum and published textbooks,” the statement said.

“Education in such a sensitive area of human life must respect the parents’ right to decide on its shape. The state should support the family in its upbringing, not take over its basic functions,” it continued.

“Sexuality should be presented in the context of marital and family relationships because in this context it serves the true good of humanity. The lack of a clear position that marriage is a union between a man and a woman is also concerning.”

Regulation on recognising foreign same-sex marriages comes into force in Poland

All registry offices in Poland can now recognise same-sex marriages conducted in other European Union countries, after a government regulation issued in May went into force. The decision came in response to a ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) requiring Poland to recognise such unions.

Deputy prime minister Krzysztof Gawkowski expressed his “great joy, because finally in Poland we have a law that gives the right to dignity”. 

The government’s plenipotentiary for equality, Katarzyna Kotula, warned local authorities that they will be breaking the law if they refuse to comply with the new rules.

However, the mayor of one town in a conservative region has already declared that his administration will not recognise such marriages. He argues that doing so would violate Poland’s constitution, which mentions marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Polish domestic law still does not allow any form of same-sex unions to be formed. 

However, last year, the CJEU ordered that the country recognise same-sex marriages conducted in other EU member states. 

That was followed by a similar ruling from Poland’s own Supreme Administrative Court (NSA).

One obstacle to implementing those decisions was that, previously, Poland’s civil registry only allowed male-female marriages to be entered. 

But, under a regulation issued by the government in May, the system now allows either mixed-sex or same-sex marriages.

Even before that went into force on Sunday, some Polish cities, starting with Warsaw and Wrocław, had already begun transcribing same-sex marriages conducted abroad into their registries. They simply listed one spouse in the “man” section and the other as a “woman”, even though that was not accurate for one of them.

But some local authorities have refused to do so, pointing to article 18 of Poland’s constitution, which states that: “Marriage, being a union of a man and a woman, as well as the family, motherhood and parenthood, shall be placed under the protection and care of the Republic of Poland.”

Such doubts were cited by the mayor of Zakopane, a town in southern Poland, last week when he announced that his administration did not intend to begin recognising foreign same-sex marriages after the regulation came into force.

“We will not be issuing such transcriptions in Zakopane,” said Łukasz Filipowski, quoted by local news service Nasze Miasto. He argued that doing so would “not be in accordance with the constitution”, adding that, while Zakopane is “tolerant”, it “promotes the traditional family model…[as] our foundation”.

Filipowski pointed to a ruling in July by the Constitutional Tribunal (TK), which found that the government’s regulation conflicts with the constitution’s definition of marriage. However, the government considers the TK to be improperly constituted and therefore regards its rulings as invalid.

In response to Filipowski’s remarks, Kotula told broadcaster TVN that officials who refuse to recognise foreign same-sex marriages “will be breaking the law”. She said that the personal views of officials cannot “translate into what [legal] actions they take” and that the government would be monitoring the situation.

Gawkowski – who, like Kotula, is a leading figure in The Left (Lewica), a junior member of Poland’s ruling coalition – also warned municipalities against issuing refusals. He noted that, as well as the CJEU ruling, Polish courts have also issued orders to recognise foreign same-sex marriages.

“In the end, these local authorities will lose [a court battle], so why embarrass themselves? Let’s not look for legal tricks. Let’s just implement something that has been done in other, normal countries for years,” Gawkowski told Polsat News.

However, even once same-sex marriages are transcribed into Polish civil registries, there remains uncertainty about what legal consequences that will have in practice, especially given that Poland’s domestic law does not allow for any legally recognised form of same-sex union.

Legal experts say that it may take years – and potentially many more legal challenges by same-sex couples – for the situation to be clarified.

Separately, parliament earlier this year approved a bill, proposed by the ruling coalition, that would have granted same-sex couples in Poland certain rights normally granted to married couples. 

However, the law was vetoed by President Karol Nawrocki, who is aligned with the right-wing opposition.

Who Will Be Offered the First Red Hats of Leo XIV’s Pontificate? (Opinion)

So far, Leo XIV’s government has been characterized by extraordinary prudence and a certain continuity with his predecessors. 

He has made only a few relatively minor adjustments to the curia, without touching Francis’ broad reform framework. 

He has also retained the idea of synodality, but without giving it the central importance it had, at least narratively, during the Francis pontificate. 

And he has almost always drawn on men who had been Pope Francis’ people.

The time is coming, however, when Leo XIV’s pontificate will have to take definitive shape, and that will be when the Pope convenes a consistory to create new cardinals. From the choices he will make about who will receive the new red hats, we will learn a great deal about the Pope.

This is generally the case with every pontificate, and there is no reason to think Leo will be any different. When Leo XIV was elected, 133 cardinal-electors entered the Sistine Chapel, the largest number in history.

Paul VI had set the maximum number of cardinal-electors at 120, and this rule has never been changed. Still, popes can make exceptions. 

John Paul II had already exceeded the limit of 120 electors, but this was somewhat of a calculated move, as he knew that many cardinals would soon turn 80 and therefore would be excluded from the number of cardinal-electors. 

In fact, the conclave that elected Benedict XVI had fewer than 120 cardinal-electors.

Leo XIV does not seem to be a man to make exceptions to established rules and traditions, and so he has so far waited for the number of cardinal-electors to decrease. Currently, there are 116 cardinal-electors, just under the limit of 120.

It is unlikely, however, that Leo XIV’s first cardinal-creating consistory will be limited to four new cardinals. 

That said, of the current members of the College of Cardinals, 12 of them will turn 80 next year, at which point they will no longer be allowed to vote in the election of a new pope. Therefore, at the end of 2027, there will be 104 cardinal-electors. 

This allows Leo to assign 16 red hats, which would only briefly exceed the established limit, as the total number of electors would be at or under the limit of 120, one way or another, in fairly short time.

There are persistent rumors of a consistory to create new cardinals in February. Leo XIV has said he intends to hold a discussion-focused consistory at least twice a year and has already held two this year: one in January and another in July. It is therefore likely that another conversation-style consistory will be held in February, and it is possible that the Pope will create new cardinals on that occasion.

With 16 potential new red hats, what profiles will Leo XIV look for? The question is legitimate, and some early decisions on the Leonine pontificate may offer some indication. 

It is worth remembering that Pope Francis summoned the first consistory for the creation of new cardinals within the first year of his pontificate, in February 2014. At this stage of the previous pontificate, there were already 19 new red hats.

Pope Francis didn’t necessarily associate the red hat with a traditionally cardinalatial see. It so happens that, at this time, important dioceses such as Milan, Paris and Venice do not have a cardinal at their helm. There has also been an asymmetrical distribution of red hats and episcopates within Vatican dicasteries.

For example, Cardinal Fabio Baggio was undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development when he became a cardinal and remained so until his recent appointment as pro-prefect of the same dicastery by Leo XIV.

Cardinal Baggio’s appointment as pro-prefect would suggest that Leo will have a more rational and hierarchical distribution of the cardinalate. 

While the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life needed a cardinal pro-prefect to assist Sister Simona Brambilla in her role as prefect — because a bishop’s authority was needed to adjudicate certain cases — this is not the case for the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which instead has more structured responsibilities regarding the Church’s social doctrine.

Thus, curia positions could return to cardinals. The prime suspect is obviously Archbishop Filippo Iannone, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. But Archbishop Anthony Randazzo, prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, should also receive a red hat, according to this logic. 

It remains to be seen how Leo XIV will proceed with the “provisions” of the major cities. In Milan, Archbishop Mario Delpini turned 75 and, at Leo’s request, remained at the helm of Europe’s largest archdiocese while awaiting the appointment of a successor.

This successor will likely take the cardinal’s hat. In Paris, Archbishop Laurent Ulrich will also turn 75 in September. Therefore, it will presumably be his successor who will become a cardinal.

The complicated status of the United States remains to be seen, as some cardinals will have to retire: Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Leo XIV’s home diocese of Chicago, is already nearly 80 years old. It was thought that Leo wanted to keep him in office until his trip to the United States, but now that the trip may not be imminent — in an interview with NBC, the Pope spoke of the “next couple of years” — the replacement should not be postponed.

Who will succeed Cardinal Cupich? Will his successor be created a cardinal?

The still newish shepherd of New York, Archbishop Ronald Hicks, is another fellow waiting for a red hat. Generally, cardinals’ hats were not awarded to resident archbishops while their predecessors were still of voting age. That said, Pope Francis broke this unwritten rule when he wanted to. 

For example, Cardinal Francis Leo is the current archbishop of Toronto, but his predecessor, Cardinal Christopher Collins, will turn 80 in early 2027, so Canada’s largest city had two cardinals in the last conclave.

This provision, however, directly affects Brussels because Francis created Cardinal Jozef De Kesel, who will turn 80 next year, a cardinal but did not create his predecessor, André-Joseph Léonard, a cardinal; and Cardinal De Kesel’s successor, Archbishop Luc Terlinden, is not yet a cardinal. Could he, therefore, also become a cardinal? 

It remains to be seen whether Leo will adopt a geographical approach or pursue a genuine reform of Church thought.

The profiles of the cardinals he chooses will tell us more than a little about which direction he will take, whatever their roles happen to be. Another telltale will be how the upcoming “business” consistories are structured. 

So far, Leo XIV has continued the synodal method tested in Pope Francis’ last consistory. The Pope himself, however, has admitted that not everyone appreciates this method.

Indeed, discussions in the Church seem stuck on a few specific themes: the role of the synod and synodality, the question of liturgy and dialogue with the traditional world, and many ideologized issues, such as peace in social doctrine or the reception of migrants. 

The entry of new members into the College of Cardinals could revitalize the debate or at least shift perspective. 

And perhaps it will be the moment when we understand whether Leo XIV truly intends a pontificate of change and, if so, what kind of change and how much.

Pope has a free hand in Bavaria

In Bavaria, the church clocks are also ticking differently, at least when it comes to the appointment of bishops. 

However, the usual distribution of roles in this case is upside down: the Free State is the norm in the Catholic Church and the rest of the Federal Republic is the exception. 

The Bavarians are the Centralists, the others the federalists.

For the Free State, a separate state church treaty, the Bavarian Concordat of 29, still applies today. 

And this differs considerably from the other two relevant treaties for Germany, especially in the case of bishops’ appointments: the Prussian and Badian Concordats.

Bavaria close to the world church standard

In the seven Bavarian dioceses, the Pope – unlike in Germany – has largely a free hand in the selection of new diocese leaders. Thus, the situation here corresponds almost to the world church standard. 

The cathedral chapters, on the other hand, have only a very limited right of proposal in Bavaria in the case of bishops' appointments. Unlike, for example, the cathedral chapters in Cologne or Freiburg, the Augsburg Cathedral chapter could not select a candidate from a list of three of the Vatican, which then had to be confirmed by the Pope. 

The Bavarian cathedral chapters can only submit a list of candidates suitable from their point of view to the Vatican. Other lists, as elsewhere, send in the bishops of neighboring dioceses belonging to a church province.

The fact that the Pope today has a largely free hand in the Free State owes it to the Rome faithfulness of the Bavarian bishops in the Weimar Republic. After the revolution had swept away the monarchies in Germany in 1918, the relationship between church and state had to be reorganized. 

In Bavaria, the old Concordat of 1817 had stipulated that the king nominate the bishops, as was customary in other Catholic monarchies. The question now was whether this right should be entitled to the Pope alone after the omission of the monarchy, or the cathedral chapters, as it has since the 19th. century was regulated in Prussia. Because the Hohenzollern Dynasty was evangelical, Rome had not wanted to grant her a right of nomination for bishops. 

However, because the Hohenzollerns did not want to give Rome sole responsibility for bishops’ appointments, it had been agreed as a compromise that the cathedral chapters would nominate the bishops.

When the Weimar Republic was concerned about the new regulation of the bishop's appointments, out-of-the-point cathedral chapters had called on the Vatican with the support of the chairman of the Fulda Bishops' Conference, Wrocław Archbishop Adolf Bertram, to maintain the free bishops' elections through the cathedral chapters. 

However, this demand contradicted the new church law, which came into force in 1917. The so-called Codex Iuris Canonici provided for the free appointment of the bishops by the Pope.

The Bavarian bishops sided with church law and advocated a strong role for the pope in the bishops’ appointments. Some Bavarian cathedral capitulars did not want to accept this and tried to enforce a free right to vote for bishops of the cathedral chapters without the knowledge of their bishops. 

However, the Bavarian bishops successfully prevented this with the help of the Apostolic Nuncio in Bavaria, Eugenio Pacelli, the later Pope Pius XII (1939–1958).

Not least because a concordat with the German Reich was not in sight, Bavaria decided to start its own contract negotiations with the Vatican. 

The Bavarian Concordat applies not only to the seven Bavarian dioceses of Munich and Freising, Passau, Eichstätt, Augsburg, Würzburg, Bamberg and Regensburg, but also to a non-Bavarian diocese: the Diocese of Speyer. This belonged to the Kingdom of Bavaria when the first Concordat was concluded in 1817. The contracting parties maintained this scope in 1924.

Short sedis-vacancies, few Bavarian native plants

If one compares the bishops' appointments in Bavaria with those in other dioceses, two things stand out above all: First, the bishop's chairs are usually vacant shorter than in dioceses, for which the Prussian or Baden Concordat applies. 

In the case of Augsburg, it took almost seven months in 2020 for Bertram Meier to be appointed a successor to Konrad Zdarsa, who resigned in July 2019 for reasons of age – in Würzburg it was only five months until Franz Jung was appointed successor to Friedhelm Hofmann in February 2018. And secondly, in Bavaria, the bishops are significantly less likely to become bishops. In the diocese of Augsburg, for example, there have been only two since the conclusion of the Bavarian Concordat, incumbents Meier and Josef Stimpfle (1963–1992). In other Bavarian dioceses, too, significantly fewer locals came to the fore than outside Bavaria.

However, the fact that a Bavarian bishop even became pope in 2005 has nothing to do with the Bavarian Concordat. Or rather, almost nothing. Joseph Ratzinger was born on 29. June 1951 by the Munich Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber ordained a priest, the cardinal who was instrumental in the formation of the Bavarian Concordat 27 years earlier.

After controversies: Vatican confirms removal of pastor

The Dicastery for the Clergy has confirmed the deposition of the Italian pastor Massimo Biancalani. 

The clergyman was responsible for the parishes of Santa Maria Maggiore in Vicofaro and San Niccolò in Ramini, both of which belong to the Tuscan city of Pistoia. 

Italian media reported the decision. 

Biancalani had appealed to the Holy See against the ecclesiastical measures of the then Bishop of Pistoia, Fausto Tardelli.

The background is years of disputes over the admission of migrants and the management of the two parishes. 

Since 2015, the parish of Vicofaro has developed into a nationally known symbol of the Italian immigration debate. 

Biancalani provided rooms of the parish and the church to provide accommodation to migrants. At times, more than 200 people were accommodated there. At the same time, there were problems with the Italian authorities because of the hygienic and health conditions. 

The situation also led to protests by local residents and tensions within the parish. Some of the parishioners stayed away from church services and other activities. Biancalani's commitment to migrants also caused political controversy.

Transfer to the diocese failed

At that time, Tardelli proposed to Biancalani to hand over the leadership of the parishes and take on a task in the diocesan mission office. This should allow the priest to continue his commitment to migrants without continuing to be responsible for the leadership of the two parishes. Biancalani, however, rejected the transfer. 

In the further course, church law measures were initiated against him, against which he took action at the Holy See. 

The Dicastery for the Clergy rejected his objections and confirmed his removal from pastoral ministry in the two parishes.

According to the diocese, the procedure is not related to disciplinary failings of the priest. Likewise, the decision is not a sanction for Biancalani's admission of migrants. Rather, the measure is justified by the pastoral management of the two parishes.

Gallagher meets with Lavrov in Moscow: "The world needs diplomacy more than ever"

The Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations of the Holy See, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, met this Tuesday, August 25, in Moscow (Russia) with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, on the first day of high-level meetings during his visit to the country. 

“In this difficult atmosphere for international relations, we believe that dialogue is more important than ever and that the world needs diplomacy more than ever,” the archbishop stated at the beginning of the meeting, according to EFE citing Russian television.

Gallagher arrived in the Russian capital on Monday and will remain in the country until Friday, August 28. The visit includes contacts with the authorities of the Russian Federation, representatives of the Patriarchate of Moscow, and the country’s Catholic community.

“Vital” to maintain dialogue

Gallagher thanked Lavrov for his invitation to “finally” make the trip to Moscow and described maintaining open channels of dialogue as “vital.”

The head of pontifical diplomacy noted that persevering on this path is a hallmark of the Holy See’s actions and expressed his desire to speak “about peace, about the reality and prospects of peace,” and to convey hope, particularly at a time when “trust is clearly at risk.”

The archbishop presented Tuesday’s meeting as a continuation of recent contacts between the Holy See and the Russian diplomatic mission.

Lavrov, for his part, stated that Russia and the Holy See have managed to preserve, despite international “disturbances,” a dialogue based on “trust and mutual respect.”

The Russian minister expressed hope that this framework would allow for the search for “positive and feasible decisions” and showed willingness to address with Gallagher any issue of interest to the Holy See with a view to reaching “mutually acceptable agreements.”

The meeting had been officially confirmed by Moscow last week. At that time, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that both would discuss relations between the Russian Federation and the Holy See, cooperation in international organizations, and various issues on the international agenda.

Ukraine on the agenda

Although a detailed summary of the content of the talks has not yet been released, the Kremlin had anticipated that the war in Ukraine would likely be part of the meeting.

Asked about Gallagher’s agenda, the Russian presidential spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, stated: “I have no doubt that the Ukrainian issue will come up.”

The visit comes just weeks after Gallagher’s trip to Ukraine, where he spent six days in July and held meetings with the country’s political and ecclesiastical authorities. In Kyiv, he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky and discussed, among other issues, the war and its humanitarian consequences.

At the end of that mission, Gallagher confirmed that the Holy See is studying the conditions for a possible visit by Leo XIV to Ukraine, following repeated invitations from the country’s authorities. “The Holy Father takes this invitation very seriously,” he said at the time.

Meeting with the Patriarchate of Moscow

Gallagher’s agenda is not limited to Russian civil authorities. This Tuesday he is scheduled to meet with Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow.

Anthony has headed the body responsible for the external relations of the Russian Orthodox Church since 2022, after succeeding Metropolitan Hilarion.

On Wednesday, August 26, Gallagher will be received by Yuri Ushakov, advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin on foreign policy. A career diplomat, Ushakov served as Russia’s ambassador to the United States from 1998 to 2008 and has been presidential advisor for international affairs since 2012.

First visit since before the war

This is the first time Gallagher has visited Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

His previous trip to Moscow took place in November 2021, just a few months before the start of the war. On that occasion, he met with Lavrov, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, and the then head of external relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow, Metropolitan Hilarion.

The current visit will also have a specifically ecclesial dimension. On Thursday the 27th, Gallagher will dedicate the day to Russia’s Catholic community. He will meet with priests, religious brothers and sisters, and later celebrate Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Moscow. Afterward, he will hold a meeting with the country’s Catholic bishops.

Gallagher will return to Rome on Friday, August 28, after a visit in which the Holy See is simultaneously keeping open channels of dialogue with Russian authorities, the Patriarchate of Moscow, and the country’s Catholic community.

Cardinal Goh warns that "the essential doctrines of the faith" must not be confused with "cultural practices"

Cardinal William Goh, Archbishop of Singapore, has urged Catholics to distinguish between the Holy Tradition of the Church and the customs, disciplines, and devotions that have developed in different cultures, warning that some end up treating the latter as “the absolute norm” for how faith and the Christian life should be lived.

In his Tuesday, 25 August homily, titled Stand Firm by Keeping the Tradition and Traditions, the cardinal drew on St. Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians: “Stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter.” 

Goh explained that this transmission refers above all to the fundamental truths of the faith received from the Apostles.

What “cannot be compromised”

The cardinal recalled St. Paul’s words to the Corinthians about what he had received and handed on “as of first importance”: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, was buried, and rose on the third day.

Goh also pointed to the institution of the Eucharist as another example of this apostolic transmission, citing the account of the Last Supper and Christ’s command: “Do this in memory of me.”

Among the Church’s fundamental elements, he likewise mentioned the Creed, the sacraments, the institutions of the Church, papal infallibility, and Holy Orders.

“These things cannot be compromised, because they define how the Church understands herself,” he stated.

In contrast, Goh placed other “lesser traditions that are not strictly essential to the Church’s faith,” which have arisen throughout history and can take different forms according to circumstances.

Traditions that depend on culture and context

Among these practices, the Archbishop of Singapore cited Friday penance, abstinence from meat, certain ecclesiastical feasts, celebrations of saints, and expressions of popular piety.

The cardinal did not reject these customs; rather, he stressed that they can help the faithful live their faith concretely without possessing the same rank as what was received from the Apostles.

“Not all of these traditions need to be observed by everyone, since they depend on culture, context, devotion, and relevance,” he explained.

The distinction Goh highlighted is also found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which in paragraph 83 differentiates apostolic Tradition from the “theological, disciplinary, liturgical, or devotional traditions” that later arose in local Churches. 

The latter, the Catechism notes, may be “retained, modified, or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church’s Magisterium.”

“They try to impose these cultural and personal traditions”

Goh warned of the consequences of equating the two kinds of tradition.

“Unfortunately, some do not distinguish between Tradition and traditions, considering the latter as important as the former,” he noted.

According to the cardinal, this confusion leads to a failure to differentiate “between the essential doctrines of the faith and the cultural practices developed in different societies.”

In some cases, he added, a further step is taken and an attempt is made to “impose these cultural and personal traditions on others, treating them as the absolute norm” for determining how faith and the Christian life should be lived.

Goh cited as an example the popular devotions associated with certain saints or with Marian and Christological apparitions.

The archbishop specifically mentioned the Philippines and Latin America, where Catholic religiosity has incorporated expressions proper to local cultures, and recalled that traditions of this kind also exist in European countries with a long Catholic heritage.

Far from denying their value, Goh acknowledged that these forms of religiosity help to incarnate the faith in a given society. His warning was directed against turning them into obligatory models outside the context in which they arose.

“Although such popular religiosity helps to make the faith concrete locally, one should not attempt to export or impose these devotions on another country,” he stated.

“Justice, mercy, and fidelity”

The cardinal linked this distinction to the day’s Gospel, in which Christ reproaches the scribes and Pharisees for scrupulously paying the tithe of “mint, dill, and cumin” while neglecting “the weightier matters of the Law: justice, mercy, and fidelity.”

Goh explained that the Mosaic Law had been given to order the life of the people of Israel, regulate worship, and guide their relationship with God and with others. Later, secondary provisions were developed to apply its principles to concrete situations.

The problem, according to the cardinal, arises when these rules end up receiving the same importance as the ends for which they were established.

“In the end, all laws exist to guide our relationship with God and with our fellow human beings, helping us to live justly and, beyond justice, with mercy and compassion toward the poor, the suffering, and the weak,” he noted.

Fasting, abstinence, and external observance

Goh applied the same principle to the external practices of religious life, drawing on Christ’s words against those who clean the outside of the cup while leaving its inside impure.

“The external observance of cultural and hygienic practices is good when it serves as an expression of the interior heart, but this is not always the case,” he stated.

The cardinal specifically mentioned Friday penance, abstinence, fasting, and the one-hour Eucharistic fast. He warned that these disciplines can lose their purpose when the faithful’s attention is reduced to external compliance.

“Some become obsessed with the number of days or hours required for a devotion to be ‘valid,’ acting as if God were concerned primarily with external things,” he explained.

“What matters most to God is the interior of our hearts: our sincerity, our devotion, and our love for Him,” he added.

“Let us be faithful to the Holy Tradition of the Church”

The Archbishop of Singapore concluded his homily by returning to the distinction between the deposit of faith handed down from the Apostles and the various forms in which the Church has expressed and lived it throughout the centuries.

“Let us be faithful to the Holy Tradition of the Church—the deposit of faith handed down from the time of the Apostles—and appreciate the traditions that the Church has developed over the centuries to make faith concrete and real in our lives,” he stated.

Goh thus insisted on preserving both realities in their proper order: apostolic Tradition as the foundation that cannot be compromised, and ecclesial and devotional traditions as forms that can help live that faith in specific cultural circumstances.

The cardinal concluded by directing attention toward Jesus Christ and God the Father, asking that what Christians have received strengthen them “in everything good that we do or say.”

SSPX will maintain its pilgrimage to Lourdes despite the ban: "Our Lady does not deserve to be abandoned"

The district of France of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX) has announced that it will maintain its annual pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, despite the decision of the bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Msgr. Jean-Marc Micas, to prevent its priests and faithful from publicly celebrating Mass, the sacraments, and other acts of worship within the Sanctuary grounds.

The response is signed by the superior of the French district, Fr. Gonzague Peignot, who expresses the Fraternity’s “sorrow” and “incomprehension” at the measure announced by Micas on August 13. 

At the same time, the FSSPX states that it “fully recognizes the authority of the local bishop.”

The decision affects the international pilgrimage the Fraternity had planned in Lourdes from October 23 to 26, 2026. 

Micas linked the withdrawal of authorizations to the episcopal consecrations carried out by the FSSPX in Écône, Switzerland, on July 1 without a pontifical mandate, and to the canonical consequences subsequently declared by Rome.

The FSSPX recalls the pilgrimage of Christians and Muslims

One of the central arguments of the statement is the different treatment that, according to the Fraternity, the prohibition represents compared to other groups previously welcomed by the Sanctuary.

The FSSPX recalls that in October 2025, Lourdes hosted a four-day pilgrimage that brought together Christians and Muslims around the figure of Mary, with moments of prayer, a Mass, a torchlight procession, prayer at the Grotto, and interreligious encounters.

“How can one not be surprised—even indignant—that those who do not recognize either the divine Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the dogma of her Immaculate Conception, or the divinity of her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, were authorized where today a prohibition is issued against the faithful of the chapels of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X?” the statement asks.

The French district presents itself as composed of “simple sons of the Catholic Church” who do not intend “in any way to replace the Church” and whose sole aspiration, it assures, is to remain faithful to her.

The pilgrimage will go ahead

Micas’s provision allows priests and faithful of the FSSPX to enter the Sanctuary to visit the Grotto and other sites in Lourdes and to pray privately. What is excluded is the organization of public celebrations of the Fraternity within the grounds.

The French district has announced that it will avail itself of this possibility and will continue to travel to Lourdes each year.

“Our Lady does not deserve, in effect, to be abandoned despite the obstacles,” the statement maintains. “If the doors of the Sanctuary remain closed to a public pilgrimage, the door of the Heart of the Mother of God never closes to her children.”

The Fraternity also assures Micas of its “respect” and its prayers “without resentment,” and expresses the hope that the bishop will one day come to recognize in its members “not rebels, but sons desirous of living and serving in the Catholic Church.”

Gleize: “Is it really he who decides?”

Following the statement, Fr. Jean-Michel Gleize, a priest and theologian of the FSSPX, addressed the prohibition during a sermon delivered on Sunday, August 23, at Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet in Paris (France).

Gleize directly mentioned Micas, though he introduced a doubt about the origin of the decision: “His Excellency the bishop of Tarbes—is it really he who decides? Above him is the Episcopal Conference, it is synodality—his Excellency the bishop of Tarbes denies us access to the Sanctuary of Lourdes.”

The priest did not develop this claim or provide evidence of any intervention by the French Episcopal Conference in Micas’s decision.

His sermon then focused on urging the faithful to face the restrictions without “bitterness” and from faith. To illustrate this, he recounted the story of a little girl who received new shoes and, after complaining that the right one hurt her, rejoiced because the left one did not.

“Let us learn to look with the eyes of a child and remain always in thanksgiving. The goodness of God is always at work in our souls,” he stated.

“We have the Virgin Mary”

Gleize acknowledged that this year the pilgrims might not enter the Sanctuary under the same conditions as before, but maintained that material restrictions cannot affect what they consider part of their faith.

“We believe that She is the Mother of God. We believe that She is the Immaculate Virgin. We believe that She is Co-Redemptrix. We believe that She is Mediatrix of all graces. And that no one, no excommunication, can ever take from us,” he declared.

The priest insisted that, although they may not have “those churches, those sanctuaries built by our ancestors to venerate the Virgin Mary,” they retain their devotion: “We have the Virgin Mary. She remains in our heart, she remains in the sanctuary of our soul.”

Gleize concluded his remarks by asking that the situation not generate resentment among the faithful. “This must banish from our heart every kind of bitterness,” he noted, before exhorting them to ask for “greater faith, greater hope, and greater charity.”

The official statement from the district, for its part, concludes by reaffirming the purpose for which the FSSPX was founded by Msgr. Marcel Lefebvre in 1970: to transmit doctrine, the sacraments, and the Christian life. 

Peignot cites a letter addressed by the superior general of the Fraternity, Fr. Davide Pagliarani, to Leo XIV on November 21, 2025, in which he stated that the FSSPX does not intend to preserve “a museum of old things,” but rather “the integral Tradition, fruitful, a source of spiritual life, embodied and lived in souls.”

Daughters of Mary will disappear in October after Rome's refusal to recognize them as a religious institute

The Daughters of Mary (Children of Mary) will cease to exist as a community in October 2026 after the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life rejected their recognition as an institute of diocesan right “neither now nor in the future.”

The bishop of Columbus, Ohio (United States), Bishop Earl Fernandes, decided to suppress the public association of the faithful after receiving the communication from Rome.

Fernandes outlined the reasons for the decision in a letter dated August 10, released together with another communication from the Daughters of Mary themselves. 

The bishop points to problems in the formation of the members and even “abuses associated with the evangelical counsels” and with the separation between the internal and external forums. The community has accepted the suppression “in a spirit of faith, humility, and filial obedience to the Church.”

More than 25 years of history

The Daughters of Mary trace their origins back more than 25 years. The community was canonically established in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, also in Ohio, in 2016 and in 2022 moved to the Diocese of Columbus, with its headquarters in Newark.

Its charism is centered on “quenching Jesus’ thirst to be loved in the Most Blessed Sacrament.” Its apostolate has been carried out through eucharistic adoration, prayer that others may love and adore Christ in the Eucharist, and evangelization. Fernandes also highlights the community’s Marian devotion and its prayer for priests.

The Daughters of Mary were constituted as a public association of the faithful and were working toward recognition as an institute of diocesan right.

As part of that process, the community sought to reform and clarify its Constitutions, define its charism more precisely, resolve issues related to the ownership of its goods, and improve the formation of its members.

According to Fernandes, the sisters provided “in good faith” to the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life the documentation necessary to begin the procedure.

“Despite the sisters’ best efforts, these reforms proved difficult,” he states.

Problems of formation and “abuses associated with the evangelical counsels”

Fernandes explains that in recent years difficulties related to formation within the community came to his attention.

The bishop specifically mentions “certain problems of formation and even abuses associated with the evangelical counsels and the right to the separation of the internal and external forums.”

The evangelical counsels are poverty, chastity, and obedience. The distinction between the internal and external forums preserves the sphere of personal conscience with respect to the external exercise of authority. Fernandes describes it in his letter as the separation between “the forum of personal conscience” and “the forum of external and observable actions.”

The bishop’s letter provides no further details about the nature of those abuses or identifies the persons involved.

Fernandes assures that “sincere attempts” were made to address the difficulties and that he kept the Dicastery in Rome informed throughout the process.

The Dicastery rejects recognition

According to Fernandes, an official of the Dicastery finally informed him that the formation difficulties had been present in the community’s life from its beginnings and had persisted despite the reforms undertaken.

“Even with the reforms attempted, because of the formative problems in community life from its beginnings and the persistence of these problems, the Daughters of Mary would not be approved now or in the future for erection as an institute of diocesan right,” the bishop states.

The sisters confirm that communication in their own letter.

“We have recently been informed that the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has decided that our community will not be considered for approval as an institute of diocesan right, neither now nor in the future,” they explain.

The Daughters of Mary note, for their part, that during the process “unforeseen formative problems” arose because it was a relatively new community and state that Fernandes conveyed the Dicastery’s concerns to them.

Three members professed perpetual vows in May

Last May, three members of the Daughters of Mary made their profession of perpetual vows during a Mass presided over by Bishop Fernandes himself.

According to The Catholic Times, the newspaper of the Diocese of Columbus, priests, religious, and seminarians attended the celebration. The three sisters promised to “persevere until death.”

The superior of the community, Mother Philomena Maria, described that day as “a beautiful flowering in the vocations of three of our sisters, who have come to this community to give their lives out of deep love for Jesus, truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.”

One of them was Sister Cecilia Grace, a native of Russellville, Ohio, who had entered the convent in 2019 at the age of 18.

“Suppression was the only option”

Once the Dicastery’s decision regarding the community’s canonical future was received, Fernandes decided to suppress the association.

The bishop explains that recognition as an institute of diocesan right would have provided the members with “greater stability and the guarantee of permanent spiritual and physical care.”

“Knowing that this would not be possible and recognizing that some of the women of the Daughters of Mary may have a genuine vocation as consecrated religious in an order recognized by the Church, I determined that suppression was the only option,” he states.

Fernandes notes that the decision will allow the members to discern their vocation afterward “in a new association or institute or in the world.”

Rome’s intervention in new religious institutes

Since 2020, the erection of a new institute of consecrated life of diocesan right requires prior written authorization from the Holy See.

That year, Francis amended Canon 579 of the Code of Canon Law through the motu proprio Authenticum charismatis. Until then, the diocesan bishop could validly erect an institute after consulting the Apostolic See. Since the reform took effect, he must first obtain a written license from Rome.

The decision communicated by the Dicastery therefore prevents the Daughters of Mary from completing the process to become an institute of diocesan right.

“Faith, humility, and filial obedience”

The Daughters of Mary have announced that their existence as a community will end in October 2026.

“Although this decision is painful to accept, we receive it in a spirit of faith, humility, and filial obedience to the Church we love,” they state.

The sisters acknowledge that the decision “may seem abrupt,” but add that “much has happened to reach this point,” without providing further details.

“As each one continues to discern the path the Lord now places before us, we do so with confidence that He is faithful and that His providence never fails,” they write.

The community recalls “the friendships formed, the lives touched, and the love of Christ shared” during their years of apostolate and trusts that the seeds sown will continue to bear fruit.

Fernandes also acknowledges the work carried out by the Daughters of Mary and asks the faithful to pray for their members.

“A suppression of this kind is neither common nor rare in the Church,” the bishop notes. “It is felt more deeply when it occurs at the local level and among people we know personally.”

The prelate concludes by quoting the First Book of Samuel: “God does not see as man sees, for man sees the appearances, but the Lord looks at the heart.”