The scope of this new synodal “paradigm” is breathtaking; under its erroneous approach, any sexual sin (and most other sins) can be reframed as “good.”
A Synod Study Group Report (“Report”) published in early May has drawn searing criticism and predictable plaudits for its “paradigm shift” towards same-sex sexual relationships. New reports that Fr. James Martin, SJ, the founder of Outreach, an “LGBTQ Catholic Ministry,” likely secured publication of the two controversial testimonies in the Vatican Report are no surprise, if true.
Although the Report is a “working document” with no authority, it is likely to be widely disseminated and influence pastoral practice globally—a terrible prospect.
Mainstream and “LGBTQ” media have hyped the Vatican’s “new signals” towards “LGBTQ Catholics,” citing the Report’s positive response to “the testimony of two gay, married Catholics who spoke openly about their sexuality, faith and how the Catholic Church’s negative teaching on homosexuality had hurt them.” (Nicole Winfield, “Vatican sending new signals of openness but limitations in outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics,” Associated Press, May 9, 2026).
The Report’s appalling effort to normalize same-sex sexual relationships within Church communities is just the tip of the iceberg. A deeper look reveals rot on a greater scale, and corrosive downstream effects. Cardinal Willem Eijk has criticized the Report for “effectively normaliz[ing] homosexual relationships within a Church context.” He notes the problems with the Report’s “entire methodological framework” which, despite its “pastoral” language, “conceals a radical departure from Catholic moral theology.” We agree.
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