The former doctrine chief for the Catholic Church told a conservative website the child sex abuse scandal in the church is tied to growing influence of LGBTQ ideology, which he said was based on atheism and the denial of God.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, spoke with the far-right website LifeSite regarding the recent resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

McCarrick is accused of sexually abusing young boys, but Müller seemed more focused on the “the moral depravity of homosexual acts among adults.” He said the recent scandal comes from growing influence of LGBTQ voices in the church.

On that front, he said the inclusion of the term “LGBT” in church documents shows the real problem. He referenced the term among “propaganda phrases of the homosexual lobby.”

“It is finally atheism that has spread within the Church,” Müller told LifeSite. “According to this evil spirit, the Revelation concerning Faith and morals is being adapted to the world without God so that it does not interfere anymore with a life according to one's own lusts and needs.”

The said the removal of penalties in church doctrine for homosexual acts led to child abuse scandals within the clergy.

“That was a disastrous error,” he said. “Sexual contacts between persons of the same sex completely and directly contradict the sense and purpose of sexuality as grounded in creation.”

LifeSite was founded by the Campaign Life Coalition, a far-right political organization that bills itself as “standing against threats to life, family and faith.” That includes lobbying against abortion rights and marriage equality.