Cardinal Eijk denounces pro-LGBT Synod report: ‘Fundamental contradiction of Catholic teaching’
Dutch Cardinal Eijk said that the Vatican’s final Synod report violates ‘the Catholic Church's consistent moral teaching’ and ‘must be forcefully refuted.’
Cardinal Willem Eijk
speaking at the 2019 Rome Life ForumSteve Jalsevac/LifeSiteNews
- 9
Mon May 18, 2026 - 5:07 pm EDT
(LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Willem Eijk decried the Vatican Synod on Synodality’s recent pro-LGBT final report as a “fundamental contradiction of Catholic teaching.”
The stalwart defender of orthodoxy published in the National Catholic Register a refutation of the Study Group 9 report on “doctrinal, pastoral and ethical issues” that scandalously gave the impression of condoning the grave sin of homosexual acts.
Cardinal Eijk unequivocally condemned the report, saying it “represents a troubling departure from the Catholic Church’s consistent moral teaching” and “must be forcefully refuted.”
— Article continues below Petition —
Tell Vatican to Withdraw Pro-LGBT Synod Report
Show Petition Text
460 have signed the petition.
Let's get to 1000!
Add your signature:
Haut du formulaire
Country...USACanadaAaland IslandsAfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAmerican SamoaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBoliviaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D'IvoireCroatiaCubaCuracaoCyprusCzech RepublicDemocratic Republic of the CongoDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland IslandsFaroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuamGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard and McDonald IslandsHondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People's Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacauMacedoniaMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMicronesiaMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNetherlands AntillesNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorth KoreaNorthern Mariana IslandsNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPalestinePanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalPuerto RicoQatarRepublic of KosovoReunionRomaniaRussiaRwandaSaint BarthelemySaint HelenaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint MartinSaint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint MaartenSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth KoreaSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan Mayen IslandsSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVatican CityVenezuelaVietnamVirgin Islands (British)Virgin Islands (U.S.)Wallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweProvince...AlbertaBritish ColumbiaManitobaNew BrunswickNewfoundland and LabradorNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaNunavutOntarioPrince Edward IslandQuebecSaskatchewanYukon
Keep me updated via email on this petition and related issues.
Sign this Petition
Bas du formulaire
The prelate pointed out that the report shares “without correction” that one homosexual testimony “bears witness to the discovery 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 thinking is “fundamentally flawed,” noted Cardinal Eijk, since “homosexual acts are intrinsically evil — this is settled Catholic doctrine,” he pointed out.
While a supposedly “believing Christian” who engages in homosexual acts does indeed lack faith, “insofar as he fails to trust in God’s grace, which enables him to avoid sin,” the primary sin is still the homosexual act itself. The representation of the testimony therefore “creates dangerous ambiguity.”
The second testimony, from a U.S. man who is a “married” homosexual and friends with Fr. James Martin, is “even more problematic,” according to Cardinal Eijk. The man spoke negatively of his experience with the Catholic apostolate Courage, which helps support those suffering from homosexual inclinations who wish to live chastely. The man instead positively recounted his time at Fordham University, where he “learned new forms of theology” that claimed to reconcile Catholicism with acceptance of homosexual relationships, which he referred to as “life-giving.”
“The clear implication is that this second witness, living in a homosexual relationship, is doing so with the support and approval of these priests and communities,” noted the cardinal.
“By elevating such testimonies without doctrinal commentary, the report effectively normalizes homosexual relationships within a Church context,” he remarked.
Like Gavin Ashenden, former Anglican chaplain to the English queen, Cardinal Eijk pointed out that the “deeper problem” lies in the report’s underlying methodology. It explicitly rejects “immutable” principles in favor of a “‘synodal process’ focused on people’s practices and experiences.” It also openly and explicitly celebrates a “fruitful tension between what has been established in the Church’s doctrine and Her pastoral practice and the practices of life.”
“This language sounds pastoral and Christ-centered, but it conceals a radical departure from Catholic moral theology,” noted the prelate.
He went on to call out the report’s authors for misusing Jesus’s statement that “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” to “suggest that moral norms cannot be absolute.”
“Jesus’s teaching about the Sabbath concerned divine positive law — norms revealed in Scripture that are not intrinsically absolute unless they coincide with natural law,” Cardinal Eijk pointed out. Accordingly, Old Testament Jewish liturgical laws are no longer binding. By contrast, the moral law regarding marriage and sexuality comes from natural law, which is unchanging and “reflects God’s purposes in creating human beings, marriage, and sexuality itself.”
God designed sexual acts to be expressed as a “mutual total self-giving between a man and a woman” in marriage, through which human life can be created, said Cardinal Eijk.
“Sexual differentiation and openness to life are essential elements of this total gift. Sexual acts between persons of the same sex cannot constitute such a total gift because they are closed to the transmission of life by their very nature.”
“Any act that violates God’s creative intentions for marriage and sexuality is always impermissible, without exception,” the cardinal stressed.
However, the report obscures with ambiguity this very principle of the unchanging natural law regarding human sexuality, he pointed out.
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.”
The suggestion is that moral norms are adapted to different circumstances.
“This is simply false,” wrote Cardinal Eijk. God’s designs for human sexuality are “universal truths, established once and for all, that human beings can know spontaneously through natural moral law, and can be found in Sacred Scripture.”
Saint Paul teaches that when Gentiles “do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts” (Romans 2:14-15).
The report even more clearly rejects Catholic doctrine when it advocates “the overcoming of the theoretical model that derives praxis from a ‘pre-packaged’ doctrine.” In other words, the authors reject the idea of unchanging moral norms.
Cardinal Eijk pointed out that “Pope John Paul II forcefully rejected this approach in Veritatis Splendor: ‘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.’”
“True pastoral care does not seek compromises with moral truth,” the cardinal affirmed.
“Study Group 9’s report fundamentally contradicts Catholic moral teaching,” he said, noting that its relativization of moral doctrine has far-reaching consequences, affecting even the “protection of human life itself.”
“This report must be forcefully refuted,” he concluded.
TOPICS
TAGGED AS
- Cardinal Eijk
- Catholic
- Catholic Church
- Heresy
- heterodoxy
- Homosexuality
- Lgbt
- Study Group 9
- Synod
- Synod On Synodality
