Prophets without honour in their own land. German Catholics (of the modernist kind) attack Cardinal Müller

Müller accuses Pope Francis of heresies - that probably went too far

Since he was fired by Francis, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller has been misunderstood by the public as a Pope critic and counter-teacher. His criticism is becoming increasingly harsh - now he seems to have overstepped his bounds. One particularly clear interview has disappeared.

Good news for Pope Francis: He can remain Pope for now - at least that's what Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller thinks. Although Francis has repeatedly spread a variety of heresies, there is no act of formal heresy for him to lose office, the former Vatican chief dogmatist stated in an interview published on Tuesday with the reactionary anti-Pope US platform "LifeSiteNews". If he said so. Because even if the sharp criticism of the Pope in a patronizing tone fits Müller's demeanor: The interview, which is available to katholisch.de in the originally published version, can no longer be found online since Wednesday. It was removed from the site without comment, the address only leads to an error message.

Article in modified form on LifeSiteNews

Article in original version

The fact that he regularly provides exclusive content to the portal and gives permission for secondary publications speaks for the authenticity of the interview. The most recent interview may have contained too much explosive material, even for Müller's standards. The Pope is promoting a “heresy of action” through his indirect support and toleration of the blessing of same-sex couples. Why does the Pope appear with LGBT activists and not with a father, a mother and their five children, the cardinal asks. This is typical: open heresies are rarely taught. Instead, they would be introduced through pastoral care. The Pope also sends his new Prefect of the Faith: What Cardinal Víctor Fernández said about communion for remarried divorcees is very close to a formal heresy.

In 2013, the College of Cardinals elected Argentine Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope. Cardinal Müller does not seem to want to commit himself to the fact that everything was done correctly.

He does not reject the conspiracy myths that have been circulating since the election of Pope Francis that the papal election was invalid. His interlocutors bring up the variant of inadmissible alleged agreements among progressive papal voters. Müller states that it was difficult to judge whether the election was valid or not, "but in the end he was clearly elected by the majority, and there were no qualified objections to the procedure," said Müller, who was first was made a cardinal by Francis and was therefore not involved in the 2013 conclave. Even if there were irregularities in the election, they have now been de facto cured by the fact that Francis is exercising his office as pope. For Müller, the biggest problem with doubts about Pope Francis' legitimacy is the chaos it would create. Objections would cause more harm than good, and one must keep the well-being of the church in mind.

Cool relationship with the Pope even as Prefect of the Faith

Since his surprising dismissal as Prefect of the Faith in 2017, after his first five-year term in office, Müller has positioned himself more and more clearly as an opponent of Pope Francis. The relationship between the conservative German and the progressive Argentine was already cool during his time in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In a 2015 interview, Müller stated that he sees himself as a kind of cleaner of a theologically chaotic pontificate: "Pope Francis is very pastoral, and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has the task of structuring a pontificate theologically." This is unlikely to have earned him any sympathy from the Pope.

Ecclesiologically, Müller walks a fine line: as the guardian of Orthodoxy, he cannot ignore the papal dogmas of Vatican I. The jurisdictional and doctrinal primacy set strict limits on episcopal criticism of the Pope and his sovereign actions. Statements such as that a pope "cannot do everything according to his personal taste" are in tension with the comprehensive, dogmatized powers of the Bishop of Rome, as the canon lawyer Norbert Lüdecke explained in a guest article for katholisch.de. As a dogmatist, Müller can defend scientific positions like any theologian, as a Catholic, like any believer, he can criticize, and as a Bishop and Cardinal he can give collegial advice to the Pope. But even as Prefect of the Faith, he only had a service function for the Pope and no control function - even less so now.

Cathcon:  Since when have modernists decided to stick up for Vatican I!  The above paragraph shows little understanding of Vatican I- I will return to this!

The opposition to the Pope has become increasingly intense in recent years. The only Church office that Müller currently holds does not seem to fill him: in 2021, Pope Francis appointed the dogmatist without canon law qualifications as a judge at the Apostolic Signatura, the Church's highest court. Since then, the dogmatist has not attracted attention with his contributions to canonism, but he has had a great sense of mission: the church cannot get by without Cardinal Müller's outstanding theological expertise. Believes Cardinal Müller. In 2019, he published a Manifesto of Faith "in the face of spreading confusion in the teaching of the faith" - according to Müller, in response to the pleas of many bishops, priests, religious and lay people for a "public witness to the truth of revelation."

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò was Nuncio to the USA from 2011 to 2016. Today he is considered one of Pope Francis' biggest opponents.

The following year he signed a manifesto by the former US nuncio and Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, which contained all the classic topoi of right-wing conspiracy myths: ominous "foreign powers" and "supranational entities", a "policy of drastic population reduction", a "prelude to creation a world government," Viganò sensed, Müller signed. He later half-heartedly distanced himself and described the paper as an "appeal for reflection", which he signed because he did not want to harshly reject Viganò, who had "been treated badly". In 2021, however, Müller upped the ante again and said in an interview that the corona pandemic was being used to “bring people into line” and subject them to “total control”. The Federal Government's Anti-Semitism Commissioner, Felix Klein, and the Central Council of Jews, among others, interpreted Müller's statements as anti-Semitic ciphers. The German Bishops' Conference (DBK) also clearly distanced itself from this. Müller, however, was offended and rejected the criticism. It comes from people "who don't even know how to open a Hebrew Bible, let alone how to read a sentence. They then accuse a veteran theology Professor of anti-Semitism and actually know nothing about the Old Testament."

The Pope ignores and embraces

Pope Francis seems to be continuing his policy of ignoring and embracing: after his appointment to the Apostolic Signatura, Müller was appointed as a member of the World Synod this year. However, Francis was not thanked for the involvement of his critic. Müller was the first bishop among the synodals to go public after the start of the World Synod and even expressed cautious optimism. The experiences in his table group were very good. At the same time, however, he also set the anchor for later criticism: Müller's worldview includes the fact that everyone who does not follow the teachings of the Church and thus his position is controlled by dark circles and Papal intrigues. We have to wait and see what direction the synod will take in the end and “what decisions will be made behind the scenes.”

Even later, Müller was not so particular about the Papally imposed reticence of the synods in public. His statement in the synod hall became public with his permission, contrary to the rules of procedure. He justified his breach of confidentiality by saying that there is no papal secret “for heretics and globalists.” Müller spoke out regularly throughout the synod, primarily to warn against a “hostile takeover” of the church by “LGBT madness,” but also to support the wearing of cassocks in the Synod hall.

Even though almost all the other bishops in the synod hall wear black suits, he does not. Cardinal Müller is also a confessor in terms of fashion.

Müller seems to lack a resonance chamber in the Vatican. The Pope has so far ignored his appearances. Müller's successor, the Prefect of the Faith Fernández, is sticking to his line, unimpressed by accusations of heresy: His dicastery publishes answers to critical enquiries from Müller's entourage. It was only on Tuesday that a letter was published in which the dicastery for the faith clearly emphasised that queer believers are also eligible to be godparents and witnesses at baptisms, and that transgender is no obstacle to receiving baptism. Müller is now only echoed in the reactionary bubble of opponents of the Pope with close ties to the US far right and in the circle of other misguided bishops such as Viganò and Texan Joseph Strickland.

Cathcon: "far right", there goes that slur again

Why the latest interview has now been deleted remains unknown for the time being. A katholisch.de enquiry to the journalist who conducted the interview remained unanswered, as did one to Cardinal Müller himself. Perhaps the deleted interview is now a sign that even Cardinal Müller knows his limits - or has been shown his limits.

Source

Cathcon:  NB I agree with little or nothing above.