The “Faith Manifesto,” signed by around 6,000 people, sharply criticizes the demands of the Synodal Path, which amount to a “self-secularization of the church,” Bernhard Meuser said.

“Sometimes we live in a spirit of a ‘parking lot’; we stay parked, without the impulse of desire that carries us forward. We do well to ask: where are we on our journey of faith?”

“It is a risk, yes: having a child is always a risk, either naturally or by adoption,” Pope Francis said. ”But it is riskier not to have them.”

In a video message released by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, Pope Francis offered his prayer intention for the month of January, which he dedicated to people who suffer from religious discrimination and persecution.

A synod on synodality is a process about a process. And that stuck with me. A process about a process seemed to be without content. Where would this lead us?

Preaching on the feast of Mary, Mother of God, Pope Francis denounced widespread violence against women.