Showing posts with label CDF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CDF. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Pope Taking Swipe at Legacy of Pope Benedict

Benedict XVI. with Pope Francis

"Two More Threads That Connect Pope Francis With His Predecessor Are Severed"
(Rome) The Italian daily Libero today published the following text, which is reproduced in full.
"The thesis is one of the most serious. This is also shown by the evidence. Pope Francis has a plan to eliminate the legacy and disciples of Benedict XVI. The operation has stirred up the Vatican, which has not by any means significantly opposed the incumbent Pope.
The thesis is voiced by Riccardo Cascioli [chief editor of the Catholic Internet newspaper Nuova Bussola Quotidiana ] in the daily Il Giornale:
"It's just a matter of days and two more threads that connect Pope Francis with his predecessor are severed. More voices are being raised that the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household is being abolished, its incumbent - and at the same time personal secretary to Benedict XVI. - Msgr. Georg Gänswein, and the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, established in 1988 for dialogue with the Society of St. Pius X (the Lefebvrians), is today the reference point for the application of Summorum Pontifiicum, the motu proprio of Benedict XVI, with which the Latin Mass in the traditional rite was freed."
These are two decisions of very grave symbolic value, similar to the expulsion of Cardinal Raymond Burke, whom Joseph Ratzinger had called to Rome in 2008 as Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura. In November 2014, he was deposed by Pope Francis, who had already replaced him as a member of the Congregation of Bishops the year before. The same fate befell Cardinal Gerhard Müller.
Now one has arrived at the last link, with Msgr. Gänswein, a person inconvenient to Francis. The abolition of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, with the relocation of duties (appointments and audiences of the Pope) to a section of the Secretariat of State, would allow the Pope to get rid of Gänswein and to justify the operation with the need for a reform of the Curia.
As for the end of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, which has been talked about for some time: The consequences are explosive. This would give more weight to those who want to eliminate Summorum Pontificum and Mass in the 'Extraordinary Form' of the one Roman rite whose 'proper form' is the Missal enacted in 1969. This is the next blow against Ratzinger's legacy, which Francis seems to want to eradicate.
Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Libero (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Monday, September 18, 2017

Francis Names New Undersecretary of the CDF

(Rome) Pope Francis appointed a new Undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the FaithAfter the upheavals at the head of the Congregation at the beginning of the summer, which reinforced the renovation the end of the summer.
As announced yesterday in the Daily Bulletin of the Vatican Press Office, Francis appointed the Italian priest Matteo Visioli as secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine for the Faith.
Visioli, born in Parma on July 20, 1966, was ordained a priest for his homeland. After studying theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, he earned a degree in theology in 1994 and canon law in 1996. In 1999, he completed his specialization in church law with a doctorate.
From 1999 to 2008, he was a diocesan Vicar for Relations Between Church and World, and from 2001 to 2008 he was also a member of the Committee for the Church Property of the Italian Bishops' ConferenceAs a priest he worked in Collecchio and San Martino Sinzano.
Most recently, he was president of the non-profit organization Caritas Children, Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Care, director and lecturer of the Interdiocesan Higher Institute of Religious Studies of San Hilario de Poitiers and lecturer for Church Law at the Gregoriana and at the Generalities Marcianum of Venice. He is the author of numerous scientific publications in the field of church law.
Don Visioli assumes the position of Monsignor Giacomo Morandi, who Pope Francis had appointed in October 2015  to be the Undersecretary of the Congregation for the Faith. The dismissal of Cardinal Gerhard Müller as Prefect of the Congregation of Doctrine on this last 30th of June resulted in a personal shuffle with several promotions. The then secretary of the Congregation, Jesuit Luis Ladaria Ferrer, was appointed Prefect by Francis, and Msgr. Morandi has been appointed Secretary. At the same time Francis raised him to be the titular archbishop of Caere.
There has been no change for the traditional Dominican, Father of the Archbishop, Father Augustine Di Noia. Pope Benedict XVI had appointed him deputy of the Pontifical Commission, Ecclesia Dei , in June 2012, after the failed talks with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X. From there, Pope Francis withdrew him a few months after his election, and appointed him to be the associate secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. From 2002 - 2009 Father Di Noia had already been the undersecretary of this congregation.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi 
Photo: Youtube (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

New Secretary of the CDF Named

(Rome) Pope Francis has appointed a new secretary of the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with remarkable speed. It is the Italian priest Giacomo Morandi, who, since 2015, held the office of sub-secretary at the Congregation.
Born in Modena in 1965, Msgr. Morandi was ordained as a priest for his home diocese in 1990. After various pastoral tasks, he was appointed bishop vicar for catechesis, evangelization and culture. Most recently, he was Archbishop of Modena in the cathedral chapter and vicar general of the archdiocese. He also taught Bible Studies at the University of Religious Sciences of Modena and Patristic Exegesis at the Atelier of Theology of Cardinal Spidlik, which is connected with the Pontifical Oriental Institute. In October 2015 Francis named him as Undersecretary to the Congregation for the Congo.
The former secretary of the Congregation of the Doctrine and the Faith was the curial bishop, Luis Ladaria SJ, who, Francis appointed on 1 July, as the new Prefect of the Congregation as successor to Cardinal Gerhard Müller. Cardinal Müller had been dismissed the day before by Francis. Officially, his mandate was not extended after the end of his five-year term of office. This had never been the case before. It is generally known that the relationship between Pope Francis and Cardinal Miiller was never really harmonious. For this reason, is why a regular dismissal was suggested.
Giacomo Morandi was at the same time, appointed by Francis as the titular archbishop of Cerveteri.
Morandi's appointment to the Congregation of Doctrine and the Faith took place on October 27, 2015. The date is remarkable, for only two days before, the hard-fought bishop's synod on the family had ended with a half defeat for Francis. Already at the beginning of the Synod, Cardinal Müller, together with twelve other cardinals, had sent a protest letter against a synod, the results of which have already been confirmed.
The appointment date of Morandi to the Congregation followed on 27 October, 2015. Pope Francis' s dismissal of Cardinal Müller was a definite decision. This coincides with the time when Francis marginalized the prefect of faith. At the latest since the end of the Synod, Francis appears to have waited only for the perfunctory end of Müller's term in office.
The present titular bishopric of Cerveteri is from the 5th to the 11th century a diocese in the former church state (Latium). Bishop Marinus was even elected Pope in 882 as Marinus I. Bishop Annisus participated in the canonization of Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg in 993.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Youtube (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Pope's Favorite Newspaper Opens the Hunt Against New CDF

"La Repubblica" and the Politics of Scorched Earth
(Rome) Pope Francis appointed a New Faith Prefect last Saturday to get rid of the old one. Because of these "necessities", the number two of the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is now number one. On Monday, the only daily newspaper that the pope regularly reads, already opened its hunt for the new CDF Prefect.

La Repubblica disapproves of the nomination of Ladarias as a Prefect of Doctrine and the Faith

In his home country of Spain, Luis Ladaria SJ enjoys the good reputation of orthodoxy. Apart from the unusual circumstances of his appointment, the latter was largely positive. The pope's decision obviously followed tactical considerations, in order for the dismissal of Cardinal Miiller not to result in a revolt. Francis did not impress La Repubblica , the flagship of Italian left-wing journalism. The only newspaper he reads every day, according to his own statements, contained a "message" to the head of the Church on Monday: a disapproval of the appointment of Ladarias.
For La Repubblica, the new Prefect is "too conservative" in any case. There is also a fundamental aversion to the institution which was the former Holy Inquisition. La repubblica, of course, does not write this.  It attacks with the dirt bucket and goes to the "tried and tested" way of denunciation. "Pedophilia: a shadow on Bishop Ladaria," is the headline, and the same on the title page. To this end, the archive photo of a rally in front of St Peter's was reprinted against sexual abuse by clerics. The is a banner with an inscription "Church without abuse." The actual article can be found on page 15. The title reads: "He did not expose the pedophile priest. The Shadow on the Chief of the Holy Office."

The case of ex-priest Gianni Trotta

One of the two authors is the expose journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi, who was brought to justice in connection with the Vatican's Vatileaks 2 scandal. He was accused of having published confidential documents from the Vatican in his book "Avarizia" (avarice), published in late 2015. As the court was not able to prove any criminal offense, he was released a year ago, while the Vatican employees who had supplied him and another journalist with the documents, the Spanish Prelate Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, and the busybody PR wife, Francesca Chaouqui.

La Repubblica has blown the Tally-ho against the new Prefect

The Catalan daily newspaper La Vanguardia took up the Repubblica article and titled it: "New crisis in the Vatican: Ladaria, recent appointment of the Pope, covered a case of pederasty. Shadow over the new Prefect of the Congregation of the Faith." This is about the case of an Italian priest named Gianni Trotta, who was removed in 2012 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from the clerical state. Trotta then became a soccer coach and abused minor children. In spring 2015 he was arrested and sentenced to eight years imprisonment by an Italian criminal court. The case had been reported in great detail by Repubblica and L'Espresso, the weekly magazine, last February.
The Congregation conducted the trial of the 49-year-old Trotta in 2009, which ended with the maximum sentence, the laicizationRepubblica criticizes the fact that Trotta was condemned by the Vatican but that the judgment was not publicly disclosed. In this way the people had not been warned in some small places in Puglia. In addition, Trotta, who was active as a coach of children's teams, continued to work as a priest, to gain people's confidence.
The crime of abuse relevant to criminal law were all committed after he had been laicized. This applies to the abuse of an eleven-year-old boy, for which he was sentenced to eight years in the first instance. This also applies to other cases of abuse involving the production and distribution of child pornography, for which he will soon be responsible. Repubblica criticizes the fact that they might have been prevented if the Vatican had made the case public. The daily newspaper even goes so far as to blame Ladaria for having "covered up" a case of pedophilia. The concept of cover-up is overshadowed here because Ladaria was not involved in the cover-up, but in the condemnation of Trotta.

Politics of the Scorched Earth at La Repubblica

The decree of laicization from 2012 was signed by Cardinal Levada. Then Cardinal Levada, and Ladaria, was then secretary of the Congregation. Repubblica , however, makes a cover-up of the conviction. According to Repubblica, the Congregation of the Faith would have had to publicly denounce Trotta. A doubtful demand to the Church, in which a maxim is to be hard against sin, but mild to the sinner. Repubblica's fretting, therefore, is probably more about something else.
The new Prefect,  Luis Ladaria Ferrer, is virtually unknown to the general public, including most Catholics. The Repubblica article guarantees that his name is immediately placed in a negative context. "The Prefect did not bring the pedophile ex-priest to the public,"... "cover-up of a pedophile scandal" are the headlines spread over media and social networks. It's an imagery that can hardly be bettered. What is the purpose of La Repubblica with the immediate tally-ho on the newly named Prefect?
When Pope Francis was elected, Eugenio Scalfari, the founder and father of La Repubblica, was his preferred partner. The result was several interviews and editorials of doubtful content. In the meantime, it has become quieter because the confessed atheist from a family with an old Masonic tradition, whom Pope Francis "does not want to convert", is already in his 94th year.
The fact is that this is the message that La Repubblica has noted with satisfaction the dismissal of Cardinal Müller and has declared the hunt for his successor.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: La Repubblica (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Friday, June 30, 2017

Pope Bergoglio Finally Fires Cardinal Mueller


(Rome) Cardinal Gerhard Müller was dismissed by Pope Francis as a Prefect of the Roman Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith.

Müller, previously Bishop of Regensburg, was appointed in June 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. to the Roman Curia to take over the central task as the guardian of the Orthodoxy. On 2 July 2012, he took office. Between Pope Francis and the German Cardinal the relationship was always clearly chilly. In the conflict over the bishops' synod about the family and the post-synodal letter Amoris Laetitia it sank to the zero point. The Cardinal was vehemently opposed to a change in Catholic marriage and morality, without directly criticizing the Pope. In the past there had been an increasing speculation about an imminent dismissal.
Because of his defense of the traditional teachings he was criticized as an "antagonist of the pope" 
The more clearly Pope Francis and his immediate circle, to which Cardinal Miiller never belonged, succeeded toward the admission of remarried divorced persons to Communion, the more vehemently the German Cardinal asserted that no one could alter Jesus' teachings, not even the Pope. The fact that he read Amoris Laetitia in the light of the traditional teachings, sufficed to place him under the title of "pope's antagonist."

At the beginning of the Second Episcopal Synod over the family, Cardinal Müller belonged to the 13 Cardinals, who sent a spectacular protest letter to Pope Francis. They protested against the Synods, which wanted to assign them the role of mere extras, while the results seemed to be fixed in advance.
Since then the door of Francis was closed to the Prefect of the Faith. Not because the Cardinal had been wrong, but because the letter had stifled the strategy of the papal entourage. 
An increasingly severe conflict 
With the dismissal, Francis waited exactly for the expiration of the term of office, which was limited to five years. The dismissal could have already taken place in March 2013, because with the election of a new pope all Curial Offices expire. Francis, however, initially shied away from radical interventions and confirmed the bulk of his work, as is the custom of the Vatican. Gradually, he exchanged leading Curial representatives. The first heads that rolled were "Ratzingerians", such as Cardinal Piacenza, Prefect of the Congregation of Clergy, Cardinal Secretary of State Bertone, Cardinal Canizares, Prefect of the Congregation of the Worship and Cardinal Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature. 
The tiny formalism that left Cardinal Müller in office for a full term of office and now, so to speak, to use the legitimate possibility of a new appointment, can not blind us to the radicality of the intervention in an ever harder struggle for the orientation of the Church.
With the dismissal of the Prefect of Faith, the equilibria in the Vatican, in which Pope Francis has repeatedly intervened, are massively slipping, with initially unpredictable consequences.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Vatican.va
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Swedish TV Documntary: SSPX Resistance is Hiding Sexual Predators

Edit: this is a documentary by SVT, Swedish TV. They make no bones about their hatred of the Catholic Church, but the claims made about two deviant priests are undoubtedly true. We figured we'd post this here, since you're likely to hear about it elsewhere sooner or later.

The first part of the documentary is a lacrymose revisiting of their sensational hit piece on Bishop Williamson which caused a firestorm of controversy as Pope Benedict XVI attempted to reconcile with the Society in 2009. These Swedish secularists don't hide their essential hostility to the Catholic Faith, especially as it's embodied by the Society.

Fortunately, the journalist, Ali Fegan, admits that the accused priests Father P. and Father M. were exiled to a monastery, which they subsequently left, (if they ever went)  to join Bishop Williamson's "Resistance" where they appear to have made a clean slate of their past sins and Father P., at least, who has admitted to his sins, is now doing parish work where he has access to young boys.

It's unfortunate that the SSPX took so long to finally get a handle on this problem with respect to these two priests. Don't they know that such monsters are irredeemable and should be condemned to prison?

We also have to ask: When are they going to do a story about the rampant sexual abuse in their own back yard with respect to their immigrant population? Or how Swedish elites engage in sex tourism? At least the Society dealt with their problem and sought help from the CDF.

The video can be accessed here:

https://www.svtplay.se/video/13177559/uppdrag-granskning/uppdrag-granskning-sasong-16-avsnitt-13-2?start=auto

AMDG

Friday, March 10, 2017

CDF Wants SSPX to Help in Fight Against Modernism

March 9, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – In an explosive homily delivered Sunday, the leader of the Society of Pius X (SSPX) said the Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith wants the SSPX to be fully reconciled to help fight modernists in the Church.
"Bishop [Bernard] Fellay [reported] the comments of Cardinal (Gerhard) Muller asking the SSPX to join his fight against the modernists," according to the SSPX's USA District.
Fellay said "there is much contradiction" among Church leaders with regard to the SSPX, which had a break with the Vatican over Vatican Council II.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vatican-cardinal-enlists-the-help-of-sspx-to-fight-the-modernists
AMDG

Monday, March 6, 2017

Cardinal Müller: "End with the Cliche of a Reforming Pope and Anti-Reform Resistance"

(Rome) Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine and the Faith, is visibly angry. He had had several occasions to do this in recent times. It is not always possible for him to react. He does not accept everything silently. Now he has reacted to the resignation of Marie Collins.

The resignation of the Irish citizen, Marie Collins as a memeber of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors was reproached by some of the media in an accusation against the Congregation for the Faith, led by Cardinal Prefect Müller. That was astonishing. Müller is known for a practice of zero tolerance. It was a hard indictment that he had hindered the work of the anti-pedophile commission. It is an accusation that does not want to match the facts.

"Fake News" from and about the Vatican

The presentation by the media, out of agency reports, however, was one-sided. The resignation had been properly exploited in order to put the position of Cardinal Müller and his Congregation in a bad light on such a delicate subject. The "evil Congregation of the Faith" is a stereotype, which not a few frequently want to willingly believe. The context of the "evil Congregation of Doctrine and the Faith" and the hindrance of the persecution of pedophile clerics and anti-pedophile prevention are all the more a scandalous mixture. Only, this is just not right. They are a lame media, or in other words, fake news, as they are so fond of saying. Coincidence, bad research, disinformation, attempted influence in inner-church affairs?

The line of zero tolerance, which Cardinal Müller pursues in terms of sexual child abuse, is authentic. It is different with the course of Pope Francis. Those who have good contacts with close papal-dignitaries or the pope himself are treated more gently than those who do not have these contacts. The key word Don Mercedes should suffice to name this line Of double standard. The dismissal of three members of the Congregation of the Congregation of the Congregation, which the Pope himself ordered, and which was enforced against the will of Cardinal Mueller, is also connected with the subject. Two of the three dismissed were concerned with the prosecution of clerical offenders, and their dismissal was not because they had a double standard. They represented the null-tolerance line of Cardinal Mueller, still holding to that which had been issued  by Pope Benedict XVI.

Cardinal Müller's Defense - The Case of the Chilean Bishop

Cardinal Müller can not publicly argue a series of connections to his own justification and the protection of his dicastery, because they could appear as a criticism of Pope Francis. Nevertheless, he did not want to take the attacks sitting down and formulated a defense. He criticized the criticism of the resigned Marie Collins, who had been chastised by the media for the Congregation, with the remark that the "Anti-Abuse Commission had so far only asked the Congregation for the dispatch of letters." In plain words, what impediment should have taken place if the Commission did not want anything from the Congregation, and therefore nothing could have been rejected.

The concrete reason for Collins's resignation, who herself had even been abused as a child, is the case of the Chilean bishop who had himself demanded Collins' resignation. Since this was not done after repeated requests, she took her own step to protest according to this threat. However, the bishop's benefactor is not the Congregation of Faith, but  Pope Francis himself.  The bishop concerned is Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid, the Bishop of the Chilean diocese. Francis himself had appointed him Bishop of Osorno in 2015. Immediately, victim organizations were indignant at the appointment. However, Francis stood by Bishop Barroso Madrid, and in Rome, he even assured the Chilean faithful who wanted to bring to this to his attention (see The Bishop of Osorno has a super lawyer, Pope Francis, including a video of the correction). The bishop is not accused of sexual abuse, but a priest, Fernando Karadima, who is very well known in Chile.

Cardinal Müller's more fundamental criticism: "end with the stereotype"

The defense of Müller is thus made clearer in a further sentence, when he attacks a common stereotype: "With this stereotype that the pope stands on one side and the resistors on the other." Thus, the Cardinal already cited Matteo Matzuzzi in the Sunday edition of Il Foglio  in its title.

The fact that Cardinal Müller mingled his statement by no means only in the matter of the anti-pedophile commission is evident from his choice of words. The quotation goes back to an interview of the Cardinal Prefect with Gian Guido Vecchi of the Corriere della Sera. Müller had said:

"I think that this stereotype should be brought to an end, the idea that on the one hand is a pope who wants reform, and on the other a group of adversaries who want to block it."

The words could also be translated so as to recognize their explosive nature. It is probably due to the conflict over the anti-pedophile commission, but it can also be read in a general context. "End with the stereotype that this pope is on the side of the good and the resistance is on the side of the evil."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: MiL
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Monday, February 27, 2017

Cardinal Müller: "Small Left and Right Factions" -- "Announce the Gospel Without Betraying"

(Rome) There have been rumors for weeks that Cardinal Gerhard Müller could be replaced by Pope Francis as Prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith. The former bishop of Regensburg was appointed by Benedict XVI. eight months before his unexpected resignation, to Rome. He still tries to form a counterpoise to the Pope's line by means of written and oral statements,  at present mainly on the question of the admission of remarried divorced persons to the sacraments.

Personally, the cardinal vehemently denies this, as in the interview published yesterday by La Repubblica.

The balancing act between the task of guarding the faith, on the one hand, and the fact that he exercises  this task only as an employee and an assistant on behalf of the pope.

"Let there be no hesitation to bring sexual abuse to the authorities"

In yesterday's Sunday edition, Paolo Rodari published a detailed interview with Cardinal Müller. As Vaticanist of the daily Il Foglio, Rodari accompanied the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. With the election of Pope Franziskus, he moved to La Repubblica in 2013, the "only" daily newspaper, which Francis regularly reads according to his own statement. Since then it has been quieter for the journalist.

In the opening credits of the conversation, Rodari writes that Cardinal Müller "denies the vernacular, which wants to see him as a  'right' guardian against the 'left' openings of Francis. The occasion for the interview was the publication of the Italian edition of Cardinal Müller's book "The Message of Hope", according to English title. The book was originally published in the spring of 2016 in Spanish.

The Cardinal reaffirmed the "zero tolerance" for pedophile priests. He urged the bishops to urge such priests to self-report and to bring the offenders to the authorities themselves. He also called minors themselves to bring cases to the public authorities.

"Priests are citizens like everyone else. If they commit a crime, they are to be held responsible for civil and criminal law. This is the only way to avoid a repeat of the abuse. "

Is there opposition to Pope Francis in the Roman Curia?

Rodari: Does Francis have adversaries in the Roman Curia?

Cardinal Müller: All Cardinals have studied theology, they all know the doctrine of the papacy and the episcopate. We are competent priests who know the mission of the Pope and its importance for all. We live with Francis an affective and effective collegiality. Unfortunately, some media are more aware of the legitimate differences of opinion and not the great harmony. The pope is the 266th successor of Peter, and everyone, including him, has his own history. This individuality is the form in which everyone fulfills their mission. Francis has the peculiarity of coming from an outside European continent. This difference is precious to us.

Rodari: Especially in the Internet, there is no lack of those who are able to oppose what you say about the doctrine of the faith ...

Cardinal Müller: These are small right and left-wing factions, which use me and the pope to argue among themselves. These are ideological positions that I do not share. By the way, soon a book of mine will be published about the pope and the papacy. [The German original edition was published on 20 February ] We all serve the work of the Pope. We work together to serve its mission.

Rodari: Do you think that with regards Communion, Francis is taking a new step for the remarried divorced?

Cardinal Müller: We have the message of Jesus and the Bible, which speaks clear words to the foundation of marriage in God's salvation. The sociological conditions are changing, but one must also bear in mind that there are different anthropologies which ours, based on the Word of God, do not accept. The Gospel is to be proclaimed without betraying it. With the sermon and testimony of Christian life, Francis wants the people of God to feel the closeness of the Good Shepherd.

Rodari: What does it mean that Mercy lives?

Cardinal Müller: God is not a cold lawgiver, but a present, near God. Already in the Old Testament, God had proved his closeness to his people by freeing them from slavery and giving them milk and honey. Jesus was merciful towards the needy, the sick ... Living mercy means to live the Gospel all the way.

Rodari: Is there the danger that the insistence on love forces the circumstance into the background that the truth has a name for the faithful: Jesus Christ?

Cardinal Müller: There is no contradiction. God is the creator of all men and loves all. Everyone has an identity and is to be respected. Jesus is not pushed into the background. The insistence on love is rather to speak the language of Jesus. Recently, Francis has met the representatives of other cultures. He said to them, "Even if we do not speak the same language, we can understand each other because we speak the language of the Holy Spirit, love."

Text / translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: La Repubblica (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Cardinal Müller Speaks to the Dubia!

[Chiesa] To him too, in addition to Pope Francis, cardinals Brandmüller, Burke, Caffarra, and Meisner had sent their five “dubia” on the interpretation of “Amoris Laetitia,” seeking “clarity.”
And neither he, Cardinal Gerhard L. Müller, prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, nor much less the pope had responded until now to the questions of the four cardinals.
To make up for this, however, now Müller is bringing clarity, and how, in an extensive interview that is coming out today in the magazine “Il Timone,” conducted by editor Riccardo Cascioli and by Lorenzo Bertocchi:
In the interview, the cardinal does not use the word “dubia,” but he says “apertis verbis” precisely what the four cardinals were asking to have clarified.
And he does not fail to lash out against those bishops who with their interpretive “sophistries” - he says - instead of acting as leaders for their faithful are falling “into the risk of the blind leading the blind.”
Here are the key passages of the interview.

http://magister.blogautore.espresso.repubblica.it/2017/02/01/the-pope-is-silent-but-cardinal-muller-speaks-who-responds-to-the-“dubia”-this-way/?refresh_ce

AMDG

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Pope Francis Appoints One of His Buddies to CDF

(Rome) Pope Francis has named his confidante, Cardinal Beniamino Stella, as a new member of the Congregation of the Faith. Will Francis now "care" for the Congregation of the Faith?

 As the Daily Bulletin of the Holy See announced yesterday, Pope Francis has announced an appointment for the Congregation of the Faith. The emphasis is on "one". Although the head of the Church created 17 new cardinals last Saturday, he only appointed a new member of the Congregation for the Congregation of the Faith, and he is not part of the neocardins. Cardinal Beniamino Stella, Prefect of the Congregation of Clergy was appointed.

Cardinal Stella comes from the circle of the Vatican diplomats of Cardinal Angelo Sodano. After various diplomatic missions abroad, he was rector of the Pontifical Diplomatic Academy from 2007 to 2013.

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, Prefecf of the Congregation of Clergy was the first "Ratzingerian" among the Vatican leadership who had to vacate his place at the Roman Curia under Pope Francis. Beniamino Stella became his successor. In addition, the Pope appointed him a member of the Congregations for the Bishops and Catholic Education. On 22 February 2014 Francis created him as a cardinal.

It was not until 2016 that the pope turned his attention to the appropriate institutions at the Curia. He appointed Stella to the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City, the newly established Communications Secretariat, the Congregation for Divine Worship and Order of the Sacraments, and now also the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The example of the Congregation for the Divine Worship shows that papal resettlement is intended to contain the cardinal prefect Robert Sarah and to restrict him in his sphere of action. It is characteristic of the climate in the Vatican that the appointment of Pope-confidant Stella causes observers to "fear", the Pope could now be "caring" about the Congregation of the Faith.

 Text: Giuseppe Nardi Image: Vatican.va (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred Vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Assisi and the Absent Prefect of the CDF: 1986 Ratzinger, 2016 Müller


(Rome) The images are repeated with shifted accents. In 1986 Pope John Paul II attended  the first World Prayer Meeting Religions for Peace to Assisi that was organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio. The prefect of the CDF, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, his closest collaborator, refused and remained in Rome.
In 2016 Pope Francis attended the 30th world prayer meeting in Assisi. The prefect of the CDF, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, remained in Rome. Those present did not notice the absence. Anyway, it seems, in contrast to 1986, to have disturbed no one,  the least of all, Pope Francis.
Cardinal Müller took a position in his own way to the battery of problems by taking a position on the issue in Assisi. He traveled to Regensburg for another anniversary. Ten years ago, on 12 September 2006,  Benedict XVI. held his historic Regensburg speech about the unity of faith and reason, with two specific areas: western relativism and Islam.
Cardinal Müller described the speech as his "finest hour"."Prophetic"  where Benedict XVI. analyzed Western society in crisis and Islamic terrorism.
Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, saw the matter differently and distanced himself. "I do not identify myself with the words of the Pope," he did this through his press spokesman Don Guillermo Marco for Newsweek. When a Pope does not recognize the "values of Islam," he destroys in twenty seconds, that which was built in the last twenty years, was his indictment of the Regensburg speech by Benedict XVI.
The Vatican was not pleased with this stab and demanded an explanation. Bergoglio was to distance himself from his the statements or those by his press secretary. The primate of Argentina was ready to do neither to do one nor the other. Half a year later, as even the Argentine government criticized Marco for something else, the speaker was been replaced. Officially,  the archdiocese spoke of a "restructuring in the press" of the archdiocese "to optimize the relations with the media." Bergoglio had not distanced himself from his criticism of the Regensburg speech.
Guillermo Marco, whose star remained undimmed with his superior, now elected pope, at the beginning of 2016, appeared in the first and most controversial "video of the Pope."  The video caused outrage because of its syncretistic message that Marco made even stronger in an interview with " abstruse theories." Whith that, we come full circle to Assisi IV.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: MiL
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Friday, June 10, 2016

Cardinal Müller Describes Main Adviser of Pope Francis as "Heretical"

(Rome) In recent interview with the Herder Korrespondenz Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the CDF, described the closest adviser of Pope Francis as "heretical".
In the June issue of Herder Korrespondenz (issue 6/2006) reaffirmed the Cardinal Prefect, that "no one" should relativize the doctrine of the papacy as a divine institution, for that would mean, wanting to "correct God." Some time ago, there was someone who was presented by "certain media" as one of the "closest advisers" of the Pope, the Cardinal said. This consultant has opined that there would be no problem in transferring the seat of the Pope to Medellin in Colombia or elsewhere, and the various Curia offices could be shared among the various local Churches. This, says Cardinal Müller, is fundamentally wrong and "even heretical". On this subject, it is sufficient to read the Dogmatic Constitution "Lumen Gentium" of Vatican II in order to identify the ecclesiological nonsense of such mind games. "The seat of the pope is Peter's in Rome."
The cardinal added that it is the express commission of St. Peter, to lead the whole Church as her supreme pastor. This commission was transferred to the Church of Rome and its bishop by Peter. This is not just an organizational question. The general aim was to preserve God-given unity. This also applied to the task of the high clergy of the Roman church, the cardinals who assist the Pope in the exercise of his primacy.

Victor Manuel Fernández: Chief consultant and ghostwriter of the Pope


Cardinal Müller, interview the Herder Korrespondencz

With the Prefect in his allusion "aimed his sights," said the Vatican expert Sandro Magister, it is not hard to see: it is the Titular Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández , the Rector of the Catholic University of Argentina .
Fernández was already the preferred speech writer  of the then Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires. Fernández was then, and still is, the confidence theologian and the ghostwriter of the Archbishop, and now,  the papal documents of Evangelii gaudium to Amoris laetitia . In the particularly controversial Apostolic Exhortation can be found verbatim, whole passages from [crap] essays  Fernández published ten years ago.
Cardinal Müller did not call the Pope's advisers by name. But what he said is unambiguous. Likewise, the word, which the Faith Prefect leveled: "heretic".
The Cardinal had in view an interview of Fernández in Corriere della Sera of 10 May 2015 where the speechwriter of the Pope explained, "the Vatican curia is not an essential structure. The pope could live outside of Rome, have a dicastery in Rome and another in Bogotá, and to connect, for example, by videoconference with liturgy experts in Germany. That which is around the Pope, in the theological sense, is the college of bishops to serve the people. [...] Even the Cardinals could disappear in the sense that they are not essential."

Fernández's attack against Cardinal Müller

Fernández attacked the Faith Prefect even directly because of this in a March 29, 2015 in La Croix , the daily newspaper of the French Bishops' Conference where he had said in the published interview, the pontificate of Pope Francis was essentially a "pastoral" pontificate, making it the object of the CDF was to "restructure theologically" this pontificate.
"Papa's favorite grumbles," Jürgen Erbacher wrote for ZDF  Fernández's reply:
"I have read that some say that the Roman Curia is an essential part of the mission of the Church, or that a Prefect of the Vatican is the safe compass which preserves the Church from falling into a Light-thinking; or that this prefect ensures the unity of the faith and the Pope guarantees a serious theology. But for Catholics who read the gospel, knowing that Christ has assured the pope and all of the bishops  as a guide and a special enlightenment, but not a prefect or other structure. When you hear say such things, it seems almost as if the Pope is one of their representatives, or one who has come to interfere, and must be controlled."
More than a  year has passed since the Argentine aimed his arrows  against the Prefect. Arrows that do not need for the Pope to have approved  them but which have not bothered him since Fernández is still the chief advisor at Francis' side.

Fernández in his sights, but did he mean the Pope?

The conflict between Pope and CDF is heating up more and more, and with each new document with   ambiguous formulations which Pope Francis  publishes with the active help of his Argentine prompter, Cardinal Müller seems to be more irritated.
With his criticism in Herder Korrespondenz the cardinal prefect strikes close to the Pope according to the Interpretation mess of Amoris laetitia. So close that he has accused the pope's closest staff member as a "heretic."  It's a verdict that is meant for Fernández, but also radiates to the Pope, because of a "theologian of little brilliance" (Sandro Magister) in Argentina would hardly draw the attention of a Prefect of the Congregation.
The German cardinal is a clever man. He knows that his frontal attack against the right hand of the Pope, will bring his reputation with Francis to the point of freezing. A "risk",  Cardinal Müller obviously approvingly obviously takes into account. He knows that Francis has in fact sidelined, the CDF and cares precious little about the work of this curial authority and its documents. Just as he had been in June 2013 when recommended to the Bureau of progressive confederation of Latin American and Caribbean religious.

Redefining the understanding of the office of the Prefect of Faith?

Cardinal Müller seems to work on a new definition of his role as head of the CDF. As mere collaborator of the Pope, he can hardly make a difference. The pope made ​​him  to know only a few days ago , when he hinted that the authentic interpretation of Amoris laetitia was not about Müller's grueling effort, to somehow bring the controversial papal Fernandezian theses in  harmony with the ecclesial tradition, but the interpretation of  Vienna's [evil] Archbishop, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.
Cardinal Müller will have to understand his role in serving the Vicar of Christ on earth  as Prefect,  regardless of the current incumbent's understanding and exercise of that office. He may not really "theological structure" this pontificate, but he may strengthen the faith of 1.3 billion Catholics. And eventually this pontificate will also end.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: MiL / Herder correspondence (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG