The National Catholic Register portal reports (May 29, 2026) that the Swiss Bishops’ Conference has endorsed a national legal ban on so-called “conversion measures” aimed at people who identify as LGBT, warning that such practices can become “spiritual abuse” in God’s name. The bishops insist that “legitimate pastoral care, counseling, and psychotherapy” be expressly shielded from any prohibition. They define “conversion measures” as targeted influence intended to change or suppress sexual orientation or “gender identity” through means such as pressure, blame, threats, isolation, devaluation, or religious fear. The bishops ground their position in the teaching of “Pope” Leo XIV, citing his 2025 inauguration homily about offering “God’s love to everyone” to achieve unity that “cancels out differences but values the personal history of each person.” While citing the Catechism’s teaching that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered,” the bishops’ statement represents a capitulation to modernist anthropology that redefines the very nature of sin, conversion, and pastoral care in a manner incompatible with the integral Catholic faith.
The Heresy of “Gender Identity” Enshrined in Episcopal Teaching
The Swiss bishops’ statement begins with a fatal concession to modernist ideology by adopting the language of “gender identity” and “gender expression” as if these were legitimate categories recognized by Catholic theology. The Church has always taught that human beings are created male and female, masculum et feminam creavit eos (Gen. 1:27), and that this sexual dimorphism is not accidental but essential to the natural law inscribed by the Creator. The very notion of “gender identity” as something separable from biological sex is a product of the modernist revolution in anthropology that denies the hylomorphic unity of body and soul.
Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical Casti Connubii (1930), taught with supreme authority: “The body of a human being is not merely an organism of the natural order, but is the temple of the Holy Ghost… hence it is not in the power of the civil authority to provide for the welfare of citizens and of the State by contradicting the natural law.” The Swiss bishops, by accepting the language of “gender identity,” implicitly endorse the very errors that Pius XI condemned — namely, that the human person can define himself apart from the objective order established by God.
The statement’s definition of “conversion measures” as including “targeted influence intended to make a person change or suppress his or her sexual orientation or ‘gender identity'” reveals the depth of the modernist corruption. Under this definition, even the traditional Catholic practice of calling sinners to repentance could be construed as “targeted influence” if applied to persons with same-sex attraction. The bishops have effectively created a category of persons who are exempt from the universal call to conversion and penance — a concept utterly foreign to Catholic theology.
The Distortion of Pastoral Care: From Conversion to Accompaniment
The bishops’ statement represents a complete inversion of the Catholic understanding of pastoral care. True pastoral care, as taught by the Church for two millennia, is directed toward the salvation of souls through conversion from sin and growth in holiness. The Swiss bishops have reduced “pastoral care” to what can only be described as modernist accompaniment — a process in which the person “reflects on his or her situation and decides in freedom” without any objective moral framework.
This is precisely the error condemned by Pope St. Pius X in Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907), where he identified the modernist principle that “religious consciousness” is the sole arbiter of truth: “The office of the Church is not to teach but to sanction the conclusions of religious consciousness.” The Swiss bishops’ emphasis on “respectful conversation and accompaniment” that preserves “the dignity and freedom of the person” while exercising “no undue influence” is nothing other than the modernist heresy of religious subjectivism dressed in pastoral language.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which the bishops cite, teaches clearly that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and that “under no circumstances can they be approved” (No. 2357). Yet the bishops’ statement contains no call to repentance, no exhortation to chastity, no mention of the sacraments as means of grace for overcoming temptation. This silence is deafening and reveals the true nature of their “pastoral care” — it is the pastoral care of the world, not of Christ.
The Usurper’s Authority: Leo XIV’s Modernist Framework
The bishops ground their position in the teaching of “Pope” Leo XIV (Robert Prevost), citing his 2025 inauguration homily. This appeal to the authority of the usurper on Peter’s throne is itself a scandal, but the content of the cited teaching is even more revealing. Leo XIV’s statement that the Church is called “to offer God’s love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person” is a perfect expression of the modernist heresy of the democratization of the Church.
This language of “unity which does not cancel out differences” is the language of the conciliar revolution — the same spirit that produced Nostra Aetate, Dignitatis Humanae, and the entire post-conciliar edifice of false ecumenism and religious indifferentism. It is the language that denies the exclusive salvific mission of the Church and reduces her to a facilitator of human self-expression.
Pope Pius IX, in the Syllabus of Errors (1864), condemned the proposition that “the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). Leo XIV’s homily, and the Swiss bishops’ appeal to it, represent precisely this reconciliation with modernity that Pius IX anathematized.
The Omission of Sin and Repentance: A Telltale Silence
The most damning aspect of the Swiss bishops’ statement is what it does not say. There is no mention of sin, no call to repentance, no exhortation to the virtue of chastity, no reference to the sacrament of confession as the ordinary means of forgiveness for sins against the sixth commandment. The entire statement is framed in the language of secular psychology — “dignity,” “freedom,” “personal integrity,” “undue influence” — rather than in the language of Catholic theology.
This silence is not accidental. It is the inevitable result of the modernist revolution that has transformed the Church from a society dedicated to the salvation of souls through conversion and sanctification into a humanitarian organization dedicated to “accompanying” people in their chosen lifestyles. The Swiss bishops have adopted the language of the world, and in doing so, they have betrayed their sacred office.
Pope Pius XI, in Quas Primas (1925), taught that “if men were ever to recognize Christ’s royal authority over themselves, both privately and publicly, then unheard-of blessings would flow upon the whole society.” The Swiss bishops, by refusing to proclaim the kingship of Christ over every aspect of human life — including sexuality — demonstrate that they do not acknowledge His reign. They are, in the words of Pius XI, among those who “renounce and do not wish to recognize the reign of our Savior.”
The Criminalization of Catholic Moral Teaching
The most alarming aspect of the Swiss bishops’ endorsement is its support for Motion 22.3889, which would prohibit and penalize the offering, facilitating, and advertising of “conversion measures.” While the bishops insist that “legitimate pastoral care” be shielded, the very categories they have adopted — “gender identity,” “sexual orientation” — are defined by the modernist ideology that drives the legislation. There is no guarantee that future interpretations of the law will respect the bishops’ distinctions.
Indeed, the history of such legislation in other countries demonstrates that it inevitably expands to encompass traditional Catholic teaching on sexuality. The bishops’ attempt to carve out an exception for “pastoral care” is naive at best and complicit at worst. By endorsing the criminalization of “conversion measures,” they have legitimized the principle that the state has authority to regulate religious practice in matters of sexuality — a principle directly condemned by Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors (Proposition 44): “The civil authority may interfere in matters relating to religion, morality and spiritual government.”
The Protestant Endorsement: Ecumenical Apostasy
The fact that the Protestant Church in Switzerland issued a similar statement on the same day is not coincidental. It is a manifestation of the false ecumenism that has characterized the post-conciliar period. The Swiss bishops and the Reformed Church are united not in the truth of the Gospel but in the modernist spirit of the age — a spirit that rejects the supernatural order and reduces religion to a form of social work.
Pope Pius XI, in Mortalium Animos (1928), condemned the ecumenical movement in unambiguous terms: “The union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it.” The Swiss bishops’ alignment with Protestant apostates on this matter is not a sign of Christian unity but of collective apostasy.
Conclusion: The Bankruptcy of Conciliar Pastoral Care
The Swiss bishops’ statement represents the logical culmination of the conciliar revolution’s approach to sexuality and pastoral care. By adopting the language of “gender identity,” by redefining pastoral care as non-directive accompaniment, by grounding their position in the teaching of the usurper Leo XIV, and by endorsing the criminalization of traditional Catholic practice, the Swiss bishops have demonstrated that they are not shepherds of Christ’s flock but hirelings who have abandoned the sheep to the wolves.
The faithful who seek authentic Catholic pastoral care must look elsewhere — to the priests and bishops who remain faithful to the unchanging teaching of the Church, who proclaim the reality of sin and the necessity of repentance, who administer the sacraments as Christ instituted them, and who do not bow before the idols of modernity. As Pope Pius IX declared in the Syllabus of Errors: “The Church is not a true and perfect society, entirely free — nor is she endowed with proper and perpetual rights of her own, conferred upon her by her Divine Founder” (Proposition 19). The conciliar structures, including the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, have forfeited any claim to represent the true Church of Christ by their systematic betrayal of her doctrine and mission.
Source:
Swiss Bishops Back Ban on LGBT Conversion Measures, Cite ‘Spiritual Abuse’ Risk (ncregister.com)
Date: 29.05.2026