Cardinal Müller's attack on Pope Francis

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), has launched the latest salvo of harsh criticism against Pope Francis in a book-length interview with an Italian journalist. 

In Buona Fede. La religione nel XXI secolo ("In Good Faith: Religion in the 21st Century") appeared on bookshelves in Italy on January 27.  Within its 224 page, the 75-year-old German cardinal recounts to Franca Giansoldati of the Rome-based daily Il Messeggero his vision of the Church, while clearly distancing himself from the Jesuit pope whom he sharply criticizes for his governance. Müller also accuses the 86-year-old Francis of being influenced by the wrong people.

"There is a kind of magic circle that gravitates around Santa Marta, composed of people who, in my opinion, are not prepared theologically," the cardinal claims. He also criticizes the pope for giving a "privileged status" to his friends when they are attacked for sexual abuse, as with the Argentine Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta.

"Thunderbolt out of the blue"

Müller also describes his forced resignation as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where he served as prefect from 2013-2017, as "a thunderbolt out of the blue". He recounts how, at the end of a "routine meeting" with the pope, "Francis said to me, in short: 'You have completed your mandate. Thank you for your work', without giving me any reason at the time, nor giving me one afterwards".

The cardinal calls this an example of the Argentine pope’s contempt for the Germans. "More simply, I suppose that over time the pope has cultivated a form of distrust, of aversion to German theologians, academics," Müller believes. He also accuses Francis of excessive centralism, criticizing the pope’s decision in June 2022 to halt the ordination of four men to the priesthood in the French diocese of Fréjus-Toulon.

"The order to stop everything came from Rome, whereas ordination is an act that falls within the competence of every diocesan bishop and therefore there was no need for such an intervention of the central authority," comments the cardinal, who at no time acknowledges that the Vatican stopped the ordinations because of management problems within the diocese.

Müller also criticizes the report that France’s Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church (CIASE) issued in October 2021. "The final result offers an abnormal number of victims, exaggerated, obviously inflated," he claims.

The cardinal’s criticisms are typical of those of other Roman Curia officials who do not appreciate Francis' way of making decisions channels without consulting them, but relying instead on mostly informal contacts with individuals outside the Vatican. Müller also complains of the "anti-Roman sentiment" that allegedly prevailed during the 2013 conclave that elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina to the papacy.

Criticism of the pope’s Curia reform 

"In the Vatican, it seems that information now circulates in parallel, on the one hand the institutional channels, which are unfortunately less and less consulted by the pontiff, and on the other hand the personal channels used even for the appointments of bishops or cardinals," Müller complains in the long interview.

He also claims the pope’s reform of the Roman Curia, which is spelled out in the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium (Preach the Gospel) is "deprived of any coherent ecclesiological vision".

"The Roman Curia has been reduced to a business that works to provide assistance to ‘clients’, the episcopal conferences, as if it were a multinational enterprise and no longer an ecclesial body," the German cardinal says. "Proclaiming the Gospel is not a prerogative of the Curia," he says; rather, it is a governing body.

Protestantization

Throughout these pages, Cardinal Müller appears to be more intransigent than ever on doctrine, positioning himself as the guardian of dogma. He strongly reaffirms his opposition to ordaining women priests, he firmly asserts that homosexual relationships are "unnatural", and he insists that the conclusions of the last Synod assembly on the family lack theological foundations.

As for the "synodality" promoted by Francis, the cardinal says it puts the Church in danger of being "Protestantized". He also criticizes the resignation of Benedict XVI, which he believes should remain an "exceptional" act, since it risks weakening the papal office.

The former CDF prefect also condemns the agreement the Holy See signed with China in 2018 on the appointment of bishops. He compares it to an earlier one it made with Adolf Hitler's Germany. He calls it an understandable "pragmatism" but regrets that the content of the agreement has not been made public.

Interestingly, the cardinal also portrays himself as a disciple of liberation theology, denying any connection to Marxist elements and pointing to his friendship with Gustavo Gutiérrez, the Peruvian priest who is one of the pioneers of this theological current. 

Liberation of the word 

"Our Lord was the first to speak of the super-rich. He immediately sided with the poor. He criticized the powerful and those who exploit power for their own glory and not for the good of the people," Müller  emphasizes, seeing this relationship with the poorest as one of the "priorities" for the Church of the future. "Liberation theology develops the analysis of social problems by applying Christian anthropology," he insists.

This new book-length interview with the Vatican’s former doctrinal chief was planned before the death of Benedict XVI. It resonates like a new manifesto published by a critic of Pope Francis who is preparing for an upcoming conclave.