Who will be head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith?

Long has the name of Gerhard Ludwig Mueller been discussed in the Vatican as successor to Cardinal William Levada as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. But now another strong contender has emerged: Marc Ouellet is already Prefect of a Congregation.

It is always very different from what the newspaper say which seems to be an ecclesiastical law. Noone suggested Reinhard Marx would eventually be Cardinal in Munich. And also that Rainer Maria Woelki would be Cardinal in Berlin, who would have guessed? Exactly - not a single journalist. It is striking however that the name of the Regensburg Bishop Gerhard Ludwig is always under discussion. No wonder, because the cleric has apparently the one hand, the highest reputation with the Pope as a theologian, and on the other hand, he has fought with the Left in the Church - the man has been written about many times when it comes to promotion.

This time when Mueller came back on the agenda, at the beginning it was looking really good for him. The post for which he was discussed is probably the second highest in the Curia. Mueller was to succeed Cardinal William Levada, the supreme guardian of faith and successor as prefect of the Holy Inquisition, which post Joseph Ratzinger also occupied. The left wing media created an thunderstorm and you thought: Aha, this time, he will be raised to the Cardinal's purple.

But Mueller has apparently superior competition for the post. In the meantime, the name of the Canadian native from Quebec who is prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet is discussed. Before anything happens, however, Levada will finally end the debate whether the controversial SSPX will be re-integrated into the bosom of the church – conciliation or final schism. Ouellet seems much more likely to obtain such an important position Mueller, but the latter's chances to get into the Vatican, are not yet lost: After all, he has already acted as chief archivist. Either way, Mueller gets promotion in Rome - sooner or later ..,

Source