The General Secretariat of the Synod has attempted to distance itself from the controversial report prepared by Study Group 9 of the Synod on Synodality, following the strong reaction provoked by a document that includes criticisms of the Courage apostolate and testimonies from people living in civil homosexual unions.
In statements to Religión Confidencial, the communication team of the General Secretariat assured that the published reports “cannot be attributed to the General Secretariat” and emphasized that they are merely “working documents.”
The clarification comes after several days of criticism from various ecclesial sectors and following Courage’s public denunciation of “slander” and “defamation” in the text.
The report, disseminated on May 5, was coordinated by the Archbishop of Lima, Cardinal Carlos Castillo, as part of the work dedicated to discerning controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues within the framework of the synodal process.
Rome attempts to downplay the scope of the document
The General Secretariat of the Synod explained that its role was limited “solely to the translation of the summaries, the editing of the reports, and their publication and dissemination,” insisting that the various working groups acted “autonomously.”
Furthermore, the Vatican body highlighted that the published texts do not even carry the official logo of the General Secretariat, but only that of the synodal process, in an evident attempt to reduce the institutional weight of the disseminated content.
The clarification reflects the discomfort generated by a report that has been interpreted by numerous sectors of the Church as a new attempt to indirectly question Catholic moral doctrine on homosexuality.
The report provoked indignation over its criticisms of Courage
The main controversy arose from an annex included in the document, where testimonies from two men - one American and one Portuguese - appear, presenting themselves as “Catholic” individuals civilly married to people of the same sex.
One of those testimonies implicitly accuses the Courage apostolate of promoting alleged “reparative therapies,” an assertion that the movement categorically rejected.
In a statement disseminated on May 8, Courage described the report as “slander and defamation” and denounced that no one from the organization was consulted before including such serious accusations in a document linked to the synodal process.
The controversy increased even more after statements from the executive director of Courage International, Father Brian Gannon, to the National Catholic Register.
The priest accused the study group of acting with “intellectual dishonesty” and denounced that the report deliberately excluded those who faithfully represent the Church’s teaching.
“The study group seems to contradict what synodality claims to seek: greater participation from all relevant voices,” Gannon stated.
Criticism of the questioning of Catholic morality
The director of Courage also harshly criticized some passages of the report that suggest that the moral problem would not lie in the homosexual relationship itself, but in “the lack of faith in a God who desires our fulfillment.”
In response, Gannon recalled that Catholic doctrine on sexuality “remains unchanged for two thousand years” and reiterated that the Church teaches that sexual acts outside of marriage between a man and a woman are objectively sinful.
The priest further maintained that presenting homosexual relationships as a “gift from God” directly contradicts the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the constant moral teaching of the Church.