On Tuesday, the Vatican published the Final Report of the Synod on Synodality’s study group on “controversial doctrinal, pastoral and ethical questions,” prominently featuring two anonymous testimonies from openly homosexual men in “same-sex marriages.”
The decision was immediately praised by Fr. James Martin, SJ, as “a significant step forward in the Church’s relationship with the LGBTQ community.”
Published by the General Secretariat of the Synod, the final report was prepared by Study Group No. 9, part of a broader set of ten study groups established by Pope Francis in February 2024 to examine issues that emerged during the first session of the Synod on Synodality, held at the Vatican in October 2023.
Study Group No. 9 was tasked with examining “theological criteria and synodal methodologies for shared discernment of controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues” — though the group notably chose midway through its work to reframe such issues as “emerging” rather than “controversial.”
The seven-member group included figures such as Cardinal Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio, Archbishop of Lima, Peru; Archbishop Filippo Iannone, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops; and Italian moral theologian Father Maurizio Chiodi, professor at the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for the Sciences of Marriage and the Family since 2019.1
A controversial figure, Fr. Chiodi has argued that sexual acts within a homosexual relationship can be good in certain circumstances. He has also contended, based on Amoris Laetitia, that responsible parenthood can obligate a married couple to use artificial birth control.
The 30-page final report, written in Italian, reads much like one of Fr. Chiodi’s labyrinth-like lectures, raising the possibility that he may have played a leading role in its drafting.
Continue reading at Diane Montagna’s Substack