The executive director of Courage International sharply criticized a Vatican synod study group report this week, calling it “intellectually dishonest” and saying it “wounds the Church.”
Father Brian Gannon made the remarks in an interview published May 11 by the National Catholic Register. Courage International, which was founded in 1980 and granted canonical status as a public association of the faithful, is a Catholic apostolate that offers pastoral support to people who experience same-sex attraction and seek to live chastely according to Church teaching.
The priest’s comments focused on the final report of Synod Study Group 9, one of 10 Pope Francis established in 2024 to examine issues set aside from the main Synod on Synodality assemblies.
The report includes testimony from two men in so-called same-sex marriages. One testimony criticized Courage, claiming the group pushed “reparative therapy” and that its meetings were marked by loneliness, hopelessness, and depression.
As Zeale News reported, Courage International denounced the report in a May 8 statement, saying the report committed “both calumny and detraction.” The apostolate said it has never engaged in reparative therapy and emphasized that its work focuses on chastity, prayer, fellowship, and the sacraments. The organization said its confidential meetings provide safe spaces for members and offered to meet with synod officials to provide accurate information.
>> Report: Catholic apostolate denies gay ‘reparative therapy’ allegation in Vatican synod report <<
Father Gannon said the study group failed to include any Courage representatives, despite the organization’s canonical status and international membership.
“Since no Courage representative was involved in the process, the study group became problematic and seems to contradict what synodality intends: the greater engagement of all relevant voices,” he told the Register. “It is thus intellectually dishonest.”
He said the report was “incomplete, erroneous and thus wounding to many Catholics with same-sex attraction who are being so faithful to Church teaching on chastity and marriage.” He cited several problems, including reliance on “two witnesses who object to Church moral teaching,” the false claim of “reparative therapy,” and a message that “seems to paint a same-sex relationship as a gift from God — completely in contradiction of 2,000 years of Catholic moral teaching.”
He concluded by remarking, “To be blunt: The report is intellectually dishonest and actually wounds the Church, a self-inflicted wound by synod contributors and redactors who seem to be rejecting the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”