The article from the National Catholic Register portal (May 14, 2026) reports on Cardinal Willem Eijk’s critique of the Synod Study Group 9 report concerning same-sex relationships. While Eijk correctly identifies the report’s fundamental errors, his critique remains inadequate, trapped within the very conciliar framework that produced this apostasy. The deeper analysis reveals that this report is not merely a “troubling departure” but the logical and inevitable fruit of the post-conciliar revolution’s systematic destruction of Catholic moral theology.
The Report’s Methodological Apostasy: Subordinating Truth to Experience
The Synod Study Group 9 report commits the foundational error of Modernism: the subordination of immutable doctrine to subjective human experience. The authors explicitly reject what they call “abstractly proclaiming and deductively applying principles that are set out in an immutable and rigid manner.” This language, couched in pastoral sensitivity, constitutes a direct assault on the very nature of moral truth as understood by the Church for two millennia.
The report advocates maintaining “a fruitful tension between what has been established in the Church’s doctrine and Her pastoral practice and the practices of life.” This formulation reveals the modernist heresy of doctrinal evolution condemned by Saint Pius X in Pascendi Dominici Gregis. The Church’s moral teaching is not a “fruitful tension” with human practice but the absolute standard by which all practice must be judged. As the Council of Vatican I defined, dogmata fidei ab Ecclesia non tanquum philosophica inventa, sed tanquam divinitus revelata deposita traduntur (the dogmas of faith are handed down by the Church not as philosophical inventions but as divinely revealed deposits).
The report’s authors invoke Christ’s words about the Sabbath to suggest that moral norms cannot be absolute. This constitutes a fundamental misreading of Scripture that conflates divine positive law with the natural law. The Sabbath commandment, as part of the ceremonial law, was indeed fulfilled in Christ. However, the moral law concerning marriage and sexuality flows from the natural law itself, which reflects God’s eternal purposes in creation. As Saint Paul teaches, lex in cordibus eorum scripta est (the law is written on their hearts – Romans 2:15). These norms are not cultural constructs subject to “unceasing dialogue” but universal truths knowable by reason and confirmed by revelation.
The Normalization of Intrinsically Evil Acts
The report’s treatment of same-sex relationships represents a deliberate normalization of intrinsically evil acts within a Church context. By presenting testimonies from individuals living in homosexual relationships without doctrinal correction, the authors create what Cardinal Eijk correctly identifies as “dangerous ambiguity.”
One witness claims that “sin, at its root, does not consist in the (same sex) couple relationship, but in a lack of faith in a God who desires our fulfillment.” This statement, reproduced without correction, inverts the proper relationship between faith and moral action. While lack of faith may dispose one to sin, the sin itself consists in the objective violation of God’s law. As the Council of Trent defined, si quis dixerit, Dei praecepta etiam iustificato et sub gratia constituto esse impossibilia ad implere: anathema sit (if anyone says that God’s commandments are impossible even for the justified man constituted in grace: let him be anathema – Session VI, Canon 18).
The report’s portrayal of Courage International as providing “conversion therapy” and “separating faith and sexuality” reveals the authors’ hostility to authentic Catholic pastoral care. Courage’s teaching that persons with same-sex attractions must live chastely according to Church doctrine is not separation of faith and sexuality but their proper integration. The report instead validates communities that welcome persons “rejected for belonging to the LGBT community” while they persist in grave sin—a clear indication that these communities have abandoned the Church’s saving mission.
The Destruction of Moral Theology
The report’s methodological framework represents nothing less than the complete overthrow of Catholic moral theology. By rejecting “a problem-solving perspective, or that of those who presume to deduce action from the simple application of norms,” the authors eliminate the very possibility of moral judgment.
This approach stems from the modernist error condemned by Pope John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor (1993), himself a figure whose orthodoxy must be carefully evaluated in light of his conciliar legacy. The encyclical states: “On this basis, an attempt is made to legitimize so-called ‘pastoral’ solutions contrary to the teaching of the Magisterium, and to justify a ‘creative’ hermeneutic according to which the moral conscience is in no way obliged, in every case, by a particular negative precept” (§56).
The report’s principle of “pastorality” that avoids “generalizable solutions” in favor of “concrete ways to initiate a process in the form of listening” represents what Saint Pius X called the synthesis of all errors—Modernism. True pastoral care, as defined by the Council of Trent, consists not in finding compromises with moral truth but in leading souls to align their actions with that truth. The shepherd who obscures moral truth commits spiritual murder, as Ezekiel warns: si tu non annuntiaveris impio impietatem suam, ipse in iniquitate sua morietur, sanguinem autem eius de manu tua requiram (if you do not announce to the wicked his wickedness, he shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at your hand – Ezekiel 3:18).
The Inadequacy of Cardinal Eijk’s Response
While Cardinal Eijk correctly identifies the report’s errors, his critique remains trapped within the conciliar framework. He states that the report “systematically undermines the Church’s ability to proclaim and apply her moral doctrine,” yet he fails to identify the root cause: the post-conciliar Church’s loss of its divine constitution.
Eijk’s assurance that “a number of cardinals and bishops will make their objections known to the Roman Magisterium” reveals the fundamental problem. The “Roman Magisterium” since 1958 has been occupied by Modernists who have systematically undermined Catholic teaching. The faithful cannot expect correction from those who have embraced the very errors in question.
The Cardinal’s statement that “the Church’s teaching is not obscure, nor is it subject to revision through synodal processes” is technically correct but practically meaningless when the “synodal processes” in question are the official mechanisms of the conciliar sect. The Synod on Synodality itself represents the implementation of the Modernist agenda of “collegiality” and “shared responsibility” that undermines the papal authority established by Christ.
The Deeper Apostasy: The Rejection of Natural Law
The report’s most dangerous error lies in its explicit rejection of natural law universality. The authors write that “the universal truth of the human, in its historical expression, cannot therefore be determined once and for all, but is found in the concrete forms of different cultures, in an unceasing dialogue.”
This statement constitutes a direct contradiction of Catholic teaching as defined by the Church’s constant Magisterium. Pope Leo XIII in Libertas Praestantissimum (1888) taught that the natural law is “the same for all men” and “immutable and eternal.” The report’s suggestion that moral truth emerges from cultural dialogue rather than being discovered through reason reflecting on human nature represents the complete abandonment of the Catholic intellectual tradition.
The report’s methodology reflects what Pope Pius XI called laicism in Quas Primas (1925): the removal of Christ’s reign from human affairs. When the authors subordinate moral truth to cultural experience, they effectively deny Christ’s royal authority over all nations and all aspects of human life. As Pius XI taught, regnum Christi non est de hoc mundo (the Kingdom of Christ is not of this world) in the sense that it transcends earthly power, but it absolutely governs all human affairs in their moral dimension.
The Consequences: From Sexual Morality to the Protection of Life
Cardinal Eijk correctly notes that the report’s relativization of moral doctrine “extends far beyond questions of sexuality to the protection of human life itself.” This is not speculation but logical necessity. If the Church cannot proclaim absolute moral norms regarding sexuality, neither can she proclaim them regarding abortion, euthanasia, or any other moral question.
The report’s methodology, consistently applied, would require the Church to “listen” to testimonies from abortionists, euthanasia practitioners, and others who claim that their actions fulfill some authentic human need. The “fruitful tension” between doctrine and practice would then demand “pastoral solutions” that accommodate these practices while maintaining the fiction of doctrinal continuity.
This is precisely what has occurred throughout the conciliar Church. The same methodology that now normalizes homosexual relationships has already been applied to contraception (despite Humanae Vitae), divorce and remarriage (despite Casti Connubii), and numerous other moral questions. The report represents not a new departure but the consistent application of Modernist principles that have guided the conciliar revolution since 1958.
The Only Adherent Response: Return to Tradition
The faithful must recognize that the Synod Study Group 9 report is not an aberration but the logical conclusion of the conciliar project. The “synodal process” itself, with its emphasis on “listening” and “discernment,” represents the implementation of the Modernist agenda of doctrinal evolution and the democratization of truth.
The only adequate response is the complete rejection of the conciliar framework and the return to the Church’s immutable teaching as expressed in her traditional liturgy, her constant Magisterium, and her saints. The faithful must seek out bishops and priests who maintain the integral Catholic faith, who teach that moral truth is absolute and unchanging, and who refuse to participate in the “synodal process” that seeks to undermine that truth.
As Pope Pius IX taught in the Syllabus of Errors (1864), Romanus Pontifices et Concilia oecumenica non errasse in definiendis de fide et moribus (Roman Pontiffs and ecumenical councils have not erred in defining matters of faith and morals – Proposition 23, condemned). The Church’s moral teaching is not subject to revision through “synodal processes” or any other human mechanism. It is the truth that sets us free, and it remains unchanged until the end of time.
The faithful must pray for the restoration of the Church’s divine constitution, for the removal of the Modernists who occupy her structures, and for the return of the Roman Pontiff to his proper role as the guardian and defender of immutable truth. Until that time, they must resist all attempts to normalize sin, whether through “synodal processes,” “pastoral solutions,” or any other mechanism of the conciliar sect. The salvation of souls depends upon the proclamation of truth, not the accommodation of error.
Source:
Cardinal Eijk: Same-Sex Synod Report Must Be Forcefully Refuted (ncregister.com)
Date: 14.05.2026