(LifeSiteNews) — In an interview with EWTN this week, Cardinal William Goh, the archbishop of Singapore, said that Pope Francis’ ambiguous teachings led to great confusion among the bishops and caused tremendous disunity among the faithful.
During the May 19 interview with EWTN vice president Matthew Bunson about the first weeks of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate, Cardinal Goh criticized the previous pontiff’s ambiguous teachings, such as Amoris Laetitia, and his overemphasis on synodality that the cardinal said confused the bishops and led to disunity in the Church. Goh himself has sent mixed signals over the years on where he stands on the Church’s teaching on LGBT issues and distributing the Blessed Sacrament to divorced and “remarried” couples.
The cardinal first praised Pope Francis for his “inclusive” and “compassionate” pastoral approach.
“Pope Francis, in his own charism, implemented that missionary zeal by trying to reach out to the whole world, through being inclusive, being compassionate,” the cardinal said. “I think that (was) a strong point of Pope Francis.”
Goh then highlighted some of the concerns he and other bishops had during Francis’ papacy, namely how the Argentine pontiff was overly focused on synodality and promoted ambiguous teachings such as in Amoris Laetitia, which notably allowed the divorced and “remarried” to receive Holy Communion. This ambiguity, in turn, fostered disunity in the Church, according to the cardinal.
READ: Amoris Laetitia is the key to understanding Pope Francis
“Although Pope Francis recognized the need to strengthen our communion in mission and mission in communion … There’s a need for unity if the mission is to be successful,” Goh said. “So, (Pope Francis) tried to implement … Synodality, which itself is truly also an inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Church must always be synodal.”
“Unfortunately, at the same time, in his desire to reach out to all, there is ambiguity in some of his teachings with regards to the question of Amoris Laetitia, the question of (distributing) Communion to the divorced … And so these were issues that were actually dividing the Church,” he added.
Goh further underscored that this ambiguity confused not only lay Catholics but even the bishops.
“On one hand, (Pope Francis) has brought the Church together, and he has truly appealed to people of different levels of faith. On the other hand, those who try to be faithful to the Gospel themselves are confused,” the cardinal said. “Even bishops are confused, including cardinals … So, we find ourselves struggling to explain to the people exactly where the (stance) of the Church is on certain doctrines.”
Cardinal Goh on Pope Francis’ legacy:
“There is ambiguity in some of his teachings …
Issues that were dividing the Church.
On one hand he brought Church together – on the other, those who tried to be faithful to the Gospel were confused.”@will_cardi via @MattBunson pic.twitter.com/SiCbZF66NB— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) May 21, 2025
“I hope and I believe that (Pope Leo XIV) will be the person to try to balance orthodoxy and being progressive,” he added.
Goh notably has a mixed record on some key issues where Pope Francis was ambiguous. In a 2018 pastoral letter, then-Archbishop Goh opposed the repeal of a Singaporean anti-sodomy law that led to backlash from the LGBT movement.
“By accepting homosexual acts as a social norm, the dreadful consequences for the stability of our families, the well-being of our children, and the risks to the common good will be long-term and irreversible,” he wrote in the letter.
However, shortly after being announced as a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2022, Goh appeared to change his stance, stating the Church must embrace the “LGBTQ” and the “divorced.”
READ: Newly appointed cardinal says Church must embrace the ‘divorced’ and ‘LGBTQ’
