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In an op-ed article,Cardinal Willem Eijk of Utrecht in the Netherlands strongly criticized the Synod report on doctrinal issues, which included testimonies of men in same-sex marriages.

The report “fundamentally contradicts Catholic moral teaching and thoroughly undermines its application to moral conduct,” said Cardinal Eijk. “It relativizes the Church’s moral doctrine, with consequences that extend far beyond questions of sexuality to the protection of human life itself. This report must be forcefully refuted.”

During his May 13 general audience, Pope Leo XIV prayed at the spot when Pope St. John Paul II was shot in 1981.

“Today we remember the memorial of Our Lady of Fatima,” Pope Leo said. “On this day, 45 years ago, an attempt was made on Pope John Paul II’s life, and for these reasons, I dedicated my catechesis today to the Blessed Virgin Mary,”

Father Davide Pagliarani, the superior general of the Society of St. Pius X, issued a declaration of faith today and addressed it to Pope Leo.

“The Society places this simple Declaration of Faith in Your hands,” wrote Father Pagliarani. “It seems to us to correspond to the minimum indispensable to be in communion with the Church, and to truly call ourselves Catholics and, consequently, your sons.”

The declaration was published one day after Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, warned the Society of St. Pius X of excommunication if the Society proceeds with its plan to consecrate new bishops on July 1 without the Pope’s approval.

As is customary, 13 ambassadors to the Holy See who have completed two years of service were awarded the title of Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX.

Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, the new Substitute for General Affairs at the Secretariat of State, presented the awards on May 12.

Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, O.P., of Algiers, Algeria, has written the preface to a forthcoming book, Homos et Cathos: L’Église à l’épreuve du réel (Gays and Catholics: The Church Put to the Test of Reality).

“I like the definition given by James Alison in his contribution: homosexual orientation is a regularly occurring non-pathological minority variant in the human condition,” said Cardinal Vesco. “This definition places homosexuality within the order of creation and not within that of disorder or pathology.”

“How painful it is to recognize that, faced with a human reality so complex and potentially so painful, we in the Church struggle so much to find the right words and to reconcile the solidity of Christian anthropology with the truth of existential experiences that must be accompanied and respected for what they are,” Cardinal Vesco continued.

Turning to Fiducia Supplicans, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s declaration on the pastoral meaning of blessings, Cardinal Vesco concluded:

Through this text, the Church authorizes its ministers to impart this blessing, not merely in their own name but in the name of the Church, and that changes everything. How good it is that homosexual people, whatever their state of life, should hear this blessing just as you and I do.

Outreach, founded by Father James Martin, S.J., posted Cardinal Vesco’s preface on May 13.

The Diocese of Salford opened the beatification cause of Pedro Ballester, a lay member of Opus Dei who died in 2018 at the age of 21.

“Shortly after beginning university, Pedro was diagnosed with advanced pelvic cancer,” the diocese said in a May 13 statement. “He accepted his illness with remarkable faith, offering his suffering for the Pope, the Church and all souls, and bearing his condition with deep serenity and trust in God.”