Showing posts with label Cardinal Müller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cardinal Müller. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Pope Francis and the Marginalization of the CDF

There is an Ocean Between them Both
(Rome) In his first interview with the a theist Eugenio Scalfari, published on October 1, 2013 in the daily newspaper La Repubblica,  Pope Francis said overlooking some members of the Roman Curia: "The court is the leprosy of the papacy". But Francis seems  "to be fighting not the leprosy but the leper," said Secretum meum mihi . The daily Il Foglio headline in yesterday's edition of the first page: "Müller Besieged".

Schönborn instead of Müller

The distance that exists between the Pope and the Cardinal Prefect of the Faith, Gerhard Müller, is recognized "by all". "The cold was obviously" felt by the exclusion of German Cardinal from the presentation of the post-synodal letter Amoris Laetitia, although the entire discussion since two and a half years touched on his area of responsibility, of doctrine. While Pope Francis stuck with  the German-speaking countries to present the ​​Exhortation,   it was the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.
This was not only a form of neglect, but even more as a security measure. Cardinal Müller would Amoris Laetitia would have left an impression, that the pope wouldn't have wanted after all the effort expended to "Catholicize" divorce.
Since the intended camouflaged "openings"  were packaged in footnotes, the presentation was crucial to for effect. Recommendations were issued  ahead to all dioceses. Thus it was clear that the most important, the Roman presentation, was to be prepared with great care.
The main part fell to Vienna's archbishop who was to explain the substantive significance of writing.  There was no trace of Cardinal Müller. Thus it was already, during the double-synod. Think of the human resources policy at the daily press conference. The one-sidedness with which the the Kasperians were represented, only lef  the synod members shaking their heads.

Diametrically opposite positions

Although the controversial questions about divorce, remarriage and communion for divorced and remarried directly affect the Doctrine of the Faith, the prefect of the doctrinal congregation remained disregarded in all media-moments, where this would be communicated by the Church to the world public.
"The fact is that the Cardinal and Francis represented diametrically opposed lines on the subject," said Matteo Matzuzzi in Il Foglio . It was sufficient "to compare the Cardinal's writings with Bergoglio's speeches." While Müller emphasized the need to reaffirm "healthy" cornerstones of the Church's teaching, Francis speaks constantly of a charity that goes beyond the law.
The contrary positions in paragraph 311 of Amoris Laetitia are clear where Pope Francis writes:
"It is, for instance, true that mercy justice and the truth does not exclude each other, but above all we need to explain that  charity is the fullness of justice and the most brilliant expression of God's truth.Thus, one should always bear in mind that all theological terms are unreasonable, that ultimately call into question God's omnipotence itself and especially his mercy.''
Faith Prefect Müller had already given his answer in autumn 2013 to the Daily Mail anticipating that by 23 October of the same year, what Osservatore Romano would say:
"Because the whole sacramental order is a work of divine mercy, and can not be reversed with reference to the same. Through the factually inaccurate emphasis on  charity, there is also the risk of trivializing the image of God, that God can do nothing else than to forgive. For the mystery of God,  besides His charity, is included his holiness and justice. If one omits these attributes of God and sin is not serious, then his mercy can not be ultimately conveyed to His people. Jesus met the adulteress with great compassion, he also said, however: ' Go and sin henceforth no more ' (John 8:11). The mercy of God is no dispensation from the Commandments of God and the teachings of the Church. Rather, it needs the power of grace to meet them, and rise again after the fall and to a life of perfection in the image of the heavenly Father."
None of this can be found in Amoris laetitia .

Corrections of the CDF were disregarded

Pope Francis indeed had sent the draft in accordance with Vatican tradition to the CDF for correction. However, only some of the numerous points elaborated under Muller's  correction proposals were considered by the Pope. Pope Francis leaves the structures and the people in place, where they would work diligently, but then ignored them. An efficient form of integrating an opponent in an unassailable manner and at  the same time leaving him in the dark.
This marginalization of the CDF in the preparation and the presentation of a papal document anticipated with such tension  concerns not only the post-synodal letter.
"This means that more is going on beyond the Tiber, of a potential, if not immediate change at the top of the Congregation," said Matzuzzi. Rumor is heard that Müller could vacate given his exclusion from the field.
Such flight from responsibility may, may only be ascribed to the German cardinal by someone not familiar with him. Müller knows precisely, because of his opposition, just how important his resistance at the Vatican is, to prevent the court formed by Francis from completely taking over possession of the Church.

Schönborn "is a great theologian" - and Kasper "does theology on its knees"

On the return flight from the island of Lesbos,  Francis openly said: Schönborn "is a great theologian".To confirm this statement, the Pope added: "He is a member of the CDF". [LOL]
Cardinal Müller is not only a member, but the head of the CDF. But for him Francis had no comparable praise left. Quite the contrary: Such praise was already, but for a different German, for Ratzinger's  old opponent, Walter Cardinal Kasper, who in the opinion of the pope, did  "theology on its knees." [Or brings theology to its knees.]  Kasper and Schönborn are both ready to give Communion to  the divorced and remarried. In Vienna it was already a practice for "15 years," about which the Austrian Archbishop had informed the public at the presentation of Amoris Laetitia in Rome. That explains why Schönborn and not Müller was determined for this task.
Cardinal Schönborn is currently, particularly in the favor of this Pope. It's a favor that can change rapidly depending on the area and moment. Nevertheless, Vienna's archbishop is allowed to be seen as the winner of the Synod of Bishops. Cardinal Kasper threw out the net, Cardinal Schönborn took the fish ashore. With his diplomatic skills he helped Pope Francis in the final phase of the Synod of Bishops from the jaws of defeat, as he looked set to be a minority in the final vote.  It's a public betrayal, which has not as yet ever been seen  in the Church's history, certainly, it's the most recent.
Schönborn offered a compromise, which Cardinal Müller at the end, in order to avoid a split in the Church, but he did not conceal his doubts about the ambiguous formulations. Synod members registered  Kasper's obvious satisfaction at each consent Müller gave to controversial paragraphs.

Where does the pontificate of Francis run now?

In his latest book, Müller put his position  unambiguously and thus directly to address clergy and laity. It's a more direct exercise of office since Pope Francis has left him in the void in Rome. Müller made more than just an important clarification in his book. One of them is:
"We Catholics have no reason to celebrate October 31, 1517."
Although Pope Francis does not mention his disapproval,  the attitude of the Pope on another front is unmistakable. Francis will fly on the next 31 October to  Stockholm in order to participate in an ecumenical commemoration of the Reformation. [Protestant Revolt]
But the front between Reformation and divorce is perhaps not so different. The papal Reformation commemoration and the first step towards recognition of divorce are connected by a common thread: Protestantism. Since the German Cardinal Müller is particularly sensitive in this regard and has already posed the question what the actually is the intended course Rome is taking  for the past three years.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Vatican.va/OR (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Edit: they're both liberation theology enthusiasts from different camps in Latin America, and it's surprising to seem them at each other's throats now.
AMDG

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Clarín: "Will Pope Francis Carry Out a Historical Turning Point for the Divorced and Remarried"


Edit: the real attention-getter is that the heretical Danube Cardinal will be reading it.  We'll remind you that he is not only the man who allowed the vile pornographic creations of the Communist Alfred Hrdlika to hang in his cathedral church (he's also buried in the cemetery)  and bookstore, but he also confirmed the approval of an aberrosexual in a civil partnership as head of the parish council in one of his parishes, in front of the flashing cameras of the media.  We don't understand why a man who adores Conchita Wurst is still a priest, much less a man responsible for the souls of millions of Austrians, but it's not our decision.

(Rome) On Friday in two days, the post-synodal letter of Pope Francis on the family will be presented. So far the only thing  known is that the letter begins with the words "Amoris Laetitia" and that it will be presented on Friday by Cardinals Lorenzo Baldisseri and Christoph Schönborn at the Vatican. Cardinal Baldisseri has been raised by Pope Francis to the state of cardinal and appointed Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops. He is considered a close confidant Pope. Cardinal Schönborn has since 1995 been Archbishop of Vienna and since 1998 chairman of the Austrian Bishops' Conference. He was brought into the College of Cardinals by Pope John Paul II in 1996.
The Dominican from an ancient noble house was particularly appreciated by Benedict XVI. to whose student circle he belonged, and in addition to which he was editor of the World Catechism. However, Pope Francis does not seem to appreciate him any less. The approach is in direct connection with the Synod of Bishops, in which Vienna's Archbishop stuck his neck out too far with daring theories on homosexuality and a "gradation" of the marriage.

Papal thanks for Cardinal Schönborn

Anyway, he is currently the highest dignitary of the German-speaking world, who was afforded visibility by Pope Francis in Rome. During the Synod of Bishops he had entrusted him with an honorable task. Schoenborn was allowed to hold the speech at the ceremony, which was organized on the 50th anniversary of the Conciliar statements. It was Schönborn   above all else, was organized the compromise fomrula on 23 and 24 October, for the final report of the synod, which prevented a breach between a majority of the Synod Fathers and the Pope at the last moment. It was  clear how close it was since one of the controversial articles was nevertheless adopted only by a razor-thin majority of one vote.
That Cardinal Schönborn will present the highly anticipated post-synodal letter "Amoris Laetitia" on Friday, which is meant as thanks the Pope.  From a diplomatically predisposed house - his family represents not only the church, with many bishops, but the old Empire also with ministers and diplomats - Schönborn is the link to the rebellious German princes of the church together with the smug apparatchiks who again are rehearsing their uprising against Rome.
The Argentine newspaper Clarín's headline the day before yesterday: "Francis could announce a major turn for divorcees". The unnamed author's piece awakens the "hope" that Pope Francis "will give the green light on Friday for the bishops to grant the remarried divorcees the sacraments."

Squaring the circle

Specifically, says Clarín , it will be "hoped" that the pope transmits the power to the bishops   to decide independently whether they would offer a "penitential" course, leading to the re-admission to the sacraments. The newspaper tried to play square the circle:
"The 'penitential way'  confirms on one hand that the Catholic marriage is indissoluble by divine will, while on the other hand it offers the possibility that the divorcee who married civilly for a second time, can regain admission to communion, which was withdrawn from them because they live with their new partners in a state of serious disorder. "
The newspaper asks: "Will the Pope consummate the historic change that a church marriage can be dissolved in certain cases, which it rejects doctrinally, but  allows in practice?"

German bishops threaten "going alone"

For the majority of the German bishops the "penitential path"  for the admission to the sacraments must end. If Rome does not agree, they would practice independently, "as they have been threatened on several occasions". [Which they've been doing for decades and even centuries.]
However, there was "strong opposition by conservatives and defenders of doctrine". The newspaper calls by name the Cardinals Gerhard Müller, the "influential" CDF prefect, and Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, who stands behind the "the bulk of the African Church."
For them, "marriage is indissoluble and neither the Church nor the pope can change the will of God". The "penitential path" is not a "second chance" to enter a new marriage, as in the Orthodox Church. "There could therefore come some stormy times of the Church," said Clarin.
But Pope Francis will decide? In his book " Codigo Francisco " wrote Marcelo Larraquy: "When he was Cardinal of Buenos Aires,  doctrine was not one of his special interests. He employed more pastoral solutions to the problems of the faithful. "Priests in his diocese had not denied the doctrine, to which they are held. But they could  "feel free" to act on the pastoral level, because "Rome was far away." The canonical prohibition against "remarried divorcees recieving Communion,  did not prevent them from receiving in some parishes."
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Clarín (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Thursday, March 24, 2016

"Mercy Can Never be a Dispensation From the Commandments of God" -- Interview Book With Prefect Cardinal Müller

(Rome) "The doctrine of the Church does not change."   The debut of a new book has been announced with this sentence. While the world waits for the post-synodal letter of Pope Francis on the Double Family Synod, the interview book "Report on the Hope" by Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation, is ready for publication. Mercy never means that the commandments of God would no longer be valid. Therefore, the rules can not be "overcome by life", in contrast to what the new Archbishop of Berlin, Heiner Koch, said just before the Synod of Bishops in October 2015 to the press.
The Spanish priest, Carlos Granados had a long conversation with Cardinal Muller that is appearing in book form. The Spanish title is "Informe sobre la esperanza. Granados is Director General of the Library of Christian Authors .On March 19, the third anniversary of his inauguration,  Pope Francis signed the post-synodal letter about marriage and the family, to be published in April.
Founded in 1944 Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos (BAC) publishes the works of classical Catholic authors. The location of the collection is the Pontifical University of Salamanca. During the reign of General Franco, the library was declared a national interest and facilitates the publication of the works by government grants.
The first volume of the library was the Spanish Bible translation of Nacar and Colunga, published in 1944, considered the most common Bible translation in the Spanish-speaking world today.

Communion for divorced and remarried contradicts the divine law of the indissolubility of marriage


Carlos Granados passes Benedict XVI. a volume of the Spanish edition of his collected works

Some excerpts were published in advance in the Spanish right to life magazine, Actuall.  A major concern is the question of the admission of divorcees who were ecclesiastically married, but civilly remarried. Cardinal Müller affirms in the book that there can be no Communion. It is "impossible" to grant those Communion who live outside their valid marriage in another relationship. "The nature of the divine right of the indissolubility of marriage" made ​​it impossible, says the Cardinal.
The Prefect has now also put in writing, which  the majority of these at the Family Synod insisted upon, that the Communion of these persons is not possible.
"Mercy is never a dispensation from the Commandments of God or a justification for them to be overriden or set aside: 'Go and sin no more,' says Jesus to the adulterous woman, after he had treated her with great compassion."
Upon this example of Jesus implored shepherds, priests and bishops  to align and "to make an effort to include the divorced and remarried with tact and warmth, to accompany them and to involve them in the normal life the Church."

The biggest scandal of the Church would be, "not to mention the difference between good and evil by name"

Whoever pleads contrary, that the position of the Church on sexual morality is not realistic, Cardinal Müller answers:
"The biggest scandal  that  the Church can cause is not that she has sinners, but ceasing in calling the difference between good and evil by name, and to relativize it; ceasing to explain what is sin or trying to justify  what is supposedly a greater closeness and mercy towards the sinner."
On the  sacrament of marriage the Prefect says a marriage "may fail by no longer living together, or in   human expectations, but not the action of God, which is why the Sacrament does not fail as such."
The marriage is  "not an ideal, not a reflection of my desires, like a child who would like to be an astronaut ... ideals are often not realizable". The marriage is, however, "a God-given reality: the sanctification of the spouses and of life."

Gender ideology is man's attempt to put himself in the place of God

Cardinal Müller also takes a position on gender theory and repeats an effective statement of Pope Francis, with which he effectively summed it up when he spoke of "ideological colonization":
"Can we build a society without respecting the difference between man and woman?" asks the Cardinal. God wanted man as Adam and Eve, said Cardinal Müller, in gender ideology, man raises himself to God and determines for himself what and what is evil good.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image. Youtube / Religionenlibertad (screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Friday, February 26, 2016

Italy Concludes "Gay Marriage" --- Cardinal Müller: "Gay Marriage is Impossible"

(Rome) Yesterday, Italy's Left Democratic Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi in Parliament's vote of confidence to abbreviate the legislative process for "gay marriage". As in other countries, the constitutionally prescribed route was bypassed to enforce special rights for homosexuals. The result is another victory of gender ideology and another parody of marriage.

The Alfano Galatino "compromise"

A "compromise" was decided upon in its preparation by the involvement of part of the Catholic Church in Italy over which Pope Francis presided quietly. After a month of parliamentary debate and stubborn resistance from the population - on 30 January, two million people protested in Rome against the government's plans - Prime Minister Renzi became increasingly nervous that his government could fall over the gay issue, just as had the left-wing government of of 2008.

To so opportunely came to him the willingness of a part of the church, to avoid a conflict with the government on socio-political level. Italy Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, a representative of the Christian Democrat-right liberal party alliance, and smaller coalition partner of the Left Democrats, and Bishop Nunzio Galatino, Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Conference, agreed in a back room "compromise": to introduce gay marriage without calling it "marriage", but no adoption rights for homosexuals. The bill, is named after its originator, Monica Cirinnà, has since then been described in Catholic circles as the "Alfano Galatino Bill".

The organizers of the Family Day on 30 January reject the "compromise." Catholic commentators describe the "compromise" as "treason" and its Catholic supporters as "traitors".

Cardinal Müller: "Politicians have to serve the community and not to impose a false ideology"

Nunzio Galatino forged a compromise


At decisive moments before the parliamentary vote was announced, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith, reaffirmed that a marriage between two people of the same sex "is not possible" and that this is a contradiction in itself. Cardinal Müller demanded that politicians in their votes and decision process "respect human nature". The cardinal himself said, referring to a statement of the CDF from 2003: "Politicians have to serve the community and not to impose a false ideology."

The Cardinal took advantage of a conference currently being held at the Vatican Conference on the Encyclical Deus Caritas est by Benedict XVI. that for its opinion is relevant not only the Italian Parliament, but of particular relevance.

Approval of "gay marriage" in the sense of the Church's blessing

However, with the Galatino's consent in his pocket, the Left Democrats and Christian Democrats could agree with legalizing "gay marriage" in the sense of the Church's blessing. As the government coupled its vote, it finally reached last night shortly after 7pm a majority of 173 of the 321 senators, securing a vote of confidence. The vote was attended by only 244 senators. Some moved for various reasons for absence, including the left-wing populist Five Star Movement, which left the hall before the vote. Of the Senators for Life, Ex-Prime Minister Mario Monti and former President Giorgio Napolitano for the law. Napolitano was praised by Pope Francis recently as one of the "Greats" of Italy.

Now the House of Representatives must approve the bill. Where the government has a clear majority.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: Corrispondenza Romana
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

"No Compromises of the Church's Teaching" -- Cardinal Müller on the Bishops' Synod, SSPX, Medjugorje and Liberation Theology

(Rome) There will be "no compromise of the Church's teaching" in the Bishops' Synod this autumn. This was affirmed  by Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the prefect of the CDF. It is meant to seek pastoral ways to better integrate people in difficult situations in the community. While there is, says the Cardinal, no "substantial news" regarding  the SSPX, there would be a decision to Medjugorje in the fall.  Katholisch.de, the media portal of the German Bishops' Conference published an  an interview with the Cardinal.

Renewal and Deepening of  Marriage Preparation Necessary

Overlooking the Synod of Bishops on marriage and family  the German cardinal stressed that the Church must help "the people, even Catholics, ...to re-understand what the point is to marry and so, also publicly, to bind a person." While the discussion is so far turned mainly to the "failure" of marriages, Cardinal Müller stressed the need for "a renewal and deepening" of marriage preparation.
The cardinal also confirmed that the "ordinary general assembly" of the CDF will deal this "autumn" with Medjugorje: "The opinion of the Congregation will be  submitted  to the Holy Father for a further decision."

Various encounters with SSPX , "which should enhance mutual trust"

When asked whether the "unification efforts were suspended or postponed," since "recently" the  Priestly Society of St. Pius X had "become noticeably quiet," said Cardinal Müller that there was  "no substantial news in this issue." "The Holy Father wants us to keep at it: with 'determination and patience.'" In the "recent months", there were "encounters of various kinds, which should enhance mutual trust." "A prerequisite for a full reconciliation" said the Cardinal again, "is the signing of a doctrinal preamble, to ensure full compliance in the essential matters of faith." The Prefect's response   suggests that this singing the Preamble of 2012 is not required..
The recent trip to Latin America by Pope Francis has shown "that the Church must use an authentic liberation theology." He, Müller, has worked "for many years in accordance with the instruction of the Congregation" which the Marxist liberation theology was condemned in the 1980s, "for such a theology that is not aligned ideologically, but interested in the good of man and society." The election of Pope Francis on the Chair of Peter is "providential" because the majority of Catholics today live in Latin America. "Pope Francis has strengthened the believers  on his journey from the Gospel and encouraged and called the peoples there to  a peaceful and equitable coexistence. This is an order of the day," said Müller.

"I have Totally Committed my Life in Fidelity to the Pope"

When asked about his statement, there is a need to " theologically restructure" the pontificate of Pope Francis, the cardinal affirmed that "the specific task of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. . It has to promote the faith and morals throughout the Catholic Church on behalf of the Pope and protect his personal relationship with the reigning pope." Cardinal Müller said: "Personally,  I have totally committed my entire life in loyalty to the Pope."
Addressing eco-Encyclical Laudato Si, Müller said, that he is "very grateful for the encyclical" to the Pope. The document had a "very strong social-ethical component" and leads from "the tradition of the social encyclicals."  It "seems" to him that the Pope  proposed, "to open the eyes of all people of good will to the problem of environmental and human ecology and promote dialogue with each other  at all levels."
About the controversial issues is the allowance of remarried divorcees to Communion and the acceptance of homosexuality, with which the Synod of Bishops will deal next October, Cardinal Müller said: "Here the Synod faces the challenge to find pastoral ways of greater integration in the community, without compromising the Word of Jesus and the Church's teaching based on it. The family is irreplaceable importance for the future of the Church and of society. "
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: katholisch.de (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG








Tuesday, March 31, 2015

"No Mercy Without Truth" -- Cardinal Müller on the Holy Year and the Synod of Bishops

Prefect Müller:  There are no secret pathways or shortcuts to
holiness.
(Rome) The proclaimed by Pope Francis extraordinary Holy Year of Charity begins next December 8 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Virgin Mary. "The Holy Year is to serve the people to remember that mercy can not be without the truth," said Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation. Man and the Church "are often tempted to separate one from the other," the cardinal said.
The love of God is closely bound up with the truth. The same applies to the so-called broken families, those who are in an irregular situation. They need  the attention of the Church,  not in new pastoral ways, but by the truth.  Cardinal Müller led a discussion with the Italian news agency ANSA about the upcoming Holy Year. Cardinal Müller belonged to the most ardent defenders at the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops last October, of the Catholic teaching on marriage. In preparation for the Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the family next October,  he  always returns to take a position on the world stage for the sacrament of marriage as it has been taught by the Church of Christ and how this is why the Church has taught it  for almost 2000 years.

God does not intervene to "keep everything as it is"

In an interview with ANSA, said the cardinal,  the extraordinary Holy Year must "include all." God loves, "as he intervenes in history through His grace." But this is not just a "favor" as the cardinal used the Latin expression. So this is not just a favor- or proof of sympathy, a privilege or an acknowledgment. God does not grab one, "to let everything be as it is", but that the people "experience a renewal, a conversion, so we ever renew our hearts and truly change our lives. Therefore, we must remember also in the Holy Year, that we can not speak of mercy without truth," said Cardinal Prefect Müller.
In view of the Synod of Bishops in October, the German cardinal added that this also applies to the family. "We must accept  all,  especially sinners, because we are all sinners, but according to the instructions of God and not by human considerations. Because sometimes people see things a little differently as God sees them."

"We can not preach the resurrection without the cross"

It was important to show that there "is still sacramental marriage" and that the lifelong, indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman is not only possible, it will be a boon for both spouses and their offspring. "The mercy of God accepts us as we are, but it will not leave us as it finds us," said Cardinal Müller.
Always with a view to the forthcoming Synod of Bishops, in the interest particularly to the question of communion being valid for the divorced and remarried, the cardinal said that the goal of any intervention of divine grace is "salvation", and the  path to repentance. "We can not preach the resurrection without the cross. There is no second or third way," said the Prefect of the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who made it to be understood so that there can be no short cuts on these topics or abbreviations.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Radiosanmartin
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Cardinal Müller: "Diocese Are Not Branches of the Bishops' Conference"

Prefect of the CDF after recent statements of DBK-President Marx: "The President of the Episcopal Conference is no more than a technical presenter, this title is not linked to any specific teaching authority."

Vatican (kath.net) The claim that a Bishop's Conference was "not a branch of Rome", "gives me the cue to remind you that the dioceses are not branches of the Secretariat of the Episcopal Conference or [branches of] the diocese, whose bishop President of the Bishops' Conference is." This was Gerhard Müller Cardinal (photo), Prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith, for the Catholic French magazine, Famille Chrétienne. He had been previously asked what he thought of a statement "where a German bishop had stated that the Bishops' Conference, which he was presiding, was no "branch of Rome," he was referring to remarks by Reinhard Cardinal Marx, President of the German Bishops' Conference . Müller explained further: "A Bishops' Conference is not a Particular Council, [it is] a lot less than an Ecumenical Council. The President of the Episcopal Conference is no more than a technical presenter, there is no special teaching authority linked with this title. "The attitude that a Bishops' Conference is not a branch of Rome," brings with it the danger to revive a certain polarization between the local Churches and the Universal Church which had come rest in the First and the Second Vatican Councils. The Church is not the sum of national churches whose presidents would choose a boss on a universal level."

On the question of whether some teaching or disciplinary decisions about marriage and the family could be delegated to the Bishops' Conferences, the Prefect of the CDF replied: "This is an absolutely anti-Catholic idea that does not respect the catholicity of the Church. Bishops' Conferences have authority in certain topics, but they possess no magisterium against  the magisterium without a pope and without communion with all the bishops."

"The Church is not a philanthropic organization. It is not enough if we say that we respect the views of all and wish good for all," Müller explained further. Indeed it is not too difficult, only present the gospel as a therapeutic agent, but this does not correspond to the requirements of Jesus. "Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and receive all manner of slander because of me, said Jesus. The first Apostles, the Church Fathers, the great bishops of the Church had so often to sail against the wind. Why should this be any different for us? Link to kath.net... Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com AMDG

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Cardinal Müller: Pope Is Not Above the Word of God and the Catholic Faith

Edit: Rorate tends to understate things.  They want a sober response.  We'd like to offer this translation of Giuseppe Nardi's appreciation of their take on Cardinal Müller's recent letter appearing in the Osservatore Romano and additional commentary from other important Italian blogs.

(Rome) The extremely progressivist French newspaper Golias has sounded the alarm because of the "danger" that churchmen like the Cardinals Burke, Müller, Ranjith, Cañizares, Ouellet, Sarah and other "young cardinals" could prevent further "liberalization" of the constitution of the Church  with support of older cardinals like Scola, Pell and Caffarra.
The traditional  website Chiesa e Postconcilio contrast wrote: "God allows evil only so it is good bring about an even greater good. The immense disorder in the Bishops'  Synod on the Family led to wonderful declarations of faith by high-ranking prelates, the signs of hope for the future of the Church."
Cardinal Gerhard Müller is prefect of the Congregation and one of the five cardinals who wrote for the anthology "Remain in the Truth of Christ" along with the other bearers of the purple,  Brandmüller, De Paolis, Burke and Caffarra for the Synod of Bishops on the family in 2014.  Recently he had made ​his lecture public ​on the website of the CDF,  the referendum on the 13th of January by the Hungarian Esztergom on "The Theological Nature of the Doctrinal  Commissions and the Office of Bishops as Teachers of the Faith."

Put things into place

"In a very Ratzingerian way" says Rorate Caeli , "Cardinal Müller (referring to the Motu Proprio Apostolos Suos of John Paul II.), puts things in their place." He distinguishes between the supplementary authority of the Bishops and their organs, such as the Commissions on Faith, which are tasked to harmonize the various pastoral orientations, and the divine right of the successors of the apostles, that is of a different nature, and to the  extent makes them  teachers and guardians of the faith for their local churches, as they accept at the same time, the universal Church in union with the supreme pastor, the Pope.
The Cardinal recently wrote about this: "So the predicates of the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church in the Roman Church  are realized a fortiori. Since ancient times it has called forth the Holy Roman Church - not because of the subjective holiness of her head and her members, but because of the holiness of its specific mission which is to pass down and preserves intact the apostolic tradition, the deposit of faith.".
The following passage in the speech by Cardinal Müller on the papal magisterium held some attention in Rome:

Cardinal Mülller: The Pope 'like all believers - is subject to the word of God and the Catholic faith "

"At the level of the universal Church the special mission of the Successor of Peter is especially mentioned to strengthen his brethren in the faith (cf.. Lc 22,32). This is not the place to deal with the doctrine of papal infallibility, but the characteristic and ultimate responsibility of the Roman Pontiff  emphasizes protecting healthy doctrine. In its "Considerations on the Primacy of the Successor of Peter in the Mystery of the Church "of 1998, the Congregation declared: 'The bishop of Rome is - like all believers - subject to the word of God and the Catholic faith. He is the guarantee for the obedience of the Church and in this sense servus servorum. He decides according to his own will, but it is voice  the will of the Lord who speaks to man in Scripture lived and interpreted by tradition. In other words, the episkope of primacy has limits, resulting from the law of God and contained in   revelation  in the untouchable divine institution of the Church. The Successor of Peter is the rock that against arbitrariness and conformism, he guarantees a relentless fidelity to the Word of God: It also follows the  martyrological characters of his primacy.'"

Cardinal Sarah: "Some want to sacrifice Christ's message for relativistic ideology of the West"


Cardinal Robert Sarah
Cardinal Robert Sarah, the new prefect of the Roman Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments made ​​it clear in his recently published book, "God or nothing" (Dieu ou rien) in France this week that he is on the "same wavelength" (on Rorate Caeli ). Cardinal Sarah explained in moving detail from his life and shows his solid theology and spiritual claims that he is a priest and pastors of the Church.The language of the African bishop and cardinal, who risked his life more than once, "reached a formal level, when he speaks of the relativistic ideology of the West, to which some want to sacrifice the message of Christ" and all there - as it is now fashionable - to adorn this  with winning quotes from Pope Francis, says Rorate Caeli.

Cardinal Müller: "Clean the Temple"

On February 8,Osservatore Romano published under the title "Purifying the Temple" a above-cited article by Cardinal Müller in Italian, in the German edition has appeared under the official title " Theological criteria for a reform of the Church and the Roman Curia", [Our translation, no idea where the English version is right now, will continue to check.] Müller points to the fact that the real reforms in Church history were always spiritual and not political reforms. The Curial reform must therefore, if it is to be of real importance for the renewal of the Church, be a spiritual reform in the first place. Its organizational structure and its operation must be subordinated to the special mission of the Successor of Peter.
In the words of Cardinal Müller: "The Curia is not a secular administrative structure, it is an essentially spiritual device that is rooted in the special mission of the Church of Rome, which is sanctified by the martyrdom of the Apostles Peter and Paul. (...) The structural organization and operation of the Curia has its measure in the specific mission of the Bishop of Rome. This [officeholder?] is defined as the Successor of Peter, the gift of Christ to his Church "the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity of the multiplicity of both bishops and of the faithful" (Lumen Gentium, 23). "

Cardinal Müller's criticism of permanent synod as part of the church leadership


Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga
He continued: "As we can differ only in the light of revealed faith from a purely human religious community, the Church, so we understand only in faith that the Pope and the bishops have a sacramental and healing supreme power  that connects us with God. This  distinguishes them from leaders those  religious community springs from sociological and organizational foundations," Cardinal Müller.
One  sentence rings forth with especial clarity: "The Synod of Bishops, the Episcopal Conferences and other coalitions of bishops belong to a different theological category than the Roman Curia." It's a direct criticism of a new idea that has formed in the circle of the C9 Cardinal Council, which is mandated to propose suggestions for the reform of the Curia. According to the new idea, ​the Synod of Bishops should become a sort of permanent institution that is part of the Roman dicasteries by a permanent delegation and should thus have a direct stake in Church leadership. [Like a sort of Universal Catholic Council of Bishops?] The spokesman for extending the influence of episcopal collegiality with a new Synodality is the Honduran, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga.
"In definitive words, the Cardinals Miller and Sarah  express that which differs from figures such as Baldisseri, Marx, Tagle and Kasper," said Rorate Caeli.
Text: Giuseppe Mardi
image: Messa in Latino
Trans: Tancred verkon99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Fellay and Müller: Doctrinal Preamble Versus Dispute on Grace 2.0

Bishop Bernard Fellay and Cardinal Gerhard Muller
Edit: I think the important thing here is that no Preamble was offered for signature.  We'll try to post the link as soon as it appears.
(Berlin) On 23 September, a meeting between the head of the CDF and the Fraternity of St. Pius X was held in Rome, including in the first place Gerhard Müller as Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith and Bishop Bernard Fellay as Superior General of the SSPX. For this reason Clement Victor Oldendorf published  the article "Doctrinal Preamble versus Grace Dispute 2.0" at Kath.news.
There  was some censoring of the document arbitrarily undertaken and subsequently  it was "too spicy" and this was supposedly justified by "too few formulations true to pope and Rome."  The author then wished  the deletion of the essay, which had been  dismissed as "speculation".
On September 27 after this call Kathnews.de took the contribution offline..
Katholisches.info has now published, with the consent of the author, the full post in an unabridged version.
.

Doctrinal Preamble Versus Grace Dispute 2.0

by Clement Victor Oldendorf
Since the beginning of September   information on September 21, 2014  has been circulating that there will be a meeting between the Prefect of the CDF, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, and the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay. The forecasts were rather skeptical and hesitant, with what appeared to be by no means irrational pessimism even from the time when he was Bishop of Regensburg in the face of Mueller's relevant statements. So it was expected, for example, Müller would require Fellay, but without ifs and buts, to accept the last submitted version of the so-called Doctrinal Preamble. Something Fellay had previously excluded, after he was confronted in 2012 with a complete surprise in its text version.

Message of Vatican Radio

For a few hours now a message has appeared on the website of Vatican Radio,   that the encounter did not take place on Sunday, but  took place today and lasted two hours: Add link to the message of Vatican Radio!
This text no longer mentions the Doctrinal Preamble. An insistence on the adoption of its final version would probably also proven to be an impasse and conceived as a deliberate provocation on the part of Rome if the contacts collapsed. 

Incomplete Theological Thinking Then and Now

If you read today's news from Radio Vatican, it suggests rather a more open modus vivendi to recognize the parallels to be the "solution" in the so-called disputes on grace  of the 16th and early 17th century. At that time,   theologians of the Jesuit and the Dominican orders were disputing over questions of the doctrine of grace, namely about the right relationship between divine grace and human participation in the process of justification, and they accused each other of being heretics. In 1607, Pope Paul V ruled that everyone should provisionally retain his theological position and collect arguments to refute the other side, but that it was forbidden to denounce each other. The Apostolic See will, as it was then be called to decide the question of content   "soon". To date, no Pope has decided this question. Actually, this is a fine example that Pope Francis has repeatedly called for "unfinished, theological thinking" in the church already has a long established tradition.

Grace dispute 2.0 Appeared in 2009 as a Thought Experiment

If it were, now here come to a recurrence of such, as it were open solution, it is tempting to recall   interesting and little-known details from the year 2009. At that time, after Benedict XVI. had just withdrawn the Decree of Excommunication on the original four auxiliary bishops of the SSPX in January,  Fellay continued ordinations in the summer at Zaitzkofen, on the territory of the Diocese of Regensburg, which increased media interest.
Many were present at the ceremony, journalists of various newspapers, from radio and television and almost besieged the  celebrations with cameras and microphones. Subsequently, the reporters were invited to a press conference.This allowed each of the media representatives asked a question of the bishop. Almost all the questions were just about the unspeakable Holocaust remarks of his confrere [Bishop] Richard Williamson. However, one journalist present for the Wiener Zeitung set a question that was completely out of this frame. 
Namely, he broached   the historical dispute on grace just outlined here and asked Fellay, if there were not possibly an analogous result could be in the best solution for the doctrinal disputations about Vatican II between Rome and the Society. After an initial surprise, he wasn't being asked about  gas chambers or Williamson, the Superior General of this idea described then these corresponding things as very clever and interesting and confirmed that such a solution could actually be possible.
Introduction: Giuseppe Nardi
image: SSPX / Wikicommons
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Talks Between Rome and the SSPX Resume

Bishop Fellay in Rome
(Rome) In the late morning of the day the meeting between  the Prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith,  Cardinal Gerhard Müller and the Superior General of the SSPX, Bishop Fellay, was held in Rome. For the first time Cardinal Müller and Bishop Fellay had personally met since the former Bishop of Regensburg had been appointed early summer 2012 to be Prefect of the CDF. 
Since the election of Pope Francis there have been no lack of voices that take a hard line in Rome  and say  they  want the bishops and priests of the SSPX  to be excommunicated. Pope Francis did not follow this "advice". The talks between the SSPX and Rome were resumed today instead.
The statement published by the Vatican press office did not appear  in different languages, but in German. The following translation leans closely as possible to the relevant Italian text.
"On the morning of Tuesday 23 September from 11 am to 1 pm, a cordial meeting took place at the premises of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, between Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the Society of St. Pius X. The meeting was also attended by Archbishops Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.I., secretary of the same Congregation, Joseph Augustine Di Noia, O.P., adjunct secretary and Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, along with two assistants from the Society of St. Pius X, Rev. Niklaus Pfluger and Rev. Alain-Marc Nély.
During the meeting, various problems of a doctrinal and canonical nature were examined, and it was decided to proceed gradually and over a reasonable period of time in order to overcome difficulties and with a view to the envisioned full reconciliation.
Two aspects of the Declaration catches your eye. First, the emphasis that the encounter in a "warm climate" was held. A formulation that sounds very strong in German translation, in the flowery Italian language however, still would allow some increase of opportunities, but overall indicated a positive indication. Secondly, the content of the last sentence is most important, which shows that the direct communication between Rome and Econe are open again. That did not seem self-evident recently. 
The official statement of the General House of the SSPX in Menzingen largely corresponds to the wording of the Vatican. In addition, next to the "doctrinal and canonical problems" it said that the "current situation of the Church" was addressed. The explanation of the SSPX is reluctant to state a desired objective and speaks of "continuing to clarify the remaining controversial points."

A Brief Review

In spring 2012, the impression was generally accepted in the months previous on the part of the SSPX,  the impression that Rome accepted the arguments put forward in requests for changes to the "Doctrinal Preamble", whose adoption should form the basis for the canonical recognition. Then in May the General Assembly of the Congregation came together and annulled the results obtained. On June 13, 2012, Bishop Fellay thought to travel to Rome and return with the canonical recognition of the SSPX. Instead, it was Cardinal William Levada,  then Prefect of the CDF who didn't present the agreed text of the Doctrinal Preamble, but  the original version again, before the talks began. An unacceptable situation, which ended with an inconclusive departure of the Superior General of the SSPX. Because the turnaround came so unexpectedly, Bishop Fellay asked a few days later, expressly and in writing with Benedict XVI. according to whether it really is also the desire of the Pope. As this was confirmed on June 30, there was a hiatus. 
Some circles in Rome wanted to pass the buck to  the SSPX  for the failure of the talks and wanted from Bishop Fellay a written negative answer to the "preamble". When the SSPX, who felt betrayed in their view, was not to fall into this trap,  yet in the meantime there came into office, and thus not concerned with the new faith discussions, Müller, Prefect of the CDF who issued the Society  an ultimatum early in early 2013.
In one of his last decisions  Pope Benedict XVI. lifted the ultimatum, however, shortly before his resignation. The whole question therefore remained unanswered. The unification efforts of 2005, initiated by the German Pope, which should have resulted in a canonical recognition of the Society were placed on ice.
With the election of Pope Francis, the conditions seemed even less certain than ever of being able for the failed talks to productively resume. After one and a half years of official hiatus, the talks were resumed in a surprisingly benevolent climate today.
It is clear that there were voices in the Vatican, after the successful prevention of an agreement by the Plenary Assembly of the Congregation, the resignation of Benedict XVI. and the election of Pope Francis, to take the opportunity to draw a sharp line and say to adopt a Decree of Excommunication for the bishops and all the priests of the SSPX. An option that has been suggested to Pope Francis that the Argentine Pope, despite his barely manageable aversion to tradition and the traditional rite, did not own.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Vatican Insider
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMGD