by Le Salon Beige
October 19, 2026
[Excerpts:]
Pope Leo has today appointed more than 20 members to the International Theological Commission (ITC), an advisory body to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF). ...
Although membership in the ITC does not entail a leading executive role, it affords its members considerable influence over the theological work of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and, consequently, over the work of the Holy See. The appointment of theologians whose views diverge from Catholic teaching on certain questions is therefore noteworthy.
The appointment of Sara Parvis has raised questions in light of her support for the ordination of women to the diaconate, a question on which the Church’s teaching has consistently ruled out the possibility of conferring sacramental ordination upon women. “The restoration of the diaconate for women would offer a new and specifically ecclesial vocation, whether or not it were connected to the vocation to religious life,” she argued in an essay published in 2024.
Another appointee, Claudia Leal Luna, a professor at the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in Rome, has argued that the Church’s moral teaching should be updated to reflect more adequately contemporary society and the realities of biology. Commenting on the Vatican’s March 2021 decree rejecting the possibility of blessing same-sex unions, Luna maintained that the Catholic Church’s dialogue with modern thought on sexuality remains inadequate.
“This means,” she stated, “that the sexual morality of the Christian tradition still needs to make progress in certain respects, in keeping with the philosophy, psychology, sociology, and even biology of recent decades.”
Luna continued:
“On the other hand, within institutions, there is always a hard core that oversees the interpretation of the law and tends to advocate a more restrictive interpretation. What we Catholics can demand is that we be told not only what is excluded, but also what is included. I am convinced that the sensibilities of Catholics throughout the world are deeply offended by this text [rejecting blessings for same-sex couples].”
Among the new members is also the Austrian theologian Jan-Heiner Tück, who is close to Cardinal Christoph Schönborn. For many years, Schönborn’s theological ideas have helped pave the way for heterodox theologians, particularly through his questioning of Catholic teaching on homosexuality and priestly celibacy, thereby encouraging numerous younger disciples. His influence on major Vatican synods and on the current Catechism of the Catholic Church has likewise made him an influential figure in Rome. His arguments continue to carry weight even after his retirement as Archbishop of Vienna early last year.
Given its consultative nature, the ITC generally operates with little public visibility and publishes its documents at irregular intervals. Its output has been limited in recent years, with perhaps its most widely discussed publication being an April 2025 text calling for a common date for Easter to be observed by all Christians.
Earlier this September, the Commission also published a document focused on ecological questions, calling for ecological conversion and ecumenical fraternity in response to the challenges posed by climate change. The document describes the Eucharist as an “ecological school” from which emerges “a spirituality capable of sustaining and encouraging the ecological conversion that we so urgently need as a human family.”
