Cardinal Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals horrified by the prospect of Bishop Wilmer heading the CDF

Pope Francis, conservatives in a tizzy over fear of choosing a young progressive bishop for the former Holy Office

Some say he is a brilliant, modern and courageous theologian.  There are those, instead, warn the Pope: "He would be disastrous for the Church".  There seem to be no half measures in assessing the number one candidate of the former Holy Office, the young German bishop of Hildesheim, Heiner Wilmer.

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The last Cardinal in temporal order who would have moved behind the scenes with great solicitude and caution to point out to Pope Francis that in that crucial role - at the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith - there would perhaps need to be a figure of trust was the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re.   With his great experience and certainly concerned about the possible consequences, he seems to have expressed himself full of doubts.  His opinion, however, is only one of many that have been obtained at this historic moment from Santa Marta, given that the Pontiff will soon have to dissolve the reservation on who to place at the head of the Dicastery to replace Cardinal Ladaria, who is leaving due to age limits.

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It seems to have been suggested from several quarters that the criterion for choosing the future prefect would be long and proven theological experience, the ability to know how to cultivate dialogue and at the same time avoid traumatic doctrinal rifts.  The fears in various ultra-conservative circles have even led to the publication on the web of a letter imploring the Pontiff to discard the name of the young and talented German bishop, counted among the most passionate supporters of reforms that would inevitably clash with Church doctrine, causing further landslides and internal lacerations.

For over a month now, the conservative front has been in turmoil after speculation began to take hold that Francis has a promotion ready for Heiner Wilmer, among the most progressive of an episcopate dominated by progressives. The theologian, Eugen Drewermann - already suspended a divinis by the Vatican for his theses, until his exit from the Church - considers him a true outsider, as well as his favourite dauphin.

For the past five years as head of the diocese of Hildesheim, Wilmer, 61, a Dehonian religious (from The Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Latin: Congregatio Sacerdotum a Sacro Corde Iesu), a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men in the Catholic Church founded in northern France in Saint-Quentin, Aisne, Picardy, by Léon Dehon in 1878) and their former Superior General has, however, at several junctures shown great courage. For example, when at the height of the Covid epidemic and government restrictions that prevented church attendance in Germany, he did not hesitate to lash out against the 'ban on assemblies'.  He also sharply criticised the Vatican's system-oriented approach, stated on several occasions that abuses of power are in the DNA of the Church, and is a firm supporter of the environmental and green causes. In an interview, he even expressed admiration for Roberto Saviano's work in the fight against organised crime. 

Certainly his open-minded approaches on the female priesthood or the abolition of celibacy do not endear him to the Church by and large, which is decidedly more traditionalist and would like a less radical and more dialoguing theologian at the head of the former Holy Office, sleep soundly.  Concerns have gone so far as to make the more conservative fringes write a letter spread via the web.  The website, www.Messainlatino.it sent an appeal to the Pope and the Cardinals of the College of Cardinals expressing fears about Wilmer's candidacy.  "It would simply be disastrous.  We write to you with our hearts in our hands so that such a disaster for the Church is avoided'.

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