Cardinal Müller defends Benedict XVI

By offering a clear answer to those who criticized Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI for his document on the origin of badual abuse, German Cardinal Gerhard Müller said that the revival of the Catholic Church should focus on the Christ and his teachings.

"Rebuilding and renewing the whole Church can only succeed in Christ if we are guided by the teachings of the Church on faith and morality," wrote the Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the United Nations. Faith in: April 26 in the magazine First Things, entitled "Benedict and his critics".

ACI Press's April 10 document badyzes the crisis of badual abuse in the church in light of the badual revolution of the 1960s, the collapse of moral theology and its effects on the life of men. priests and the formation of seminarians.

After its publication, some criticized its approach, as if the sovereign pontiff emeritus had expressed a position contrary to Pope Francis.

In addition to Cardinal Müller, the Italian badyst Giulio Meotti also defended Benedict XVI with an article entitled "The 68 pedophiles", in which he explains how leftist intellectuals of the 60s and 70s defended and promoted pedophilia in the world. context of the badual revolution, identified by Benedict XVI as being at the origin of badual abuse committed in the Catholic Church.

In his letter of 26 April, Cardinal Müller emphasized that "Benedict is the most important figure in the Church's struggle against this crisis" for his role in the development of Church standards in 2001 to fight against the most serious crimes: "He has the widest and most profound vision concerning this problem, its causes and its history," said the German cardinal.

Benedict "is in a better position than any blind man who wants to lead the blind," said the cardinal. Those who criticize the pope emeritus, he added, "lack respect and are ideologically blind".

For his part, the cardinal said that considering the problem of abuse as something that originated in clericalism or celibacy is proving to be an ideology that undermines "zero tolerance as the only correct policy".

"Sexual abuse against teenagers or even adult seminarians can in no way be tolerated, even if the author wants to excuse himself by noting that he may exist consent between adults, "he continued.

True clericalism, explained Cardinal Müller, characterizes the bishop who "asks his clergy to give Holy Communion to people who are not in full communion with the faith of the Church or to those who must be absolved from 'a serious sin by penance'. If a prelate does this, then he "abuses the authority that Christ conferred upon him and compels others to act against the commandments of the Lord".

According to the prefect emeritus, the negative reaction of some to the document of Benedict XVI shows "his diagnosis: a kind of moral theology, long non-Catholic, has collapsed".

The cardinal also denounced those who, "on the backs of young victims of badual abuse, attempt to replace the moral teaching of the Church, based on the natural right and divine revelation, with a badual morality according to the selfish principle. " fun of the 1970s ".

To those who criticize the Church for "interpreting the commandments of God in an old-fashioned way" and who demand a new form "in accordance with the modern human sciences", the German cardinal emphasized that "morality will always be the distinction between good and evil. "

In this sense, the cardinal asked: "Can adultery be good only because a dechristianized society believes in something different from what is established in the sixth commandment (You do not commit impure acts)? "

"In immoral acts, especially against marital love and its fecundity, (the Holy Apostle), Paul detects a denial of God because the will of the creator is not recognized as the measure of our good works, "he continued.

In this sense, the cardinal explained that a concrete consequence for the life of the Church is that "we can only admit candidates for priestly ordination who have natural prerequisites, who are intellectually and morally capable and who show the spiritual disposition of totally serving the Lord. "

The cardinal also pointed out that considering celibacy as the cause of abuse in the Church can only emerge from a "materialistic and atheistic perspective". "There is no proof of that, statistics on badual abuse indicate the opposite."

This atheistic perspective, he continued, is also found "in the arguments of those who accuse an invented" clericalism "or the sacramental structure of the Church to be at the root of the abuses . " He also recalled that religious are not mere "officers", but those who must serve the people of God with their ministry.

Finally, said the prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, we must all refocus on the origin and the center of our faith: the triune God, the incarnation of Christ, (…) the proximity with God in the Holy Eucharist and the frequent confession, the daily prayer and the will to be guided in our moral life by the grace of God. "

"Nothing else will give us the exit from the current crisis of faith and morality for a good future," he concluded.

Translated and adapted by Walter Sánchez Silva. Originally published in CNA

Posted in Aciprensa.