Catholic Church

By Michael Haynes, (LifeSiteNews - In regulations issued to journalists on October 4, some 10 hours after Pope Francis officially initiated the synod’s 2023 meeting at a morning Mass, the Gen. Sec. for the Synod of Bishops presented the rules for the event... (which stated) that “each of the Participants is bound to confidentiality and privacy both with regard to their own interventions, as well as in regard to the interventions of other Participants.” Such a rule of secrecy is for both during and after the synod: “This duty remains in effect even after the Synod Assembly has ended.”

By Stephen P. White, The Catholic Thing - The Holy Father also felt compelled to reiterate a point he has been making with increasing frequency: “Here [at the synod] we do not need a purely natural vision, made up of human strategies, political calculations or ideological battles. We are not here to carry out a parliamentary meeting or a plan of reformation. No.”... Expectations... have grown so great that it is increasingly difficult to imagine an outcome for the synod that doesn’t leave large parts of the Church feeling hoodwinked.

By Rick Hinshaw, Newsmax - The Rev. Gerald Murray, a canon lawyer.. called Francis's statements on same-sex marriage as "scandalous.".. "Pope Francis, in response to the cardinals' question about whether same-sex unions could be blessed by the church," Murray said, "allowed that 'pastoral prudence' might find such blessings permissible, as long as they are distinguished from marriage.".. "The problem with blessing homosexual unions is not only that this looks like the church is blessing a 'same-sex marriage'"

By Edward Pentin - But whatever one makes of the charges of manipulation, this book shows that Pope Francis’ wish for an open and free debate in which all parties could listen with humility was seriously impeded, whether by dubious procedures inadequate to the tasks at hand, as some claim, or by outright manipulation by leaders with an agenda, as others claim. At the very least, it seems that the Kasper position and that of those favoring a change regarding homosexuality received support from the synod leadership significantly disproportionate to the real support for those positions among the synod fathers.