Damning words of Cardinal Müller on the ten years of the pontificate of Pope Francis

Cardinal Müller: The Pope should co-ordinate the defense of humanity, because totalitarian transhumanists are very organized

For his tenth anniversary on the throne, Pope Francis gave so many interviews that it is difficult to navigate. This is why we are publishing the very explosive interview that La Croix, the daily newspaper of the Conference of Bishops of France, carried out with Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI and sacked by Pope Francis. The Cardinal finds there not only critical words, but also damning words for the last ten years of the current pontificate. Notice what Cardinal Müller does not say first and how he responds to questions about Pope Francis, emphasizing instead the mission and importance of the papacy. The cardinal instead draws attention to a theme in which he sees a new great challenge: transhumanism. Behind this, he sees a dangerous ideological totalitarianism at work, a new misanthropy in the name of a purely rhetorical but fictitious humanism against which humanity must defend itself.

La Croix: How do you see this pontificate, ten years later?

Cardinal Müller: I am a theologian and my categories are theological and ecclesiological. This is why I think it is very important for the church to proclaim the gospel of the universal will of God to set everyone free from sin and death. In these times of secularization, what seems to me most important is to proclaim the fundamental importance of Jesus Christ as mediator between God and all men.

The mission of a pope as principle and visible foundation of the unity of the Church in faith in Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, as set out in the Constitution Lumen Gentium of Vatican II, is therefore more theological than sociological. or social.

Jesus is neither a prophet nor the founder of a religion. He is the son of God. This means that we must proclaim all the truths of the Christian faith: the Trinity, salvation for all believers. It is the standard by which every pontificate is measured.

Pope Francis is a preacher who uses simple words and he has this ability to address ordinary people, not just theologians and intellectuals. But it would also be very necessary to respond to our modern world, the post-Christian and anti-Christian world in which we live, especially in the West, with the proclamation of Jesus Christ. Ecology is an important issue, as are climate and migration. But these themes should not make us forget that love of neighbor is based on love of God. This transcendent and divine dimension must be underlined and further developed.

La Croix: In your book, you accuse Pope Francis of lacking theological foundation. For what?

Cardinal Müller: The mission of the Pope is not necessarily to do theology in the academic sense. But the theological dimension and the reminder of the transcendence of human existence must be present in the discourse. We live in a world of naturalism and secularism that has forgotten transcendence. We are created with a body, in a specific situation, in a specific time, with a sociological dimension.

But we do not dwell on these aspects. The task of the pope, but also of bishops and priests, is to transcend this immanence. In this sense, the Second Vatican Council speaks of the universal transcendent orientation of man. This consists in the humanization of man by supernatural grace. This is the task of the church today. Christian originality consists precisely in the union of nature and grace, of reason and faith.

The mission of the Church is to provide concrete responses to the great challenges of our contemporary world, such as transhumanism or the elimination of the fundamental and structuring difference between man and woman. Today we are dealing with a new ideological totalitarianism.

La Croix: Nevertheless, the pope regularly denounces the throwaway culture and speaks out on these issues. Isn't that enough?

Cardinal Müller: The pope, for example, speaks out against abortion, but there are no major initiatives on this subject. The Vatican should coordinate a defense of Christian anthropology because, conversely, those who promote transhumanism and the reduction of man to his economic dimension are very organized. They do not deal with the philosophical and anthropological dimensions of man.

Today we need a great new encyclical that develops a strong moral vision, not to contradict modern developments, but to integrate them. We are not against medicine and communication, but our task is to humanize these technical means. Technology is for people, not people for technology.

La Croix: How do you react to those you call opponents of the Pope?

Cardinal Müller: A bishop cannot oppose the pope. This contradicts their mission. There is no theologian or cardinal more sympathetic to the papacy than me. I have written books on the sacramental structure of the Church after Vatican II. But in history, we must recognize that some popes have also made mistakes. This was the case, for example, in the Middle Ages. Some Popes also devoted more time to politics, such as the defense of the Papal States, than to the concern of the Church of Christ. In his time, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine reproached the Popes not to destabilize the Papacy but to enlighten its mission.

It is very important that all popes have good advisers. After all, a pope is just a human being, with all his possibilities and limitations as a person. It is therefore up to the College of Cardinals to prepare decisions and advise the popes. And to do this, the pope must not only surround himself with his friends, who approve of everything and expect something in return.

La Croix: Is this still the case today?

Cardinal Müller: They were all appointed by Francis according to his personal opinion, and not according to their theological and pastoral competence. This is the criticism we hear everywhere.

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