Leo XIV’s excommunication backfires: SSPX lists multiple priests who just joined them

The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) on Friday posted a list of diocesan and religious priests around the world who have joined the Society, undeterred by penalties or the Vatican’s declared excommunications. 

“After the ordinations, diocesan priests continue to turn toward Tradition,” the official international SSPX Twitter account wrote in a French language post.

The social media account proceeded to name priests from across the globe who joined the SSPX even after the Society’s bishops were declared “excommunicated” in July 2026, or had joined earlier but remained in the Society, undeterred by penalties from their diocesan bishops. 

The post first cited the case of Father David Mary Engo, who had “all faculties, permissions, and authorizations” withdrawn on Oct. 2 by the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, due to his pastoral activity “associated with and supporting the SSPX.” 

“A few days earlier, Father Philip Conklin, ordained in 2024 in Minnesota, had also become the subject of a canonical procedure after confirming his affiliation with the SSPX,” the post stated. It quoted Conklin as saying, “I am a priest who simply could not ignore his conscience,” adding that he sought to exclusively offer the traditional sacraments and “preach 100% of Catholicism.”

“Father David Fulton, who joined the SSPX “last year after 21 years of diocesan ministry and two years of training with it,” remains with the Society, the post suggested.

“In Poland, Father Wojciech Kmak, from the Diocese of Łowicz, began his probation in Warsaw on June 29. He joins several priests from diocesan clergy or religious communities, including Fathers Tomasz Kolendo, Marcin Leszczynowicz, Piotr Dzierżak, Piotr Świerczek, and Michał Wierzejewski.”

In Brazil, Father Rodrigo de Oliveira Silva was “suspended by his diocese in February,” and despite this “has drawn closer to the SSPX” and is working to establish a new Mass site. Unfazed by the declared excommunications, in August, “his bishop imposed new canonical sanctions on him.”

“In Ireland, Father Ailbe Michael O’Reilly continues his ministry with the Fraternity and has publicly described the Roman sanctions as ‘unjust’ and ‘invalid.’”

The post went on to mention priests in other countries who, although not officially part of the SSPX, are associated with the Society or friendly with it. In Italy, there remain “several groups of ‘priests friends of the Fraternity,’ most of them diocesan.”

“In Austria, the September priestly meeting brought together 19 SSPX priests, four associated priests, and two friendly diocesan priest collaborators,” the post noted. “The district has five associated priests,” it added.

The list is not exhaustive but demonstrates strong conviction about the SSPX’s mission in a significant number of diocesan and religious priests.

The Society also pointed out in its Twitter post that SSPX seminaries “also welcome already ordained priests” who wish “to deepen their doctrinal, spiritual, and liturgical formation with the Fraternity.”

“While Rome plans a procedure for priests wishing to leave the SSPX, many priests from diocesan clergy and religious communities continue, around the world, to draw closer to the Fraternity or to join it.”

The SSPX is rejected canonical regularization by the Vatican because it insists it has a duty to clearly call out Vatican II’s apparent contradictions of perennial Church teaching, such as its statement that “in Hinduism, men contemplate the divine mystery” and that “the human person has a right to religious freedom.”

Canon lawyer Father Gerald Murray has pointed out that the Vatican’s document pronouncing the excommunications does not have legal effect in excommunicating any SSPX priests or laypeople attending their Masses.

In addition, the SSPX has filed a preliminary canonical appeal against the Vatican decree of excommunication issued on July 2, suspending its force under canon law.

Johannes Zehe is the new auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Hamburg

The Archdiocese of Hamburg has a new auxiliary bishop. Archbishop Stefan Hesse consecrated the priest Johannes Zehe to the episcopate on Saturday in St. Mary's Cathedral. 

The 62-year-old is to support the Hamburg archbishop in the leadership of the diocese in the future.

Hesse called on Zehe in his sermon to be a witness to the Gospel and messenger of peace as a bishop. The episcopal ministry is only viable and understandable in fidelity to Jesus Christ, the archbishop said. 

The bishop is not ordained a manager or board member of a religious corporation, but as a witness to the resurrection.

With a view to the Gospel of the disciples sitting behind closed doors after the death of Jesus, Hesse warned of fear as the basic attitude of the Church. "With fear, you don't move anything at all," he said. Where Jesus steps into the middle, however, community, confidence and dynamism arise. The bishop is not only sent to Catholics, but to all people. Toe should bring peace "into all corners of our diocese and the whole world."

Politicians also present

The service was also attended by members of the state governments and parliaments from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, as well as representatives of other denominations and religions. 

Among them were the Hamburg bishop Kirsten Fehrs as well as the bishops Felix Genn and Heinrich Timmerevers.

Pope Leo XIV had appointed Zehe as auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Hamburg at the end of June. The Mecklenburg native succeeds the Emeritus Auxiliary Bishop Horst Eberlein, who had been retired in October 2025. 

The tasks of an auxiliary bishop include the donation of the confirmation. In addition, he represents the archbishop on church and social occasions and assumes pastoral tasks.

Toe was born in 1963 in Neustrelitz. Before studying theology, he studied music in Berlin, worked as a violin teacher and played in the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Theatre Stralsund. In 1999 he was ordained a priest in Hamburg. 

He then worked in Neubrandenburg and Lübeck, among others. Most recently, he was responsible for the priestly formation of the Archdiocese as a rain – a task that he should continue to do in the future. 

The Archdiocese of Hamburg includes the approximately 330,000 Catholics in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg. It is the largest diocese in Germany in terms of area.

Munich archdiocese pays pain allowance to abuse victims

A years-long legal battle in a prominent abuse case has ended. 

A man abused by a priest at a young age receives pain money. 

How high the sum is, he does not want to say.

With a settlement in court, a long pain money trial of an Upper Bavarian abuse victim against the Catholic Church has come to an end. 

As the district court Traunstein announced on Monday, the plaintiff and the archdiocese of Munich and Freising have agreed a good four years after the filing of the complaint on payment of a pain allowance.

At the request of the injured party, the sum was not published. In return, he took back the complaint against the Essen diocesan priest Peter H.. Originally, the man had demanded at least 300,000 euros in pain money. 

The basis for the final agreement is an agreement appointed by the court and since 21. July 2025 present psychiatric expert opinion. Accordingly, the psychological and social development of the plaintiff is also due to the abuse in the mid-1990s.

At the top of the corridor

On this basis, according to the communication in September 2025, the court proposed a corridor for a compensation payment of pain allowances that was appropriate in its view. 

The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising had offered to pay the maximum amount mentioned therein; the plaintiff had agreed. The archdiocese welcomed the agreement.

The now 42-year-old man had claimed to have once as an elementary school student from the then pastor in the Upper Bavarian Garching an der Alz sexually abused and thus to have been severely damaged for his entire life.

That's what the doctors said in the trial

Already during the trial, several doctors had been heard as witnesses who had treated or examined the plaintiff. According to her statements, the man, who comes from difficult family circumstances, developed a severe addiction problem and personality disorder. 

Prison stays would have alternated with withdrawal attempts and short periods of abstinence. Abuse is considered as a co-cause of the later problems of the man, but not as the sole reason.

At times, the emeritus, now deceased Pope Benedict XVI was also among the defendants. He was Munich Archbishop from 1977 to 1982, when the decision was made to accept Peter H. from Essen to the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. 

According to the regional court, this part of the proceedings, which was separated in 2023, continues to rest, since the legal successor of Benedict XVI has not yet been named.

The case of Peter H. is considered one of the most prominent abuse cases of the Catholic Church in Germany. Since 2010, he has made headlines worldwide, also because of the references to Benedict XVI. 

The clergyman passed away at minors in at least four locations in North Rhine-Westphalia and Upper Bavaria.

Bishop Leahy calls on people and parishes to ’think community’

Bishop ​of ​Limerick Brendan ​Leahy ​has called on ​people across the ​Diocese ​of ​Limerick to work together in ​their ​parishes and ​communities for ​the common good, ​saying that ​great things ​can ​happen when ​people ​unite ​around a ​shared purpose.

Addressing a ​recent ​Diocese ​of ​Limerick Annual Assembly, Bishop ​Leahy said ​that the importance ​of ​working ​together can ​be ​seen ​in many areas of life ​and ​pointed to ​the ​success of ​the ​Limerick ​senior ​hurling ​team as ​a ​powerful local example of what can ​be ​achieved through ​teamwork, commitment and ​a ​shared ​spirit.

Working together, ​he ​said, is ​what ​builds strong, ​vibrant communities ​that shelter, encourage ​and nurture.

“You ​can imagine ​the ​Limerick hurling ​team ​wouldn’t get ​far if they just saw ​themselves ​as ​15 individual ​players,” Bishop ​Leahy said. ​”What makes the ​team ​great is the ​teamwork and spirit. We know ​they work ​on ​that.”

Reflecting on the theme of togetherness, the ​Bishop ​said ​that faith ​is ​not ​simply a ​private matter ​but ​one ​that calls people into community and ​service of ​others. He encouraged parish ​communities ​to ​continue strengthening ​local ​connections, ​building welcoming ​environments ​and supporting one ​another ​in ​faith and ​daily life.

“It’s ​when we ​act ​as community ​we ​are at ​our ​best. Think of how ​we ​celebrate ​together ​as ​a people, ​the ​joy we get in that. Think ​also ​of how ​we come together ​to ​support ​people at times of need ​and ​the support we ​give in that,” ​he said.

“God ​didn’t save us ​simply ​as individuals. ​He saved ​us ​as ​a people, ​to be the ‘People of ​God’,” he said. ​”For Christians, there ​is ​a ​triangle we need ​to remember: me, my neighbour ​and ​God.”

The ​diocesan ​gathering ​brought ​together ​clergy, parish ​volunteers, ​ministry ​leaders and people involved ​in a wide range ​of parish and diocesan ​initiatives. The programme ​highlighted the breadth ​of activity ​taking ​place ​across the Diocese, ​with ​participants encouraged by the scale ​of engagement ​and ​outreach underway in ​local communities.

The delegates were ​also briefed on the National ​Synodal ​Assembly taking ​place this Saturday, ​October ​17^th. ​Bishop ​Leahy ​described this as ​a significant milestone for ​the Irish ​Synodal Pathway on ​its five-year ​journey to date since it ​started in 2021. The ​guiding ​question ​that ​has ​accompanied ​the Synodal Pathway in ​Ireland ​is: “What does ​God want from ​the ​Church ​in ​Ireland ​at this time?”.

At ​the gathering ​next Saturday, some ​300 ​nominated delegates, ​including seven ​from ​Limerick, will ​gather to ​consider ​and make recommendations on ​suggested actions arising ​from ​the five years of ​listening ​and discernment. Following ​the Assembly, ​the ​proposals that are ​approved ​will be presented to ​the ​bishops ​of Ireland for ​their ​consideration.

Bishop ​Leahy ​also announced ​that a Limerick Diocesan Synod ​will be ​held ​on March 13th, 2027.

Summing ​up the ​spirit of ​the ​gathering, Bishop ​Leahy said ​that while ​many ​people ​can ​feel isolated within ​their ​own parish, ​coming ​together reveals the extensive ​work and ​commitment ​that ​exists across the Diocese.

“When we ​join up the dots, ​there ​is ​a ​lot going on,” he said. ​”We should be thankful ​for ​that ​and find ​new strength ​to ​go forward.”

Brendan Hoban: Neeson won’t let facts get in the way of his story (Opinion)

RTÉ’s Late Late Show and its presenter, Patrick Kielty, are back for another season, starting as usual with a bang. 

And true to form they seized the most memorable moment of the summer by saluting the singular achievement of the Mayo footballers. 

Everyone in Mayo must have been watching, after the word got out – or was deliberately leaked – that the Great Event of the summer of 2026 would be the opening item on the programme. It was a stunning tribute to the Mayo victory, to the team and to everyone involved.

Our newfound heroes did the county proud again – a dimension of this team’s success that has taken people by surprise. It isn’t just that after so long that they achieved a long-awaited All-Ireland victory but they have turned out to be impressive ambassadors for the county – an unforeseen consequence of an unexpected triumph. All this and heaven too?

A dramatic change of tone followed – as is part of the proven Late Late Show methodology – with a focus on a new film, The Lost Children of Tuam, and on Catherine Corless, who did the initial research on the Tuam Babies controversy and the film star, Liam Neeson, who’s one of the producers of the film. While Catherine Corless’s involvement was well known, Neeson’s role took many by surprise.

An interview with Neeson on the RTÉ Nine o’clock News was replicated almost word for word in an immediate appearance on the Late Late Show that followed. Neeson explained that his interest in the Tuam Babies controversy and his involvement in the new film were provoked by his outrage on reading an article that outlined the Corless research into the burial of babies.

Neeson shared his rage on a number of occasions placing it firmly in the context of his Catholic upbringing – instancing the fact that he was raised a Catholic and that he had been an altar server for some years and he also said that he once considered becoming a priest (he considered it for five seconds, he said). 

While Neeson didn’t elaborate more precisely on the Catholic focus of his rage, it was very obvious where that focus lay. There was no need, he clearly had decided, to mention the dog that hadn’t barked. No need to specify what dimension to his disappointment with Catholicism he was happy to leave unsaid.

A successful actor, Neeson spends most of his time outside Ireland and has, he told the Late Late Show, over 100 films to his credit. Becoming one of the producers on the film was a new role for him and his involvement, he explained, emanated from his rage.

It would have been interesting to know, for example, if the source or part-source of his ‘rage’was the initial media consensus that spread like wild-fire around the world. I refer to the worldwide media focus on one specific element of the Tuam Babies story – that when the Tuam babies died instead of being respectfully buried in appropriate coffins and in appropriate graves, that they were thrown into what was a disused septic tank. 

That was the main news at the time and it was repeated by media all over the world but what wasn’t said on the Late Late Show was that the media consensus wasn’t actually true. And, significantly, that it has been found that there was absolutely no evidence for that conclusion. Indeed, Catherine Corless herself has made it clear that this was not the case. And the clear evidence to date of the present excavation of graves on the Tuam site is that the babies were infact buried in appropriate coffins in appropriate graves.

It would have been interesting to know too if Neeson showed any knowledge or understanding of the wider and fuller picture that has replaced the misplaced media consensus about the fictional septic tank. 

For instance, it would have been interesting to know if he was aware of the role of Galway County Council in regard to the Tuam Babies, especially their failure to afford basic funding for the Mothers and Babies which has emerged and has been widely condemned. They too, it has emerged were responsible for the Tuam Babies but their role has conveniently escaped due notice.

It would be interesting too if Neeson had shared any due reflection on the role of the families of the girls who gave birth to the children and the grim reality that in Irish society at the time only the nuns (as we know) were prepared to step up to the plate and volunteer to help when no one else came forward – including often their own families.

It would be interesting too if Neeson had considered the obvious truth that, as we know, for every child born there weren’t just mothers who needed care but fathers who (when the pressure came on) were often nowhere to be seen and nowhere to be found. And no one raged at them as being responsible in any way for their children.

I haven’t had an opportunity yet to see the film of The Lost Children of Tuam but I fear that it may lose the context of the balance in coverage that has overtaken and effectively dismissed the more widespread fictional charge of the septic tank, the blanket worldwide coverage that shameful accusation has received and the abuse that the Bon Secours Sisters have been subjected to as a result – despite the fact that when no one else came forward to help, the Sisters stepped up to the plate.

Liam Neeson, in one of his few comments, suggested that he expected that ‘millions of people will go to see The Lost Children of Tuam’. And, of course, the softest of soft interviews and the coverage devoted to it on the Late Late Show will favour those who will benefit financially from its expected success. 

There was a time on the Late Late Show when balance was important and when rigorous cross questioning of all those involved was accepted – as with Gay Byrne relentlessly pursuing Cardinal Cathal Daly on a famous Late Late. For even a semblance of balance, Patrick Kielty, at the very least should have made it clear that there was no truth in the septic tank story and that there is absolutely no evidence for it.

RTÉ’s present pathetic obsession with millionaire actors is a far cry from the time when Gay Byrne would not shy away from asking the hard questions.

Lomax consecration postponed after complaints

I write to share with you the news that the consecration of the Revd Canon Tim Lomax as Bishop of Warwick, previously scheduled for 6 November, has been postponed.

This follows advice that further enquiries should be undertaken following complaints which were received after the announcement. 

It should be stressed that at this early stage no findings have been made and no conclusions have been reached. 

You can read a full statement on the Diocese of Coventry’s website here.

Tim remains in his current role and (with Kate) has been granted a period of special leave at this time. We will share further news as soon as we are able, and I ask that you keep this matter, and all those involved, in your prayers. 

Sincerely in Christ,

+Andrew St Albans

Bishop Nulty challenges Church agency Accord to do more for couples in first five years of sacramental marriage

Bishop Denis Nulty, President of Accord CLG, the Catholic Marriage Care Service, has challenged Accord to reflect more deeply on how it supports couples during the first five years of sacramental marriage.

During a Graduation Mass on 10 October for Accord Marriage Facilitators, and Accord Marriage Counsellors, Bishop Nulty asked the Church agency if there is enough being pastorally done to support couples in their first five years of sacramental marriage.

Speaking during the Mass in the historic College Chapel of in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Bishop Nulty said that experience shows that the early years of marriage can bring significant challenges to couples and their families, and he called on Accord, across its three companies on the island of Ireland, to consider how it can better accompany couples during this decisive time.

Bishop Nulty noted that, at the recent meeting of the Irish Bishops’ Council for Marriage and the Family, the experiences of couples in the early years of marriage were discussed, highlighting the need for particular attention and support.

“The birth of a child can have a profound effect on a couple,” Bishop Nulty said. “The stresses of working long hours, to qualify for a mortgage, or to begin the early years of paying it off. Getting used to being a couple and leaving behind the single, unattached life, can present its own challenges.”

He said Accord needs to examine how it could respond more fully to these experiences, recognising that its work should extend beyond preparing couples for the sacrament of marriage and providing counselling when relationships encounter difficulties.

Acknowledging Accord’s established work in sacramental marriage preparation, Bishop Nulty noted that its revised programme remained a legacy of the World Meeting of Families hosted in Ireland eight years ago. He also welcomed a tentative increase in demand for the organisation’s counselling service.

However, Bishop Nulty emphasised that the measure of success should be the timely support couples receive rather than the length of waiting lists saying, “Our counselling service is showing a tentative increase in demand, and this is welcome. Waiting lists are no gauge for success; couples being accompanied in a timely manner is.”

Bishop Nulty then posed a direct question to Accord as an agency of the Church saying, “But what are we doing for those in their first five years? For those who have completed their marriage Preparation Programme; for those who do not feel the need of a couple therapist?”

Bishop Nulty’s challenge comes as bishops, family experts and representatives from around the world gather in Rome this week to mark ten years of Pope Francis’ exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love).  

The President of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Eamon Martin, is representing the Irish Church at this global gathering of local Church leaders. The week-long programme, entitled Ten Years after Amoris Laetitia: proclaiming the Gospel with families today, is considering the theme ‘Married Life: The first years of marriage: a decisive time’.

Reflecting on the changing realities facing families since 2016, Bishop Nulty highlighted the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the expansion of social media, the challenges posed by artificial intelligence, wars and displacement, migration, declining demand for sacramental marriage and falling fertility rates.

The Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin also pointed to the pressures of housing and economic uncertainty on young couples seeking to establish a home and start a family, noting that these circumstances make the Church’s ministry of accompaniment increasingly important.

Quoting Pope Leo’s call to listen to families, Bishop Nulty said, “This ministry also places us in a school of listening … the Lord himself patiently teaches us when we take time to listen, and we certainly have much to learn from families.” He described Accord as being well placed to lead in this work, encouraging the organisation to find renewed ways of accompanying couples and families through the joys, struggles and uncertainties of married life.

“Training with Accord, working now in the three companies across the island, is a calling that has to be deeper than that of the therapist with the brass plaque on the high street,” he said. “We are there for the long haul.”

The Mass celebrated the work of Accord and in particular eleven graduates receiving a ‘Special Purpose Award ‘in Marriage Education and fourteen receiving a ‘Certificate in Person Centred Marriage and Relationship Counselling’. Bishop Nulty congratulated the graduates, highlighting the compassion and care required in their work with couples and families, and welcomed the fresh energy that they will bring to Accord’s mission to support marriage and families.

Cobo admits at the Vatican that the question of how to discern the matrimonial vocation "remains unanswered"

Cardinal José Cobo Cano, Archbishop of Madrid, raised a question at the Vatican that he himself left open: if the Church affirms that marriage is a vocation, how is that vocation discerned? 

He did so on the fourth day of the meeting “Ten Years of Amoris laetitia: Proclaiming the Gospel with Families Today,” convened by Leo XIV from October 7 to 14 with the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches and the presidents of the episcopal conferences, according to Vatican News.

The session, dedicated to the early years of married life, was opened by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. 

Farrell acknowledged that the efforts made since the Second Vatican Council to enrich marriage preparation do not always suffice to support newlyweds when children are born or the first difficulties arise.

From Preparing the Wedding to Accompanying Marriage

Cobo maintained that Amoris laetitia has “opened new pastoral horizons,” but warned that the first challenge is not to develop more programs, but to understand the reality of the couples one wishes to accompany. In his view, the exhortation invites us to understand marriage not only as a sacrament that is celebrated, but as a vocation that is lived and cultivated throughout life.

The central proposal attributed to him by the Vatican media outlet is to move from a preparation focused on the wedding to an accompaniment before, during, and after marriage, and from a pastoral approach of isolated moments to a “pastoral of continuity.” 

The cardinal distinguished between asking what fiancés need to know in order to marry and what they need to discover in order to know whether they are called to give themselves definitively to one another.

“The Fiancés’ Clock” and an Unanswered Question

The archbishop cited as an example “the fiancés’ clock,” a proposal that Madrid offers alongside premarital courses so that the couple can dedicate time to talking, reviewing their story, praying, and discerning. 

It was there that he formulated the question he left open: if a couple arrives after eight or ten years of relationship and with the decision already made, “is there really space for discernment?”

A well-conducted pastoral interview and the formation of those who accompany can open paths, he acknowledged, “but the question remains unanswered.” He also defended the role of married couples who accompany other couples, not as experts but from lived experience.

Ten Years of a Contested Exhortation

Amoris laetitia, signed by Francis on March 19, 2016, following the synods of 2014 and 2015, had an uneven reception. 

Its Chapter VIII, on access to the sacraments for the divorced and civilly remarried, prompted that same year the dubia of four cardinals, which received no formal response. None of this appears in what was published about Saturday’s session.

Vatican News only reports fragments of Cobo’s intervention. 

The Archbishop of Madrid, Vice-President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, does not attend ex officio—that position belongs to its president, Bishop Luis Argüello—but as one of the twenty-two personal invitees of Leo XIV, according to InfoVaticana. 

The meeting is being held behind closed doors in the Paul VI Hall and will conclude on October 14 with a Mass presided over by the Pope in St. Peter’s Square.

U.S. Bishop limits "ad orientem" and decrees altar girls and extraordinary ministers

The Diocese of Gaylord, in northern Michigan, made public on October 8 three decrees from its bishop, Most Rev. Jeffrey J. Walsh, concerning the celebration of Mass. Dated October 2, they will take effect as particular law on the 15th, the feast of Saint Teresa of Ávila. 

Two of them—the one regulating the priest’s orientation at the altar and the one mandating the use of lay ministers—have been challenged by American writer Peter Kwasniewski, a specialist in traditional liturgy, who considers them unfounded and lacking legal force.

No “ad orientem” Masses on Sundays and only two during the week

The first decree establishes that on Sundays, holy days of obligation and their vigils, all Masses with a congregation must be celebrated “at a freestanding altar versus populum.” 

The rest of the week each parish may have at most two Masses ad orientem, provided the pastor has first consulted the parish council and catechized the faithful. Funerals, weddings and other ritual or votive Masses must be celebrated facing the people.

Bishop Walsh invokes canon 223 §2, which allows ecclesiastical authority to regulate the exercise of the faithful’s rights for the sake of the common good, and maintains that no. 299 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal indicates that celebration versus populum is desirable whenever possible. 

The Latin text states that the altar should be built apart from the wall so that it can be walked around and Mass celebrated facing the people, “quod expedit ubicumque possibile sit,” and the Congregation for Divine Worship clarified in 2000 that expedit neither imposes an obligation nor excludes the other possibility.

On October 11, Kwasniewski objected on the social network X that versus populum was not “restored,” because the original tradition was celebration ad orientem; that no. 299 does not command celebration facing the people; and that a bishop’s particular law cannot override universal law, which permits and even presupposes the ad orientem Mass. 

Priest and blogger John Zuhlsdorf endorsed all three objections and added that continuing to invoke the English translation of no. 299 after the Roman clarification is, in practice, tantamount to lying.

Women readers, altar servers and extraordinary ministers by decree

The second decree starts from the motu proprio Spiritus Domini, by which Pope Francis in 2021 opened the instituted ministries of lector and acolyte to women, and reasons that “the greater includes the lesser”: if women can be instituted on a stable basis, they can exercise those functions without formal institution. 

Consequently, in every parish or church of limited use, laypeople may proclaim the readings, serve at the altar or act as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and no pastor may reserve these functions to men.

The norm adds that at every Mass with more than one hundred faithful present, whether on Sunday or not, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion must be used, unless a sufficient number of deacons and priests participate in the celebration to distribute Communion without unduly prolonging the Mass. Like the previous decree, this one does not apply to celebrations with the 1962 Missal.

Kwasniewski maintains that this text “likewise lacks legal force.” He rejects the idea that such ministries derive solely from baptism and have no relation to holy orders; he denies that there is any obligation to employ lay ministers, which the law permits but does not impose; he defends as ancient and praiseworthy the custom of reserving them to men; and he calls the threshold set for extraordinary ministers absurd.

Two Roman documents frame the discussion. 

The instruction Ecclesiae de mysterio (1997), which Kwasniewski himself cites, admits extraordinary ministers when ordained ministers are lacking or when a particularly large number of the faithful would unduly lengthen the celebration, and calls for the elimination of their habitual use at Mass. 

The Congregation for Divine Worship further responded on July 27, 2001, that a bishop may permit female altar service but may not oblige his priests to use it.

A text copied from Erie and a third decree of a different tone

A comparison of the documents shows that the norm on orientation reproduces almost word for word the one promulgated by Most Rev. Lawrence T. Persico for the Diocese of Erie (Pennsylvania) on January 14, 2022, with a single notable addition: priests with several parishes or “churches of limited use” may not distribute the celebrations among them in order to increase their number.

The third decree, on liturgical decorum, has a different tone: it demands fidelity to the rubrics, encourages the use of the bell at all Masses and of incense on solemnities, gives preference to the singing of the Mass texts, and subjects any change in the sanctuary to the bishop’s approval. 

Bishop Walsh presented the set of norms as coherent guidelines for the diocese’s 56 parishes and defined the liturgy as “our source of unity and our bond of charity.” 

The instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum (no. 21) recognizes the bishop’s faculty to issue liturgical norms within his competence, but asks him to ensure that the freedom provided in the liturgical books is not suppressed. No appeal or pronouncement by the Holy See has been recorded so far.

Pope Leo XIV will undergo surgery less than a month before a trip that the Vatican is not modifying

Peruvian Catholics present this Sunday in St. Peter’s Square were surprised by the announcement from Leo XIV that he will undergo surgery for a lung nodule. 

They trust that the Pope will recover in time for the apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, scheduled from November 6 to 17, which the Holy See has not altered.

The announcement came at the end of the Angelus, when Leo XIV informed the faithful that doctors have detected a very early-stage and well-localized pulmonary nodule and that he has decided to undergo surgery following their advice, as reported by InfoVaticana. 

Among those listening was a group of Peruvians who had brought to the square an altar of the Lord of Miracles, one of the most deeply rooted devotions in Peru, especially celebrated in October.

Surprise among Peruvians in St. Peter’s Square

The Pope had greeted them shortly before and thanked them for their prayers for the pastoral visit he said he would make to Peru. The agency EFE, in a dispatch reproduced by Infobae, later captured the reaction of several of them. 

“The Pope has to go to Peru because he is Peruvian,” said Víctor, a member of the Brotherhood of the Lord of Miracles in Rome.

Other faithful expressed their sadness upon hearing the news from the Pontiff himself and wished him a speedy recovery. A woman from Lima, Julia Chávez, asked that the Pope be able to bless a country that, in her words, is going through a very serious security situation.

Faithful from Colombia and Venezuela joined in the good wishes, and one of them valued that Leo XIV had chosen to personally communicate his surgery.

What the surgery could mean for the trip

The Holy See has not announced any change to the apostolic journey, made public on August 5: Uruguay from November 6 to 8, Argentina from November 8 to 11, and Peru from November 11 to 17, with stops in Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco, and Pucallpa. 

The Pope’s words to the Peruvians, spoken when he already knew he would undergo surgery, suggest that his intention is to keep the schedule.

The calendar leaves little margin. Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, indicated that the procedure will take place in the first days of next week at the Gemelli Polyclinic and that the subsequent hospital stay will last approximately one week. 

If these timelines are met, the Pontiff would be discharged around October 20, a little more than two weeks before embarking on a twelve-day tour of three countries and ten cities.

Neither the Holy See nor the doctors have provided guidance on recovery, so any forecast about the trip is, for now, premature. 

The nature of the nodule or the type of intervention has not been disclosed either. ACI Prensa notes that hospitalization will require canceling commitments scheduled for the coming days.

For Peru, the visit holds special significance. Robert Prevost arrived in the country in 1985 as an Augustinian missionary, was bishop of Chiclayo, and holds Peruvian nationality. 

It would be his first trip to Latin America since his election. Leo XIV concluded his announcement by entrusting himself to the prayers of the faithful.

Pope Leo XIV accepts Ozoria's resignation and Morel Diplán assumes the role of Primate Archbishop of Santo Domingo

The Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office published on October 12 two provisions concerning the Church in the Dominican Republic. 

In the first, the Pontiff accepts the resignation of Ozoria Acosta and indicates that he is succeeded by Morel Diplán, “until now coadjutor archbishop of the same archdiocese.” 

In the second, Leo XIV likewise accepts Ozoria’s resignation as military ordinary and appoints the new metropolitan archbishop to that post.

A succession planned since 2025

The change comes as no surprise. Leo XIV appointed Morel Diplán coadjutor archbishop with right of succession on October 18, 2025, and the prelate took possession on November 10 of that year, according to his biographical profile on the Dominican Episcopal Conference website. 

Canon 409 of the Code of Canon Law states that, when a see becomes vacant, the coadjutor who has already taken possession immediately becomes bishop of the diocese for which he was appointed.

Ozoria Acosta, who had governed the archdiocese since 2016, turned 75 on October 10. That is the age at which canon 401 asks bishops to submit their resignation, and the acceptance arrived just two days later.

A moral theologian formed in Rome

Morel Diplán was born in 1969 in Monte de la Jagua, in the province of Espaillat. He studied Philosophy and Theology at the Pontifical Seminary of St. Thomas Aquinas in Santo Domingo and was ordained a priest on June 24, 2000. In 2007 he obtained a licentiate in Moral Theology from the Alfonsian Academy in Rome.

A large part of his ministry in the archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros was devoted to the formation of the clergy. He served as rector of the Minor Seminary and of the San Pío X Philosophy House, director of the School of Permanent Deacons of St. Stephen, professor of Ethics at the Pontifical Catholic University Mother and Teacher, and episcopal vicar for the Clergy. 

He received episcopal ordination as auxiliary of Santiago on February 25, 2017. Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of La Vega in December 2023, and in October 2024 he became diocesan bishop of that see.

No public statements on the traditional liturgy

The new archbishop has not intervened publicly in the debates that have divided the episcopate in recent years. 

No statement of his is on record regarding Traditionis custodes, the 2021 motu proprio that restricted the celebration with the 1962 Missal, nor regarding Fiducia supplicans, the declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith of December 2023 on the blessing of couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples.

He has, however, addressed moral issues. In his homily at the Te Deum for the 182nd anniversary of Independence last February, he warned of the spread of ideologies that seek to normalize behaviors contrary to the natural law, which he described as “objectively disordered,” according to the newspaper El Día. 

In the same homily he maintained that the crisis of Dominican society is above all moral, and not merely economic or political. Upon taking possession as coadjutor he summarized his pastoral program in three verbs: to serve, to listen, and to accompany.

With today’s appointment, Morel Diplán also assumes the Military Ordinariate, responsible for the pastoral care of members of the Dominican Armed Forces.

"One of the most esteemed servers of the Holy See": the letter from Leo XIV to Cardinal Re

Pope Leo XIV has thanked Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re for his service as Dean of the College of Cardinals in a letter dated October 11 and released this Monday by the Holy See Press Office. 

The Pope writes after accepting the resignation of the Italian cardinal, 92 years old, who had held the position since January 2020 and now becomes Dean Emeritus.

In the letter, the Pontiff reviews the long career of Re in the Roman Curia, particularly alongside Saint John Paul II. 

The Polish Pope appointed him Advisor to the Secretariat of State, Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops and Substitute, and later placed him at the head of that dicastery and created him cardinal. Leo XIV describes him as one of the “most well-known and esteemed” servants of the Holy See. He highlights his fidelity to the teachings of the Church and his love for the Successor of Peter, and mentions, among the celebrations he presided over as Dean, the funeral of Pope Francis.

The succession is already effective. On October 8, the Pope approved the election of Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as the new Dean, carried out by the cardinals of the order of bishops. For the first time since 2007, the College is once again presided over by a cardinal elector, a relevant fact because the Dean is responsible for convening the conclave and presiding over the College during the vacant see. Re retains the title of the suburban church of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto.

Full text of the letter

To His Eminence Cardinal
GIOVANNI BATTISTA RE
Dean Emeritus of the College of Cardinals

Venerable and dear Brother:

Having accepted your resignation from the office of Dean of the College of Cardinals, which you have carried out in an outstanding manner for more than six years, I wish to express my gratitude for the service rendered by Your Eminence, which has been for me and for all an edifying testimony of love for the Church and for the Pope.

Called already as a young priest to the service of the Holy See, you became, through the numerous and delicate assignments in the Roman Curia, a trusted collaborator of the Supreme Pontiffs, particularly of Saint John Paul II, who wished to appoint you first as Advisor to the Secretariat of State, then Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops and later Substitute of the Secretariat of State.

At the side of the Pope of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, you effectively directed and coordinated the multiple offices placed at the service of his magisterium and his pastoral mission, and accompanied him on a memorable series of apostolic journeys throughout Italy and the world. At the beginning of the new millennium, the Holy Pontiff placed you at the head of the Congregation for Bishops and created you Cardinal.

This long journey has allowed you to acquire an extraordinary knowledge of the universal Church, enriched by countless personal relationships. I believe I am not mistaken in saying that you, Eminence, have been and are one of the most well-known and esteemed servants of the Holy See. Your open, cordial and frank style, as well as your ability to face situations and problems with wisdom and practical sense, always faithful to the teachings of the Church and with great love for the Successor of Peter, have contributed greatly to this.

In the office of Dean of the College of Cardinals, your figure has become even more visible, and many, within the People of God and also outside it, have appreciated your priestly testimony in the Eucharistic celebrations you have presided over, the last of them on the occasion of the funeral of Pope Francis.

Dear and venerable Brother, we have always admired in you the vigor of faith and zeal in the ministry, so well united to the industriousness inherited from your family roots and your beloved Val Camonica. But the motto you chose when you were elevated to the episcopate, Virtus ex alto, attests to how much you have always known how to invoke and receive the strength of the Lord and His Grace, and this increases the esteem and gratitude of those who know you.

With these sentiments, I assure you of my remembrance in prayer, which I entrust to the intercession of the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist, and from my heart I renew my Blessing, which I gladly extend to your family members and loved ones.

Vatican, October 11, 2026

LEO PP. XIV

October 11, 1962: why John XXIII chose the feast of the Divine Maternity to open Vatican II

On October 11, 1962, more than two thousand bishops from around the world solemnly entered St. Peter’s Basilica to take part in the opening of the Second Vatican Council. 

The date chosen by Saint John XXIII carried a meaning that went beyond the organizational needs of an assembly of such dimensions: that day the Church was celebrating the feast of the Divine Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Marking 64 years since that inauguration, the Pontiff’s own documents allow us to reconstruct the reasons for a choice that linked the new council with one of the great doctrinal events of Christian Antiquity: the Council of Ephesus, held in 431, where the Church solemnly defended the legitimacy of calling Mary Theotokos, Mother of God.

John XXIII wanted Vatican II to begin under the Virgin’s protection and with the mystery of Jesus Christ as its fundamental reference. He himself explained this when he officially set the opening date, and decades later Benedict XVI—who had personally taken part in that assembly as a young theologian—would recall it.

A deliberately chosen date

The convocation of Vatican II had been announced by John XXIII in January 1959. After several years of preparation, on December 25, 1961, the Pope promulgated the apostolic constitution Humanae salutis, formally summoning the council for the following year.

The day of its inauguration still had to be determined. The decision came on February 2, 1962, when John XXIII signed the motu proprio Consilium, establishing that the solemn opening would take place on October 11.

The text leaves no doubt about the Pontiff’s intention. John XXIII explained that he had chosen that date especially because of its connection with the memory of the great Council of Ephesus, to which he attributed exceptional importance in the history of the Church.

The reference was deeply significant. In 431, the Fathers gathered at Ephesus had defended the unity of Christ’s Person and confirmed Mary’s divine maternity against the controversies stirred by Nestorius. Fifteen centuries later, Pius XI had instituted a liturgical feast dedicated to the Divine Maternity of the Virgin, fixing it on October 11.

John XXIII chose precisely that celebration to inaugurate the new council.

The memory of the Council of Ephesus

Mary’s divine maternity occupies a central place in Catholic doctrine because it expresses an essential truth about Jesus Christ. The Virgin is not the mother of the divinity considered in itself, but of the Person of the eternal Son of God, who assumed a true human nature in her womb.

By proclaiming Mary Theotokos, the Church confessed that the Child born in Bethlehem is truly God made man. The Marian title thus safeguarded the unity of Christ and recalled that the Incarnation cannot be understood as the external union of two distinct persons.

The relationship between Ephesus and Vatican II was later explained by Benedict XVI. In a meditation delivered on October 11, 2010, he recalled that John XXIII had wished to entrust the council to the maternal hands of the Virgin. He added that the title Theotokos summarizes a fundamental teaching about Christ, Mary, and the Redemption.

Two years later, on the fiftieth anniversary of the council’s opening, Benedict XVI returned to the same memory. He explained that John XXIII had chosen that date to commend the assembly to Mary’s maternal goodness and to place its work firmly within the mystery of Jesus Christ.

The opening in St. Peter’s Basilica

On October 11, 1962, the conciliar Fathers entered the Vatican basilica in a solemn procession. The presence of bishops from numerous countries offered a visible image of the Church’s universality, gathered around the successor of Peter.

John XXIII inaugurated the council with the address Gaudet Mater Ecclesia, whose opening words expressed the Church’s joy at the assembly’s commencement. The Pontiff attributed that day to a singular gift of Providence and expressly recalled that the council was beginning under the protection of the Blessed Virgin, whose divine maternity was being liturgically celebrated that very day.

In his inaugural address, the Pope stated that the council’s principal concern was to guard and teach ever more effectively the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine. At the same time, he stressed the need to present that doctrine in a manner suited to the circumstances of the age, distinguishing between the substance of the faith and the forms used to express it.

The reference to Mary’s divine maternity thus placed the council’s opening in continuity with the great doctrinal definitions of the ancient Church. The council that was beginning in Rome was not born apart from that history, but within the same Church that had confessed Christ’s divinity at Nicaea and defended his personal unity at Ephesus.

A day that marked the contemporary history of the Church

Vatican II took place between 1962 and 1965, over four periods of sessions. John XXIII presided at its inauguration, and after his death in June 1963, Paul VI assumed responsibility for continuing and bringing it to completion.

Its constitutions, decrees, and declarations addressed fundamental questions of the Church’s life, from the liturgy and divine Revelation to the nature of the Church, the episcopate, missionary activity, and relations with the contemporary world.

The reception and interpretation of its documents have given rise, in the decades that followed, to wide-ranging theological and pastoral debates. Benedict XVI insisted especially on the need to understand the council within the continuity of the Church, rejecting a reading that would present it as a rupture with its doctrinal tradition.

Yet beyond later discussions, the choice of October 11 allows us to recover an explicit intention of John XXIII that is often obscured in accounts of that period: the Pope wished to open the council on a Marian feast closely linked to the confession of Jesus Christ’s true identity.

Sixty-four years later, the original documents clearly preserve that purpose. John XXIII chose the day of the Divine Maternity to place the assembly under the Virgin’s protection and to recall, from its very inauguration, that the Church’s mission finds its foundation in the mystery of Christ, true God and true man.

Two bishops from the Amoris laetitia summit ask to see “what is good” in cohabiting couples

The two speakers at the session dedicated to young people and marriage at the meeting convened by Leo XIV for the tenth anniversary of Amoris laetitia asked the bishops gathered in the Vatican this Friday to accompany couples who live together without being married and to ask themselves “what is good” in their relationships. 

The Archbishop of Perth, the Salesian Timothy Costelloe, and the auxiliary bishop of Bombay, Stephen Fernandes, developed the second of the five thematic cores of the meeting, “Young people and the discovery of the vocation to marriage,” before the presidents of the episcopal conferences and the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches.

The day was opened by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, with a starting diagnosis: the number of marriages, both civil and religious, is decreasing worldwide. 

Farrell noted that the issue also concerns Christian parents whose children suffer from loneliness, hesitate before any lasting commitment, or reject the path they themselves took, and invited an examination of the number of divorces, the variety of forms of couple life, and the weight of dominant cultural trends. 

According to the report by Europa Press, the cardinal also raised, on a deeper level, the question of whether God no longer speaks to the hearts of young people or awakens in them the desire to marry.

Costelloe, who spoke after hearing the testimony of several families, ruled out easy answers and simple institutional solutions and maintained that the problem is, above all, cultural. In his view, in Australia, and probably in many other countries, the link between sexual activity and procreation and its place in Christian marriage is no longer generally understood or accepted, and the frequency of divorces leads many young people to doubt that a lifelong commitment is possible or even desirable.

Referring to young couples who live together before marriage, the archbishop stated that the fact that they do not live up to the ideal of Christian marriage does not mean that there is nothing good in their relationships, and proposed welcoming them in their current situation and accompanying them as they move toward a fuller expression of that ideal. 

He argued that Catholicism has always sought to reconcile fidelity to its ideals with respect for those who fail to achieve them or, at certain stages of their lives, consider them unrealistic, and called for presenting the Church’s teaching on marriage not as a list of rules and prohibitions, but as an ideal worth living.

Fernandes described young people who reject relationships marked by domination, manipulation, or inequality and who expect mutual respect and equal dignity between men and women. 

Regarding couples who live together, he warned that their situations are diverse and that both indifference and condemnation must be avoided. The first task, he explained, is to know their story: why they have chosen to live together, what they expect, what fears or obstacles they encounter, what is good in their relationship and where signs of generosity, fidelity, responsibility, and grace can be glimpsed. 

The bishop added that this accompaniment requires true discernment, because the question is not only how to help the couple move toward marriage, but whether those two people are truly called to it and prepared for a lifelong covenant.

This approach was already included in the thematic itinerary published in July to prepare for the meeting, which proposed reflecting on how to accompany cohabiting couples in discerning a path that leads them to mature the decision to marry and to welcome children.  

Amoris laetitia itself had pointed out, in paragraph 78, that a cohabitation that achieves notable stability through a public bond can be seen as an opportunity to accompany toward the sacrament of marriage.

Familiaris consortio addressed the same reality in other terms. In paragraph 81, dedicated to de facto free unions, John Paul II asked pastors and the ecclesial community to know these situations case by case, to approach couples with discretion and respect, to enlighten them with patience, to correct them with charity, and to smooth their path toward the regularization of their situation. 

In paragraph 34, the same exhortation warned that the so-called law of gradualness cannot be identified with a gradualness of the law, and that spouses cannot view the moral law “as a mere ideal that can be achieved in the future.”

Among the Spanish participants in the meeting are the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Luis Argüello, and the cardinal archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo. The work will continue until Wednesday, October 14, when Leo XIV will preside at ten in the morning, in St. Peter’s Square, at the closing Mass.

Pervert Coughlan dies in prison at 90

A FORMER Christian Brother jailed for indecently assaulting children in primary schools in the 1970s and 1980s has died in prison.

Liam Coughlan, 90, was already in prison for sexually abusing school pupils in Kilkenny in the 1970s when he was sentenced in July to five years for sexual assaults on nine boys in a primary school in Portarlington in the 1980s.

Coughlan, who was terminally ill, died on Thursday after three years in prison. The Garda investigation into the Portarlington case began after a victim read a report in the Irish Mail on Sunday that his former teacher had been charged in Kilkenny in January 2022.

They said at the time: ‘It was your article that prompted me to go gardaí. I got up from seeing it, and I said to my wife, “they’ve caught the f***er”, and I burst into tears. It was only then I realised how much it had been affecting me.’

In August, Coughlan’s abuse made headline news again when the names of more than 300 former Christian Brothers were published in a national paper following an order from the High Court.

A victim brought a civil breach of duty case against the Christian Brothers for the sexual and physical abuse he suffered at the hands of Coughlan. Because the Christian Brothers operate as an unincorporated body, and Head Brother David Gibson refused to appoint a nominee, Judge Mary

Rose Gearty ordered the publication of 341 former Christian Brothers’ names as joined defendants.

While it is not alleged the named men are guilty of any crime, the High Court hopes that the move will encourage more victims of abuse to come forward.

Role of women, married priests and sexuality featured early in the synodal pathway

Five years ago, the Irish Synodal Pathway began with a question: “What does God want from the church in Ireland at this time?” 

Since then, thousands of people have participated in conversations in parishes, dioceses, movements and communities across the island. Some spoke with hope, others from experiences of hurt, distance or frustration. All of these voices belong within the story of the pathway.

Next Saturday, October 17th, delegates will gather in Gormanston, Co Meath, for the National Synodal Assembly, bringing the pathway to a close.

While the recommendations that emerge matter enormously, these five years have given us something that reaches beyond the outcomes of any single gathering. We have learned that, as the people of God, we can discern together. We listened, brought contributions into synthesis, experienced the circularity of dialogue between the local and universal Church, and through conversation in the Spirit learned to listen for what the Holy Spirit might be saying in and through one another.

The National Synthesis of 2022 was part of this development within the Universal Synod and Towards October 2024 helped us to receive what was emerging from that process. Further discernment found expression in Baptised and Sent, with seven priorities entrusted to working groups for deeper reflection. Their work was then received by the national synodal team as part of the continuing process that shaped the five pathways and 35 proposals presented in the document: “Is not this what God asks of you?”

Read together, all the documents – available on www.synod.ie – trace a five-year process since 2021 of listening. What emerged was received, tested, deepened and returned to the people of God. These documents show that we have been learning how to become a discerning, synodal Church. Discernment does not promise that everything expressed at the beginning will emerge as a recommendation at the end. Not everything we heard in those early conversations has travelled through the process in the same way.

Questions concerning the role and ministry of women, including priestly ordination, healing, married clergy, sexuality, governance and belonging featured strongly in the early listening. Some remain, while others are not among the proposals before the assembly.

That is part of the nature of discernment – it is not like a parliamentary process in which the largest number or loudest voice carries the day. We are learning how to remain in communion while taking seriously questions which provoke pain, disagreement and sometimes impatience with the pace of change.

What we have heard remains part of this journey and will continue to shape the questions we carry forward. This way of proceeding is rooted in Baptism. We often say: “I was baptised.” But Baptism is a living reality. From this flows our equal dignity and shared responsibility for the Church’s life and mission. Synodality gives practical expression to that baptismal identity by asking us to recognise one another’s gifts and to share responsibility for mission.

This is why the five pathways in the working document are more than a framework for the proposals attached to them. Their value does not depend on the fate of individual proposals. Together they express a vision of a Church that proclaims the Gospel, is a community of belonging, is a place of healing, accompanies people and empowers for ministry and co-responsibility.

At the National Synodal Assembly on October 17th, individual proposals may be recommended, require further discernment, or not be recommended, but the pathways can continue to generate new possibilities for how this vision might be lived.

In that sense, the assembly is not only about what we decide, but about our growing capacity to discern how this vision can be lived. To gather as the pobal Dé, discern, pray, listen and deliberate together, and then make recommendations for the Church in Ireland tells us something important. We can do this and because we have learned how, we can do it again.

Here the greater challenge begins. It is one thing to talk and learn about synodality through a five-year national process. It is another to make it ordinary.

Can this way of listening and discerning shape parish pastoral councils and diocesan decisions? Can those who have been wounded not simply be spoken about, but genuinely help shape our conversation? Can we implement what we discern, evaluate it, listen again and change course when necessary?

Structural reform and spiritual renewal must accompany one another.

While the Irish Synodal Pathway will come to an end on October 17th, the journey of becoming a synodal Church will continue for everyone.