Month: May 2026

The striking sayings of one’s own teachers tend to stick in students’ minds. Looking back on my time as a student at the faculty of theology in Paderborn, I recall a classic quote from Professor Reinhard Marx during his lectures on Christian social teaching: “Whoever marries the spirit of the times will be a widower tomorrow!” A verbal bull’s-eye. It sticks in the ear — it sticks in the mind. At present, however, the former lecturer is once again being caught up by his own words, which hold up a mirror to the sociologist.

It was recently announced that Cardinal Marx intends to introduce the guidelines “Segen gibt der Liebe Kraft” (“Blessing Gives Love Strength”) in his diocese for couples who cannot enter into a sacramental marriage. The brochure from the so-called Synodal Path is thus intended to become the “foundation of pastoral care” and to apply equally to divorced and remarried couples, same-sex couples, and queer couples. The bishop’s directive was given additional weight by the stipulation that no couple should be turned away. However, the internal letter was apparently not intended to be made public, as no announcement appeared in the official gazette.

Against this backdrop, it becomes clear why Pope Benedict XVI contacted his successor as Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 2021 “to express his ‘great concern’ regarding the synodal process in Germany.” The pontiff was convinced that “this path would ‘cause harm and end badly if it is not stopped.’” Pope Benedict himself had emphasized in his apostolic exhortation Sacramentum caritatis, in light of the situation of divorced and remarried persons, that “it must be avoided in every case to bless these unions, so that no confusion arises among the faithful regarding the value of marriage.” Here, genuine pastoral care is needed, one grounded in the truth.

Every human being is willed by the Most High and called into existence as a person. Therefore, one cannot determine or change one’s own gender. The order of creation blessed by God states: “Created as man and woman, he has called them in marriage to an intimate communion of life and mutual love.”^[1] For “the conjugal union of man and woman, founded by the Creator and endowed with its own laws, is by its very nature ordered toward the communion and well-being of the spouses, as well as toward the procreation and upbringing of children.”^[2]

Created in the image of the Triune God, who is eternal love, human beings are called to purity (cf. Mt 5:8). The Decalogue clearly points the way and safeguards this calling. It follows, therefore, that sexual relations outside of a marriage valid before God constitute a grave violation of the sixth commandment and deeply defile those involved. The warning against sexual immorality expressed in the New Testament (cf. 1 Cor 6:18–20) cannot be dismissed if one does not wish to deceive and mislead people in a synodal manner.

The Creator has given His commandments to save us and lead us to eternal life. Based on the clear biblical message, the constant Magisterium of the Catholic Church has therefore always declared that homosexual practices are among the grave sins that constitute a grave violation of chastity (cf. CCC 2396) and are vehemently rejected by Sacred Scripture (cf. Gen 19:1–29; Lev 18:22; Rom 1:24–27; 1 Cor 6:9–10; 1 Tim 1:10). The Catechism reminds us of the dimension of the guilt of the Sodomites “cries out to heaven” (cf. CCC 1867).

Because many officials of the so-called Synodal Path often claim to want to listen more closely to the voices of women, a recent feast day offered a special opportunity to do so. For we look to the holy Doctor of the Church, Catherine of Siena, who has been proclaimed the patroness of Europe. In her famous work “The Dialogue of Divine Providence,” she testifies to how strongly the Lord condemns homosexual acts: “The wretched commit even worse acts and commit the accursed sin against nature. And like blind fools whose reason is clouded, they do not perceive the corruption and misery in which they are mired. It is not only to Me, who am the highest eternal purity, that it is an abomination (so abhorrent, in fact, that for the sake of this one sin I destroyed five cities through My divine judgment, since My justice could no longer bear it), but even to the demons.”^[3]

True mercy, in following the Good Shepherd, therefore seeks out the lost sheep with genuine love (cf. Lk 15:4–7) before it is too late. It does not hypocritically affirm a person’s state of guilt but seeks to lead them to repentance for the sake of eternal salvation — from the death of sin to the life of grace. Doctrine and pastoral care cannot contradict one another. Genuine pastoral care looks to the will of the Lord and strives for the salvation of the person. In doing so, sin cannot be blessed. That would be a glaring abuse of the most holy name of God. A blatant blasphemy beyond Eden. Yet the Creator will not be mocked (cf. Gal 6:7).

The document “Blessing Gives Strength to Love” betrays both the Lord and humanity. What is a deeply wounded wife — who, after saying “I do” at the altar, was betrayed and abandoned by her husband — supposed to think of a synodal church that now blesses his union with a new flame? The woman left alone is humiliated once again, now even far worse. Adultery is effectively condoned, for a benediction, derived from benedicere, means nothing else. Any rational person can immediately recognize this decadent hypocrisy and will turn away from the scandalous dance around the golden calf.

In this time of the foretold apostasy (cf. 2 Thess 2:3), we are strengthened by the witness of the holy Apostle Paul, who, out of love for the Lord and for the salvation of souls, laid down his life for the truth of the Gospel and is a powerful intercessor for the Church:

“Brethren, join in imitating me, and take note of those who conduct themselves in accord with the model you have in us. As I have told you before, and now remind you with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their god is their stomach. Their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from there we await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be conformed to his glorified body by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself” (Phil 3:17–21).

lifesitenews

A dead boy has been found in an empty house in Memmingen. He was the victim of a violent crime. The police shot a suspect – and new details have since come to light.

The 14-year-old who went missing in Memmingen in the Allgäu region is believed to have been the victim of a violent crime. Following the discovery of the teenager’s body, the suspect, who had initially fled, died after being shot by police, according to a statement from the police and the public prosecutor’s office – he was a 37-year-old man whom the police had previously been searching for.

The suspect was already known to the authorities prior to the incidents in Memmingen. He had been convicted twice in Germany and the convictions had become final – for criminal damage in 2021 and for unlawful residence without a passport in 2026, said a spokeswoman for the Memmingen Public Prosecutor’s Office.

According to initial investigations, the 37-year-old was born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. His nationality is still unclear, said the spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office. The Swabian government, as the competent immigration authority, confirmed to BR-Studio Schwaben on enquiry that the 37-year-old suspect is a rejected asylum seeker. The man had been “tolerated on the grounds of an unclarified identity”.

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According to the current state of the investigation, the deceased suspect was born in Abu Qash. The suspect’s nationality is still unclear.

He was twice convicted in Germany and sentenced to fines – for criminal damage in 2021 and for unlawful residence without a passport in 2026.

For any enquiries regarding the residence status of the deceased suspect, please contact the Central Immigration Authority of the Government of Swabia, as they are the competent authority.

Nachtrag

“Slavery in the UK is at record levels”

The grim reality behind cheap slogans like “Refugees Welcome” and “No Human Being is Illegal” is that behind the details of mass migration is the devil of modern day slavery.

We’re not just importing cheap labor and cheap votes, the real impetus for the collaborators inflicting mass migration on us, we are importing the social systems and abuses of other societies.

Including slavery.

Slavery in the UK is at record levels and is expected to worsen over the next decade, the government’s independent anti-slavery commissioner has warned.

According to the number of referrals to the national referral mechanism, which assesses potential victims of slavery and provides support to victims, numbers have almost doubled in the last five years from 12,691 referrals in 2021 to 23,411 in 2025, the highest ever number.

Net migration to the UK also increased by around 50% during that time. And you can’t have one without the other. At least you can’t when your migrants are coming from some of the worst places in the world and they routinely traffic in human beings in their home societies.

Having over 1 million people enter the UK a year means that slavery will only continue growing.

But it won’t be ‘modern day slavery’. There’s nothing modern day about Afghanistan, Pakistan or any of these medieval theocracies colonizing the UK. The only modern day component here come from the politicians who are helping them do it.

frontpagemag

The statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus in her arms is located on the Chemin de la Péronière in the small village of Poleymieux-au-Mont-d’Or (Rhône). It is believed to have been destroyed during the night of Sunday 3rd to Monday 4th May. The work, which dates from around 1938, was smashed with a sledgehammer or another tool powerful enough to shatter the stone. An investigation is underway, as Le Progrès has learnt.

The scene is shocking. At the junction of the La Peronière and Planchamp paths, the headless Virgin Mary holds her equally decapitated child in her arms. A metal rod protrudes from his bust, and the facial features of both figures lie at his feet on the stone plinth, where the inscription ‘Our Lady of Mont-d’Or’ is carved. Other debris is scattered across the ground.

The mayor of this town of 1,300 inhabitants, Corinne Cardona, has filed a complaint, and the gendarmerie will attempt to find out who might have damaged this religious monument. The mayor has also launched an appeal for witnesses among the town’s residents. “We have had many responses from angry and shocked people,” she said.

Le Progrès

Poland’s top Catholic bishop warned on Saturday that compulsory “health education” in schools contains “very problematic content” on marriage and family—prompting a sharp response from the government that has further escalated the dispute.

Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, head of the Polish Episcopal Conference, told worshippers the subject violates parents’ constitutional right to raise children according to their beliefs and called for broader consultation with families and religious groups.

Education minister Barbara Nowacka hit back, dismissing critics as driven by “ignorance or arrogance” and accusing some parents of being “toxic.”

“One toxic parent can destroy relationships around this subject,” she said on Monday, May 4th, adding that “wise parents” would still choose optional sexual health lessons.

The row centres on the government’s decision to make “health education” mandatory from September. The subject, introduced last year as an optional replacement for “education for family life,” will now be compulsory from the fourth year of primary school and for two years in secondary education.

Lessons cover hygiene, mental health, nutrition, physical activity, addiction prevention, and first aid. Content related to sex education, after earlier backlash, will remain optional.

Church leaders say the curriculum still undermines family values. They argue it separates sexuality from marriage, promotes “LGBTQ+ legal and social issues,” and sidelines parents.

Speaking to europeanconservative.com last year, Polish pedagogue and theologian Zbigniew Barciński said the programme removes sexual education from the context of marriage and family, instead framing it in ideological terms.

Archbishop Wojda also pointed to participation figures: while only around 30% of pupils opted into the classes when they were voluntary, roughly 70% still attend Catholic catechism—raising the question of why one is now being imposed while the other remains a choice.

Opposition figures reacted angrily. MP Olga Semeniuk-Patkowska of the conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party wrote: “Nowacka wants to indoctrinate children, and every parent who thinks differently is, for her, a ‘nuisance’”.

Right-wing commentator Marcin Ostaszewski quipped: “Certainly. Just as some ministers are a nuisance to the country.”

The exchange has sharpened what was already a tense debate, turning a curriculum change into a broader confrontation over parental authority and the state’s role in shaping what children are taught.

europeanconservative

Unhappy birthday to Germany.

Ever since taking office as German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz’s popularity has only fallen.

That’s hardly surprising, since he is pushing for the same failed Globalist policies as his predecessor Olaf Scholz, and is leading a country with a stagnant economy and a fractured society due to unchecked mass migration.

Merz’s numbers are a record low: a mid-April poll shows only 18% of voters are satisfied with his work, while as much as 80% are dissatisfied. Even the majority of Merz voters are reportedly unhappy.

🇩🇪 Merz faces public ridicule

A journalist asks what has actually improved for German citizens since he took office as Chancellor

The room breaks into laughter

Merz appears visibly uncomfortable, struggling to find a clear response

A tense moment that raises fresh questions… pic.twitter.com/pZq5Z9XwkC

— WAR (@warsurv) May 3, 2026

And, as Merz completes one year as Chancellor, he has also gotten himself into some heavy transatlantic trouble.

Reuters reported:

“Chancellor Friedrich Merz marks a year in office this week facing the biggest crisis with Washington in decades, after ​President Donald Trump said he would hit European auto imports with 25% tariffs and pull thousands of troops out of Germany.

The moves, announced on Friday after Trump reacted angrily to criticism by ‌Merz of U.S. strategy in the Iran war, underline the break in transatlantic relations that has become increasingly apparent in Trump’s second term and add to an array of problems now facing the German leader.”

“In an interview with German public television on Sunday, Merz, who was sworn into office ​on May 6 last year, acknowledged public doubts, reflected in opinion polls that now put the far-right Alternative for Germany ahead of his conservatives as the country’s most popular party.

‘The doubts are growing. Not about me, but about the ​coalition’, he said.”

The Chancellor made offensive comments about the US campaign in Iran, setting fire to the alliance with the US – and so far he hasn’t been able to put of the flames.

thegatewaypundit

Romania’s parliament has voted to oust pro-EU Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in a no-confidence motion, deepening political turmoil in the European Union and NATO member state bordering Ukraine.

The motion, initiated jointly by the left-wing Social Democrats (PSD) and the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), received 281 votes in the 464-seat parliament. Bolojan’s liberal National Liberal Party (PNL) and its Save Romania Union (USR) allies were present but did not vote.

The PSD, Romania’s biggest party, quit the government last month before teaming up with the AUR to file the motion. The decision drew sharp criticism that the Social Democrats were legitimising a surging right-wing force.

“By joining with the AUR, the PSD has turned it into a significant political player, from a party that was isolated, ostracised and kept on the margins of the political system,” political scientist Costin Ciobanu told AFP.

The AUR has overtaken the PSD in surveys since the last parliamentary elections, polling at around 37 per cent. Its leader George Simion posted on X after the vote that “the voice of the people was heard today,” calling for “national reconciliation”.

Tensions with the PSD escalated as Bolojan, 57, pushed for unpopular austerity measures to reduce the deficit, the biggest in the EU. PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu said after the vote that Bolojan should resign while it was “the duty of responsible parties to find a solution”.

“I want us to form a government quickly,” Grindeanu said.

Pro-EU President Nicușor Dan has given assurances that the eastern European country of 19 million people will keep its pro-Western direction, ruling out the possibility of a right-wing government.

“Political discussions will be difficult, but it is my responsibility as president — and that of the political parties — to steer Romania in the right direction,” he told reporters on Monday.

In parliament ahead of the vote, Bolojan defended his push for reforms, slamming the motion as “deceitful, cynical and contrived”.

“I chose to do what was urgent and necessary for our country,” he said.

Bolojan’s liberals, the PSD and two other pro-EU parties formed a government last year following elections in which right-wing parties won an unprecedented third of parliamentary seats. The deal ended political tumult marked by the annulment of presidential elections over allegations of Russian interference in December 2024.

Ciobanu, a researcher at Aarhus University in Denmark, said weeks of political negotiations were likely, which could see a new government formed by the same four pro-EU parties but under a different premier.

According to Reuters, Bolojan will stay on as interim premier with limited powers until a new government is endorsed by parliament.

Since the crisis erupted, interest rates on Romanian borrowing have risen, and the leu has depreciated against the euro, which reached an all-time high of 5.21 Romanian lei on Tuesday.

Romania, which had a deficit of 7.9 per cent of GDP in the fourth quarter of last year, has been subject to an EU excessive deficit procedure since 2020.

brusselssignal

A consultant unleashed a ‘tirade of abuse’ at two men in a hospital prayer room because they belonged to a different branch of Islam, a disciplinary tribunal has heard. Dr Nuri Attagour, a Sunni Muslim, subjected two Shia Muslims to a barrage of ‘derogatory names’ during a five to 10 minute outburst which occurred during the call to prayer near the end of Ramadan.

Dr Attagour, a locum consultant physician, has now been handed a three-month suspension following the incident at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary Hospital in Wigan, Greater Manchester, after a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service panel ruled him guilty of serious misconduct.

The tribunal determined that Dr Attagour launched a ‘tirade of abuse’ at two men, identified as Dr A and Mr B, inside the prayer room at lunchtime on April 19, 2023 and at Mr B the day after. The consultant, the panel concluded, branded the pair ‘infidels’, ‘filthy’ and ‘disbelievers’.

He also informed them that the direction in which they prayed was incorrect, that they were ‘the biggest threat to Islam’, and labelled them ‘Kafir’ which translates to infidels in Arabic. On April 20 Dr Attagour told Mr B he did not wish to be with Shia Muslims ‘in this life or the afterlife’, that ‘he would be burning in the hellfire’ and described Shia Muslims as ‘low, evil, disgusting and liars’.

The tribunal was told that at the time, the majority of Muslims employed at the hospital ‘appeared to be Sunni’. Dr A described the experience as ‘very unpleasant and toxic’, while Mr B called it an ‘unexpected degradation’ and a ‘humiliation’, reports Manchester Evening News.

express

Residents in the Dutch municipality of Hulst have reacted with anger after local officials confirmed that the Reynaertland swimming pool will once again be used as emergency accommodation for asylum seekers.

The municipality said the decision was taken after an urgent request from the Dutch minister for asylum and migration, with the site due to reopen on May 15. The emergency center is expected to operate for one year and will house a maximum of 50 asylum seekers in the pool complex’s hall.

Despite the new accommodation arrangement, the municipality says the swimming pool will remain open to the public as normal.

That point has prompted particular concern from local residents, including parents whose children use the facility for swimming lessons.

As reported by De Dagelijkse Standaard, one local, Jordi Van de Wiele, responded sarcastically on Facebook, “Nice place in combination with our daughter’s swimming lessons. I’m glad other people are more important than ‘our’ people.”

The site has been used for asylum accommodation before, between October 2022 and July 2025, and several residents claimed the previous arrangement caused problems in the area.

Vanity Faas-esseling wrote, “Security… they were wandering around everywhere last time… and whistling at you by the roundabout.”

Another commenter, Beestenboel van Kaat, demanded written guarantees from the municipality. “Can you guarantee that the residents of the municipality of Hulst will remain 100 percent safe, and that if this is not the case, you will be held 100 percent responsible?” the resident wrote. “Please put this agreement in black and white on paper.”

The municipality has attempted to reassure residents by pointing to security measures, including 24-hour supervision and house rules for those staying at the site.

However, the comments under the announcement suggest many locals remain unconvinced.

Another resident, John S. van Ulst, wrote, “Hopefully no single young and ungrateful fortune seekers (come) to Hulst.”

The decision comes amid continuing pressure on Dutch municipalities to provide temporary accommodation for asylum seekers, a policy that has repeatedly triggered local opposition when public buildings, hotels, or sports facilities are converted into emergency shelters.

Residents of other Dutch towns now accommodating a center for asylum seekers have warned other municipalities from following suit. In February, residents in Harderwijk described what they said was a sharp deterioration in safety and quality of life.

One elderly resident said, “I won’t walk my dog here at night after nine o’clock. So, that says it all.” A mother added, “Fights, shots were fired here on the premises.”

Some described several incidents involving knives. “One stabbing to another stabbing. And then again that fuss, fights with people in the street,” one local said. Another added, “They stab each other. Just in the middle of the street with the children walking by.” A resident living opposite the center, who uses a mobility scooter, said, “If you see how often the police stand there. Surely that says it all.”

Last month, locals in the Dutch city of Loosdrecht protested against a proposed asylum seekers’ center, resulting in serious police violence targeting the protesters with baton charges, which left at least one protester unconscious on the pavement, which was caught on film.

Commentator and activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek praised the protests at the time, writing, “Hundreds of migrants are to be moved to a location in Loosdrecht – a small town close to where I grew up. The locals were not given any say, of course, and took to the streets in protest. Glad to see the true Dutch fighting spirit isn’t gone completely. Go, my fellow countrymen! Enough is enough.”

Following the protests, the local authorities scaled back plans, confirming that 70 asylum seekers will be housed at the facility instead of the proposed 110.

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