In an open letter Father Philip Bochanski, executive director of Courage International, implores Cardinals Jean-Claude Hollerich and Reinhard Marx: ‘Your Eminences, I beg you, please be faithful to your oath.’ Your Eminences, As a priest engaged for many years in pastoral ministry to people who experience same-sex attractions, I read your recent public comments about … Read more
German Cardinal Reinhard Marx said in an interview published on Thursday that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is “not set in stone” and “one is also allowed to doubt what it says.” The cardinal made the comments in a seven-page spread in the March 31 edition of the weekly current affairs magazine Stern, reported … Read more
Many grandees of the Catholic Church in Europe are falling in with the Rainbow Reich. Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg is president of the Church’s partner to the E.U. bureaucracy, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union. In a recent interview with Germany’s Catholic News Agency, he asserted that the Church’s current … Read more
The most senior German cardinal in the Catholic Church has expressed his support for ordaining homosexual men to the priesthood, in the latest attack on Magisterial teaching by the prelate. Cardinal Reinhard Marx made the comments at a press conference yesterday in Munich where he was responding to a new report alleging he and several … Read more
Pope Francis recently rejected a preening offer of resignation by German Cardinal Reinhard Marx. It is hard to say which gesture was phonier: the offer or the refusal. Intended as proof of the Church’s commitment to “reform,” this exchange between Pope Francis and Cardinal Marx only exposes its hollowness. The faithful have grown weary of … Read more
A number of U.S. prelates should follow Cardinal Marx’s example and tender their resignations. A top cleric in Germany’s Catholic Church has offered to resign as the Archbishop of Munich, saying he shared “responsibility for the catastrophe of sexual abuse” by church officials. In essence, it is important to me to share the responsibility for … Read more
Bishop Heinz-Josef Algermissen recently published a letter claiming that, during an October 7 meeting with Pope Francis, the Holy Father expressed “dramatic concern” with the state of the German Church. As well he might. Francis has always been wary of the German bishops’ synodal journey, which is being convened to discuss “authority and separation of … Read more
Cardinal Reinhard Marx has emphasized that the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Querida Amazonia” is not intended to replace the final document of the Amazon synod published last October. The final document had called for the ordination to the priesthood of married men living in the Amazon region. During the presentation of “Querida Amazonia” to German media … Read more
Cardinal Reinhard Marx – the archbishop of Munich-Freising and the head of the German Bishops’ Conference – just made a statement, in which he argued against spreading fear, saying: “wherever someone spreads fear – of hell or whatever else – the Gospel cannot have an effect.” He added with regard to the topic of religion … Read more
Once again, the German archbishop, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, responded positively to the question, “What do you do when a homosexual couple asks you for an episcopal blessing.” He claims not to be promoting a general ecclesial solution and, hence, a general public liturgical blessing for same-sex relations. And he even rejects calling such a relationship … Read more