Happy Birthday, Cardinal Radcliffe! And Other News

Here are some items that might be of interest:

Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe

1. Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, who was appointed to the College of Cardinalls in 2024 turned 80 this month, the age at which cardinals are no longer eligible to vote for the next pope (though they still remain active as cardinals in all other ways).  To mark this occasion, Mario Trifunovic of Katholisch.de wrote a tribute to this prelate, noting Radcliffe’s strong and longtime  support of LGBTQ+ people:

“Radcliffe also didn’t shy away from sensitive topics. He paid tribute to gay Catholics in committed relationships , writing in the Vatican newspaper “L’Osservatore Romano” that the challenge for homosexuals—like that of all lovers—is to learn to express love appropriately and respect the dignity of others. In this context, he spoke of a development in Church teaching that is renewed through ‘lived experience.’ ‘Homosexuals are no longer seen solely in terms of sexual acts, but as our brothers and sisters who, according to Pope Francis, can be blessed.'”

For other pro-LGBTQ+ statements from Radcliffe, click here.  

Gottfried Bohl

2. The controversy over the German bishops’ advice to dioceses as to how to administer blessings to couples in “irregular relationships,” including same-gender couples, continues.  Last week, Bondings 2.o reported that while many German dioceses were instituting the advice, some were not doing so because the directions appeared to make the blessing ceremony too much like a wedding.  With more dioceses taking a pro or con stand towards the advice, an editor of a German Cathollic news service thinks that uniformity will never happen.  Our Sunday Visitor news service reported:

“ ‘With every priest and parish now doing whatever they feel is right, I can’t foresee any consensus,”’ said Gottfried Bohl, news editor of Germany’s Catholic news agency, KNA. ‘Perhaps it’s a good thing disagreements exist, enabling the bishops to present contrasting liberal and conservative faces at the same time. But many Germans have little interest in what the church teaches anyway, and don’t accept being told what to do by clergy, especially on questions of sexuality.’”

3. Brian Burch, the founder and former president of CatholicVote, a conservative Catholic website with strong anti-LGBTQ+ opinions and was highly critical of Pope Francis, has been confirmed by the U.S. Sentate as Donal Trump’s ambassador to the Holy See (the Vatican City State). Trump nominated Burch in December 2024, when Pope Francis was still healthy.  The Advocate reported that Burch was very critical of the Vatican’s 2023 approval of Fiducia Supplicans, the document which gave approval for blessing same-gender relationships. For past Bondings 2.0 posts about Catholic Vote, click here.

4. The autobiography of Catholic LGBTQ+ pioneer Brian McNaught was favorably reviewed in U.S. Catholic by Emma Cieslik, a guest contributor to Bondings 2.0.  Cieslik’s summary evaluation of the book, entitled Prince of a Boy, captured part of life’s spiritual mystery:

“McNaught knew he was Catholic before he knew he was gay. Yet by accepting the latter, he became closer to God and answered God’s call to minister to LGBTQ+ people, inviting others to live and love as themselves and to fight for recognition, as he did. A Prince of a Boy celebrates a life that did not end when McNaught dared come out as gay—it was just getting started.”

For Bondings 2.0’s review of the book, click here.

—Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry, August 23, 2025