Müller hits out at Francis, says the way pope dismissed him was unacceptable

Pope Francis gave no reason for his dismissal of former Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prefect, Cardinal Gerhard Müller said.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller has sharply criticized Pope Francis for the "unacceptable" way in which the pontiff recently dismissed him as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF).

"On the very last day of my mandate as CDF prefect, the pope informed me within one minute of his decision not to prolong me. He did not give a reason – just as he gave no reason for dismissing three highly competent members of the CDF a few months earlier," the 69-year-old cardinal told the Bavarian daily Passauer Neue Presse.

"I cannot accept this way of doing things. As a bishop, one cannot treat people in this way," he said in the interview, which was published on July 6th.

"I have said this before – the Church's social teaching must also be applied to the way employees are treated here in the Vatican," he added.

Pope Francis told Cardinal Müller in a private meeting at the Vatican on June 30th that his mandate as doctrinal chief would not be renewed. The five-year term officially came to an end on July 2nd.

Müller told the Passauer Neue Presse that the recently deceased Cardinal Joachim Meisner, one of the four cardinals to publicly challenge the pope on issues concerning marriage and divorce, was "particularly upset" to hear of Francis' decision.

The former CDF prefect said he spoke to the 83-year-old Meisner about his dismissal in a long telephone conversation on the evening of July 4th.

"It moved and hurt him personally. He thought it would harm the Church," said Müller.

"That naturally speaks for me – but it's a fact – that was the way he expressed it," he added

The two cardinals spoke at 8:30 pm and Meisner died unexpectedly in his sleep later that night. Müller learned of the death early next morning from the parish priest in the town Bad Füssing, the Bavarian thermal spa resort where Meisner was on holiday.

Cardinal Müller said during their phone call Meisner had expressed deep concern over the current situation of the Church, particularly "about the quarreling, disputes and discussions which were standing in the way of church unity and the truth".

Cardinal Meisner was Archbishop of Cologne from 1983-2014 and, as a doctrinal conservative, was the German Church's most influential voice at the Vatican during the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

The interviewer asked Müller if Meisner was upset that Pope Francis had not yet answered the four cardinals' plea for clarification on the interpretation of Amoris Laetitia, notably whether remarried divorcees could receive the Eucharist in individual cases.

Cardinal Müller said that, rather than publishing the dubia (the cardinals' doubts) in a letter and making the discussion public, it would have been better to treat the issue in a confidential meeting.

He made sure to point out that he had never taken sides in the dubia debate.

"I was always loyal to the pope and always will be as a Catholic, a bishop and a cardinal," he insisted.

But he also emphasized that it was the task of the pope and the bishops to adhere to the truth of the Gospels and to preserve church unity.

"And this is where I must stress with all due clarity that the attempts up to now by Cardinals Schönborn, Kasper and others to explain how we can achieve a balancing act between dogma, that is church teaching, and pastoral practice (concerning communion for remarried divorcees), are simply not convincing," Müller said.

When asked if he thought Pope Francis should discuss the dubia with the remaining three cardinals who signed the letter, he said:

"I would suggest that the pope entrust me with the dialogue as I have the competence and the necessary sense of responsibility required. I could moderate the discussion between the pope and the cardinals."

He said he would not allow himself to be "harnessed to a movement which is critical of the pope". Instead, he said dialogue and cooperation was called for.

"Bridges are needed to prevent a schism," he warned. And he added that as a cardinal he continued to be responsible for preserving church unity and to avoiding polarizations as far as possible.

"As prefect-emeritus of the CDF I will devote myself to promoting and defending the faith", he said.

The German media has given wide coverage to Müller's dismissal as the head of the doctrinal congregation. Die Zeit, the high-quality 60-page weekly, devoted a whole page (56x40cm) to him entitled, "His deep Fall".

One of the most arresting lines in the article was a comment attributed to an unnamed Vatican diplomat.

"His task should have been to explain the reforms and translate them for the world at large; not to break with tradition, but to write a new chapter of tradition," the diplomat said.

"Instead he acted as the pope's inquisitor."

Originally published on 8 July 2017