Posts Tagged Cardinal Gerhard Muller
Exclusive: Marie Collins responds to Cardinal Muller’s allegations about abuse commission / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on March 14, 2017
“Marie Collins of Ireland is a clergy sexual abuse survivor who resigned March 1 from Pope Francis’ Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave an interview shortly following Collins’ resignation. Collins has written an open letter to Müller in response to that interview.”
… Finally, with respect, Cardinal, I do not know what the motivation is in regard to any difficulties put in the way of the pontifical commission. All it wishes to do is bring better protection to children and vulnerable adults wherever in the world the Catholic Church is present. If there are problems, nothing is gained by maintaining a pretense that all is well.
“I would ask that instead of falling back into the Church’s default position of denial and obfuscation, when a criticism like mine is raised the people of the church deserve to be given a proper explanation. We are entitled to transparency, honesty and clarity.
“No longer can dysfunction be kept hidden behind institutional closed doors. This only succeeds as long as those who know the truth are willing to remain silent.”
By Marie Collins in National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
In sign of resolve, Pope taps O’Malley for Vatican office handling abuse cases / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Pope Francis, Voice of the Faithful on January 17, 2017
In a move likely to be read as an attempt by Pope Francis to show resolve in the fight against clerical sexual abuse, the pontiff has named Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley, widely seen as the leading reformer in the Catholic hierarchy, as a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the powerful Vatican department that handles abuse cases.
“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, traditionally known as the “Holy Office,” is headed by German Cardinal Gerhard Muller. Its main responsibility is defending Catholic teaching, but since 2001, it’s also played lead in prosecuting cases under Church law for priests charged with sexual abuse.
“Last June, Pope Francis also announced that the congregation would house a new legal section designed to impose accountability not only on abuser priests, but also on bishops and other Catholic superiors who covered up that abuse.
“Since then, however, the launch of the new tribunal has been delayed amid legal and administrative wrangling, and O’Malley’s appointment may well reflect a desire by Francis to kick-start the process.”
By Ines San Martin, Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Muller on ‘Spotlight’ cover-up: Most priests ‘bitterly wronged’ by abuse generalizations / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on March 4, 2016
Questioned on his reaction to the unveiling of systematic cover-up of priestly sexual abuse in the Oscar-winning film ‘Spotlight,’ the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, said that only a number of individuals not motivated by their priestly office but instead ‘disturbed or immature,’ have been proven guilty of sexually abusing minors …
“Meanwhile, Jesuit Fr. Klaus Mertes, the whistleblower who first unveiled the abuse in the Jesuit College in Berlin during his tenure as headmaster in 2010, has called for Müller to step down.
“Bishops who contribute towards covering up abuse cases should be removed from episcopal office or step down, Mertes told the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger …
“‘Instead of stepping down, Bishop Müller, who covered up and obscured sexual abuse when he was in the highest position in the church in his diocese, has climbed the hierarchical ladder just like that,’ Mertes said. ‘… He still continually speaks of ‘malicious press campaigns’ against the Catholic church. Not a sign of remorse and certainly not of a willingness to deal with the structural problems that the church has in connection with abuse. For him it is just the case of a few evil churchmen but otherwise everything is in order in the church and can remain as it always was.’
“‘In my opinion, that is intolerable — above all, intolerable for the victims,’ Mertes continued. ‘How can this man, who is the head of the Congregation finally responsible for abuse, of all things, ever again be credible?'”
By Christa Pongratz-Lippitt, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Former diocesan leader alleges Muller thwarted investigation of choir boy abuse / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on February 1, 2016
A former chairman of the lay diocesan council in Regensburg, Germany, has alleged that Vatican Cardinal Gerhard Müller ‘systematically’ prevented the investigation of abuse in Germany’s famous ‘Regensburger Domspatzen’ boys’ choir during his time as Bishop of Regensburg.
“The allegations against Müller, who is now the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, coincided with 60 further alleged abuse victims coming forward since Ulrich Weber, an independent lawyer, published an interim report in January which showed that three times as many boys had been abused between 1953 and 1992 than reported by the diocese.”
By Christa Pongratz-Lippitt, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Francis wants more women theologians advising the CDF / Commonweal
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Future of the Church, Vatican, Women in the Church on September 5, 2014
In an interview with L’Osservatore Romano (not yet published in English), Cardinal Gerhard Müller, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, revealed that Pope Francis has directed that more women be included in the Vatican’s international theological commission …
“According to (Cardinal Gerhard) Müller (head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), the number will increase to ‘five or six,’ which ‘would be a significant increase,’ Tornielli points out …
“What kind of difference could that make? Well, imagine if the U.S. bishops’ conference committee on doctrine had sought out the input of some women theologians before expressing its alarm at Johnson’s not-very-radical thoughts on female images of God.”
By Mollie Wilson O’Reilly, Commonweal — Click here to read the rest of this article
What’s eating Catholic women? / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful, Women in the Church on September 4, 2014
Two years ago, when Cardinal Gerhard Müller criticized the Leadership Conference of Women Religious for promoting radical feminist themes, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith offered a stark reminder that feminism has no place in the Roman Catholic church.
“In his most recent interview in L’Osservatore Romano (the Vatican’s ‘semi-official’ newspaper), Müller further indicates that any suggestion of misogyny on the part of the hierarchy is a claim best answered with a punch line.
“Sadly, it’s a comedic lesson Müller likely learned from his boss, the pope …
“The time has come for the hierarchy to stop making jokes about gobbling up women and to start talking turkey about the ways in which the church’s structural sins exacerbate the suffering of women globally.”
By Jamie Manson, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this column.
Stakes are high as LCWR heads into annual assembly / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Voice of the Faithful, Women in Catholic Church on August 11, 2014
As the largest leadership organization for U.S. women religious prepares to gather for four days in Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 12-16, the group appears to stand on a precipice.
“But what lies on either side or what path the membership will choose to follow, no one can say.
“The Leadership Conference of Women Religious has been under the shadow of a Vatican-ordered doctrinal assessment since 2009. Following the investigation in 2012, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ordered it to reform its statutes and appointed a bishop to oversee changes.
“Now, the situation is starker: In April, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the congregation, ordered that after this assembly, speakers at the group’s events must be approved by Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, who heads the five-year reform agenda for LCWR.
“But will LCWR members choose to follow Müller’s edict that Sartain have approval power over speakers at major events? Or will the group decide to stick to its contention that the sanctions are ‘disproportionate to the concerns raised and compromised the organization’s ability to fulfill its mission'”?
By Dan Stockman, Dawn Cherie Araujo, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Priests Criticize Head of Doctrinal Congregation for Rebuke of LCWR / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clericalism, Religious Women, Voice of the Faithful on June 18, 2014
The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests in a letter to Pope Francis criticized the head of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for his recent comments chastising the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
“The Seattle-based association, which claims 1,000 U.S. priests as members, focused its letter to the pope on comments made by the congregation’s prefect, German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, in an April 30 welcoming address to LCWR leadership.”
By Catholic News Service in National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Nuns Accused of Not Cooperating with Vatican / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on May 6, 2014
The Vatican chief of doctrine has accused U.S. women religious leaders of not abiding by a reform agenda the Vatican imposed on their leadership organization following a doctrinal assessment of the group.
“Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the leadership group they were ignoring procedures for choosing speakers for their annual conferences and questioned if their programs were promoting heresy.
“Using the most direct and confrontational language since the Vatican began to rein in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious two years ago, Müller told leaders of the conference that starting in August, they must have their annual conference programs approved by a Vatican-appointed overseer before the conference agendas and speakers are finalized.”
By Dennis Coday, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Voice of the Faithful
A lay movement for governance reform in the Roman Catholic Church, responding to the clergy sexual abuse scandal and supporting survivors.
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