The American bishop Joseph Strickland has strongly denounced the report published by Study Group 9 of the Synod on Synodality, assuring that the document directly contradicts Catholic teaching on homosexuality, sin, marriage, and moral law.
“The Church cannot change what God Himself has revealed,” Strickland stated in an extensive declaration disseminated after the publication of the controversial synodal report, which proposes a “paradigm shift” in pastoral care and includes testimonies from homosexual people “married” as part of its discernment exercises.
For the Texas bishop, the problem with the text is not merely pastoral or terminological, but doctrinal.
Strickland accuses the document of attempting to reinterpret moral truths defined by the Church under concepts such as “discernment,” “listening,” and “lived experience.”
“Truth is not determined by experience”
Strickland recalled that the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines homosexual acts as “intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law,” emphasizing that this teaching “does not come from prejudices, politics, or cultural customs,” but from divine Revelation and the constant Tradition of the Church.
“Suggesting that sin does not consist in the homosexual relationship itself is a direct attack on Catholic moral doctrine,” he wrote.
The bishop also criticized the new language promoted from some synodal sectors, warning that “the destruction of doctrine under the language of discernment and lived experience is one of the most serious spiritual dangers of our time.”
“Truth is not determined by experience. Truth is revealed by God,” he added.
References to Sodom, Fatima, and the crisis in the Church
Strickland’s statement takes on an especially grave tone when he warns that many Catholics already perceive a genuine “doctrinal and pastoral emergency” within the Church; citing explicitly the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as a biblical warning against sexual sin, the bishop laments that even these teachings are being “reinterpretated and minimized by voices within the Church itself.”
Strickland also linked the current situation to the warnings of Our Lady of Fatima about the final battle surrounding marriage and the family.
“When fundamental truths about marriage, sexuality, sin, and salvation are treated as issues open to discernment, the crisis ceases to be theoretical,” he stated.
The example that explains the traditional stance
The bishop maintained that documents like the recent synodal report help understand why some traditional groups consider that the Church is going through an extraordinary situation that demands exceptional measures.
Although he acknowledged that the canonical issues related to those decisions can be debated, Strickland affirmed that the new Synod report “intensifies the crisis” and increases alarm among numerous faithful Catholics.
The declaration concludes with a call to prayer, penance, and fidelity to traditional Catholic doctrine, while the bishop asks that pastors arise who are capable of clearly defending the faith “no matter the cost.”