Leo XIV Keeps Marx in Vatican, Adds 🌈 Cardinals to Economy Council

Leo XIV Keeps Marx in Vatican, Adds Cardinals to Economy Council

Today, Leo XIV has appointed eight new members to the Vatican’s Council for the Economy. It is responsible for supervising the Holy See’s financial and administrative structures.

He confirmed Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx as coordinator of the body.

Furthermore, Leo XIV confirmed German law professor Charlotte Kreuter-Kirchhof as vice-coordinator. She participated in the German Synodal Way, personally advocating the involvement of the faithful in episcopal selection. She urged delegates that implementation could begin without waiting for Rome: “You don't have to wait for anything or anyone.”

The new members include four cardinals:
Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, Archbishop of Kraków, Poland;
Cardinal Ladislav Nemet, S.V.D., Archbishop of Belgrade, Serbia;
Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, O.P., Archbishop of Algiers, Algeria; and
Cardinal Roberto Repole, Archbishop of Turin and Bishop of Susa, Italy.

Leo XIV also appointed four lay members:
Denis Duverne, president of the Supervisory Board of the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale;
Princess Gisela of Liechtenstein, CEO of Industrie und Finanzkontor Etablissement;
Paolo Nusiner, Director General of the Directorate for General Affairs of the Dicastery for Communication; and
Elena Wettstein Principato, Head of Sales Management Europe International at UBS Group AG.

Also confirmed as members were Cardinals Odilo Pedro Scherer of São Paulo, Gérald Cyprien Lacroix of Québec and Joseph William Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, as well as Leslie Jane Ferrar and Alberto Minali.

Monsignor Brian Edwin Ferme was confirmed as secretary.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx: In a 2022 interview, he said, “Homosexuality is not a sin.” Discussing homosexual relationships, he added that the quality of a relationship should be considered and referred to such characteristics as mutual responsibility and fidelity [to sin, commonly called vice]. Marx also said that the Catechism was 'not set in stone' and could be questioned. He has supported the 'blessing' of homosex couples and admitted to blessing two homosexuals himself years ago.

Marx has also played a major role in Germany’s Synodal Way.

All Four Newly Appointed Cardinals are Pro-Homosexual

Cardinal Vesco of Algiers supported 'Fiducia supplicans'. In 2026, Vesco wrote a pro-homosexual preface to the French book ‘Homos et Cathos: L’Église à l’épreuve du réel’. He described homosexual orientation as a regularly occurring, non-pathological minority variation and discussed whether it should be understood as belonging to the order of creation.

Cardinal Nemet has made a number of accommodating statements concerning homosexuality. In a 2023 interview, he described heterosexuality, homosexuality and different sexual identities as “givens” and said that developments in science, psychology, sociology and anthropology had helped the Church recognize that “what we once called exclusively sin is not always sin.” Discussing homosexual relationships, he said “the quality of relationships” was most important and argued that Catholics should concern themselves less with “people's bedrooms.” Nemet also defended blessings for homosexual persons, saying that if the Church blesses animals, vehicles and condemned prisoners, he did not understand why it should not bless homosexual people.

Cardinal Repole of Turin participated in the Synod on Synodality and was subsequently appointed by Francis to the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod. Already before becoming a bishop, in 2015, he spoke in a Turin series devoted to the “dignity and value” of homosex couple relationships, and he later attended another initiative on homosexual “love” that received the patronage of the theological faculty section he headed. He was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in December 2024.

The Polish Cardinal Ryś has repeatedly advocated an accommodating approach toward homosexuals. In 2018, he said pastoral care should focus on “encountering the person”. In December 2025, asked explicitly whether the Church has room for homosexuals people in relationships, Ryś answered: “There is room for everyone, because everyone is accepted.” In 2026, he spoke positively about a legal recognition for homosexual partnerships.

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