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PDF versionRumored new doctrinal czar has liberation theology ties
by John L Allen Jr on Feb. 28, 2012
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Although speculation about who’s in line for top Vatican jobs is a favorite indoor sport in Catholicism, usually to be taken with a grain of salt, you can sometimes tell a rumor is serious when pot shots start falling on the would-be nominee.
By that standard, Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller of Regensburg, Germany, has to be considered a hot tip for the next prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s powerful doctrine office currently headed by American Cardinal William Levada.
Levada will turn 76 in June, and it’s long been rumored that Müller, 64, is a top candidate to take over. This week, traditionalist Catholics in Italy began circulating e-mails suggesting that Müller, a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and a lifelong friend of Pope Benedict XVI, is not a man of “secure doctrine.”
Specifically, the e-mails faulted Müller for espousing suspect positions on the virginity of Mary (which he said in a 2003 book shouldn’t be understood in a “physiological” sense), the Eucharist (Müller has apparently counseled against using the term “body and blood of Christ” to describe the consecrated bread and wine at Mass), and ecumenism (last October, Müller declared that Protestants are “already part of the church” founded by Christ.)
Whatever evaluation one makes of those points, the e-mails suggest that rumors around Müller’s possible appointment have set off alarms in traditionalist circles.
Müller has long been something of a paradox. In Germany, he’s seen as a staunch defender of Catholic orthodoxy, often at odds with the liberal reform group “We Are Church”, and he clearly enjoys papal favor.
Aside from the fact that Müller is the bishop of the pope’s home diocese, where Benedict’s brother Geörg still resides, he’s also the editor of Benedict’s “Opera Omnia,” a comprehensive collection of all the pope’s writings.
Müller himself is a prolific author, having written more than 400 works on a wide variety of theological topics.
Despite his broadly conservative reputation, Müller actually earned his doctorate in 1977 under then-Fr. Karl Lehmann, who went on to become the cardinal of Mainz and the leader of the moderate wing of the German bishops’ conference. Müller’s dissertation was on the famed German Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Moreover, Müller is a close personal friend of the renowned Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez, considered the father of liberation theology. Every year since 1998, Müller has travelled to Peru to take a course from Gutiérrez, and has spent time living with farmers in a rural parish near the border with Bolivia.
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In 2008, he accepted an honorary doctorate from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, which is widely seen as a bastion of the progressive wing of the Peruvian church. On the occasion, he praised Guttierez and defended his theology.
“The theology of Gustavo Gutiérrez, independently of how you look at it, is orthodox because it is orthopractic,” he said. “It teaches us the correct way of acting in a Christian fashion since it comes from true faith.”
In the same speech, Müller described "neo-liberal capitalism" as the "infamy of our age."
All that suggests the church might be in for some surprises should Müller indeed inherit the Vatican’s top doctrinal job.
Traditionalist e-mails
Traditionalist e-mails notwithstanding, we could do a helluva lot worse:
http://www.bischof-gerhard-ludwig-mueller.de/borPage004750.asp
I suspect their FEARS arise from the fact that he's a hard core scholar AND pastor!
Sounds like a very
Sounds like a very interesting man. Could it be that the Vatican is finally
getting to understand the 'culture' of the catholic church in South America.
The Hierarcy there live in a separate world with great detatchment. The native
and missionary folk are the real people.
If this man says that Protestants belong to the Church he would be absolutely
correct in terms or our own doctrine. One Christ, One body, One Church. That
we are separated by historical arguments is largely irrelevant. We have to
remember that originally there were only Christians and these were mostly Jews
to begin with. Segregating out The Catholic Church only became a sin of
Arrogant Domination and very unChrist like. We must understand any ecumenical
movement to mean unity in diversity. We have an excellent theological example
of this in the Trinity. Unity does not mean conformity.
I hope the man gets to hold the position. I am sure he would be able to uphold
orthodoxy without being threatened by growing ideas and the attempt, as in
Vatican II to achieve some aggiornamento.
God Bless,
TomC
Bishop Muller's appointment
Bishop Muller's appointment is encouraging news and it would give us hope that the Holy Father is coming around to tacking in a different direction as captain of St. Peter's barque. Given cardinal Ratzinger's treatment of Father Leonardo Boff, it can only mean a new path for the Church in South America.
Wow, that would send the signal to all the world that Benedict XVI, like the proverbial old dog, can indeed be taught new tricks, and that efforts to rule the Church as Uberpontiff taking us back to the Council of Trent with its antiquated liturgy has backfired very badly. Now let us hope Benedict will start to put aside the ridiculous papal foppery and prelatial costume reminiscent of a dead church with leadership living in the past.
When the fawning radical traddies around him are banished into the boondocks: cardinal Burke as chaplain to nuns in the inner city of Camden New Jersey and cardinal Pell to minister to folks in Alice Springs, you'll know a marked reversal is in the winds. A reversal, of course, which is long overdue.
Protestants have always been part of the Church and it is time to recognize that fact. Bashing them as "heretics" does not cancel their membership in the Mystical Body. All who approach the sacraments with faith and have repented of their sins should be admitted to the sacred mysteries.
Ah Father Dunstan, How much
Ah Father Dunstan,
How much longer must young people wait to be able to trust the doctrine they receive from the pulpit?
"that efforts to rule the
"that efforts to rule the Church as Uberpontiff taking us back to the Council of Trent with its antiquated liturgy has backfired very badly. Now let us hope Benedict will start to put aside the ridiculous papal foppery and prelatial costume reminiscent of a dead church with leadership living in the past. "
Wow, what a kooky comment with no understanding of the powerful mind of our pope and his ideas to bring about the full blossoming of the Vatican II liturgical renewal. We have as our pope the best mind since Aquinas, and I, as a young adult Catholic, am very happy about that. May he live many years.
Ratzinger may just be
Ratzinger may just be promoting one of his toady acolytes.
SIDESHOW, NOT MAIN EVENT
SIDESHOW, NOT MAIN EVENT ...... John, whomever replaces Levada can be replaced by the next pope, the main event.
Ludwig Muller studied under Karl Lehmann, who studied under Hans Kung. Is it too much to hope that some of Kung's integrity and courage have been passed on to Muller? If it has been passed on, Muller's chances are diminished with a curia that fears greatly courage and integrity, a lethal combination at the Vatican.
For more info on the main event, the pope's election, please read the cross-links and NCR comment, " 'Petty' Or Corrupt Secrets?" , readily accessible by clicking on at:
http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/puccini-meets-watergate-vatileaks-scandal
Integrity and courage? Kung
Integrity and courage? Kung is a heretic. No two ways about it. Let's hope he doesn't have Kung's type of integrity and courage or we'll have the great apostasy staring us in the face.
HANS KUNG'S NO HERETIC
HANS KUNG'S NO HERETIC ........ Byzcat, you are wrong here. Tell me why one of the current pope's first official acts was to have a private meal and four hour social meeting with Hans Kung.
Please keep an eye out for the English edition of Hans Kung's new book, "Can the Catholic Church Still Be Saved?". You might even learn something and can then have a new experience of knowing what you are talking about before you call the greatest Catholic public intellectual of the past half century a "heretic".
I'm beginning to notice a
I'm beginning to notice a decided 'tribalism' in all our "left vs. right" discussions...whereby "our guy" or "our gal" is held to a different standard than "that blasted other guy, other gal" who is a partisan of the "other team" or "other tribe".
So if the Pope is considered to be from the other tribe, almost nothing he says or does is taken at face value, the worst intentions or motives are ascribed to him, any error or mistake or negative outcome is ascribed to moral failure....whereas OUR guy is not similarly judged.
Or vice versa.
So if we're "progressive" we take on faith that our motives are pure, our cause is just, our ideas are right, and our praxis is conducive to human flourishing.... just because.
If we're "conservative" we also take on faith that our motives are pure, our cause is just, our ideas are right, and our praxis is conducive to human flourishing.... just because.
And so we marshal evidence in reverse to back fill our assumption of righteousness.
But is an objective accounting of the tribes' actions, claims, accomplishments, fruits, "results" possible? Or must everything be an assertion and a claim based on tribal loyalty (as in 'thou shall not doubt the tribe's righteousness!')
The Progressives claim women ought to be priests. The Orthodox say no. Arguments are marshalled on both sides. But the 'trump' arguments rest on criteria that are not shared. Progressives don't accept Papal magisterial teaching and Orthodox don't accept as valid the assertions of the "parallel magisterium". So we're at an impasse.
Is there an independent way to prove God's blessing on the concept though?
Or take "progressive" ideas on the best way to help the poor.... it's assumed that "capitalism" (and economic system) is inferior to "socialism" (a system of government). Our tribe says it, it must be so. But again, what independent evidence can be marshalled to prove it either way? To reach facts vs. spin and propaganda?
A timely bit of counsel,
A timely bit of counsel, John. We must be self aware of the reflex of confirmation bias (to support our own views) and cognitive dissonance (to ignore the views of others). God gave us both the Spirit and our brains, let them dance together.
You were on a roll until your
You were on a roll until your last paragraph. Most liberals I know do not like the abuse inherent in unregulated unrestrained capitalism. That's vastly different from supporting socialism. Even football has rules and regulations and referees to enforce those rules and regulations.
Advocating a real safety net for the poor is actually a form of internal national security.
My guess is this is a
My guess is this is a non-starter. I've noticed that when Rome puts out a trial balloon regarding someone like this, it almost never happens that they secure an influential post in the Vatican. It's like pretending that a wider theology is being considered, or is in someways acceptable. That I doubt.
I'm staying, but I have no illusions that the church in Rome, in this era, is filled with saints or even the virtuous. Perhaps it has never been so.
By the way, are you able to identify the traditional Italian Catholics? Do they belong to any particular groups?
it would be terrible if
it would be terrible if someone with real ties to liberation theology were to head the CDF. Pope Benedict, Pope John Paul II, the Gospels, reason and our faith all show it to be grave error. There is only one side and that is the side of Christ. Liberation theology does not square with Christ's gospel message. THe only serious entertainment of such ideology is the domain of hubris.
This is old news.
This is old news. lol
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/the-vatican/detail/articol...
Italian sources are however
Italian sources are however now reporting that Mueller may go to Mainz and that the pope is looking for an english speaker as head of the CDF. I think it mroe likley Mueller will go Cologne whose Archbishop is now pushing 79. As far as an enlish head of CDF I would think the leading contenders would be Cardinal Pell, Archbishop DiNoia, or if the decision is put off for another year, Archbishop Chaput. If the unthinkable would happen and Cardinal Burke would be named to the CDF it would represent a sharp turn to thr right.
CATHOLIC DOGMA SINCE LEO THE
CATHOLIC DOGMA SINCE LEO THE GREAT:
In the same speech, Müller described "neo-liberal capitalism" as the "infamy of our age."
since Jesus
One Christ One body One
One Christ One body One Church??? Or : One, No-one, Hundred Thousand ( Uno nessuno Centomila – Pirandello ) ??? Poor Christ Poor Church, Poor Body, torn to pieces...Thanks, Vaticans II!
Yes, it's all the fault of
Yes, it's all the fault of Vat II.
How about: the debbil made me do it?
Yes, an English speaker seems
Yes, an English speaker seems to be the most likely, since the CDF also is involved with Anglicanorum Coetibus...
Maybe Cardinal Burke, maybe DiNoia, maybe Ranjith...or maybe moving Ouellet to the CDF, and giving the Congretation of Bishops to Ranjith...any of these choices would be good.
I agree, it will be a native
I agree, it will be a native English speaker...what about Ouellet moving to the CDF and giving the congregation of the bishops to Ranjith...to finally have summorum pontificum applied generously all over the world? That would be fantastic news!
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