The Vatican’s former doctrinal chief declared homophobia “simply doesn’t exist” and was merely a totalitarian ideology’s tool to redefine reality.

German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller made the comments decrying the concept of “homophobia,” originally published in an Italian blog, shortly after the May 17 World Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, according to Crux Now.

Muller lambasted the concept as “an invention, an instrument of totalitarian dominion over the minds of others.”

“The homosexual movement doesn’t have scientific arguments, so it’s constructed an ideology that wants to dominate, seeking to construct its own reality. It’s the Marxist scheme, according to which it’s not reality that builds thought, it’s thought that builds reality,” Muller said, according to Crux.

He also compared the enforcement against homophobia to the persecution levied against Christians by totalitarian regimes like North Korea and the Soviet Union.

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“Whoever doesn’t accept this thought is considered sick, as if, among other things, illness could be treated with police and courts,” Muller explained. “In the Soviet Union, Christians were put into insane asylums, which are the means of totalitarian regimes such as National Socialism and Communism. Today in North Korea, the same fate awaits anyone who doesn’t accept the dominant thinking.”

When asked what Muller thought of bishops who held prayer vigils for the World Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, he said such bishops lacked conviction and allowed “psycho-terrorism” to bully them.

“Some bishops today don’t have the courage to speak the truth and allow themselves to be intimidated. They don’t understand that homophobia is a hoax that serves to threaten people,” Muller added.

“Today, people are being scared by psycho-terrorism, taking advantage of their ignorance. … We [bishops] are the ones who seek, with the grace of God, to love all people, including those who are attracted to the same sex, but it must be clear that loving is not obeying genderist propaganda,” he noted.

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Muller also addressed the controversy over Pope Francis’ pastoral approach toward LGBTQ individuals, saying while it may seem conciliatory to some, the pontiff has only stated what is in the catechism.

“The pope just said the same thing that’s in the Catechism: Every person merits respect because he or she is made in the image of God, and we can’t use a person for any reason,” Muller said.

He then acknowledged Francis’ later comment about the existence of a gay lobby within the church was also true.

As for church leaders who advocate for doctrinal changes, like a reinterpretation of Pope Paul VI’s reaffirmation of the church’s ban on birth control in “Humanae Vitae,” Muller again referenced totalitarian regimes.

“I compare those who want to revisit ‘Humanae Vitae’ in order to please the masses with those who made compromises during the totalitarian regimes,” he said. “You can’t make compromises with wolves — even for the sake of saving a few sheep. It’s an illusion to think you can save a few sheep, when you’ll lose the whole flock.”

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“That’s not the logic of Jesus,” Muller said. “In order to not lose even a single sheep, he sacrificed himself, not the sheep.”

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