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Published: July 5, 2012
German prelate to head Vatican doctrinal congregation
Cardinal Levada returning to California
The following story was first published on Catholic World News on July 2.
Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller of Regensburg, Germany to become prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the Vatican’s key doctrinal office.
 Bishop Müller—who will assume the title of archbishop as he assumes his new responsibilities—replaces Cardinal William Levada, who is retiring at the age of 76. The appointment had been widely expected.
Originally ordained to the priesthood in the Mainz diocese, the 64-year-old Bishop Müller was named Bishop of Regensburg in 2002. A longtime acquaintance of Pope Benedict, he has been acting as editor for the multi-volume series that will eventually include the complete works of Joseph Ratzinger as theologian prior to his election to the papacy. He played host to Pope Benedict in 2006 when the Pontiff delivered his memorable and controversial “Regensburg lecture” at the university there.
Although he clearly enjoys the confidence of Pope Benedict, Archbishop-designate Müller has critics on both ends of the Catholic intellectual spectrum. Since his name began circulating months ago as a likely prefect for the CDF, he has come under critical scrutiny from traditionalist Catholics, who have paid special notice to his close friendship with Father Gustavo Gutierrez, a leading proponent of liberation theology. On the other hand, the radical theologian Hans Küng described his appointment as a “catastrophe.”
In becoming prefect of the CDF, the German prelate will also assume the added titles that come with that office, becoming president of the International Theological Commission, the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and the Ecclesia Dei commission. He will undoubtedly be elevated to the College of Cardinals at the next consistory.
 Cardinal Levada will remain a member of several important Vatican dicasteries until he reaches the age of 80. But he has indicated that he hopes to retire to his native California. He was appointed in May 2005 to assume the role that Pope Benedict XVI himself had long filled.
At the time, the Pope was said to have wanted an American head of the CDF, to help cope with the enormous number of disciplinary cases involving American priests accused of sexual abuse. With the torrent of cases from the US abating, and the rise in cases involving European priests, there was no longer any special need for an American prefect.
To read original story, Click here.
Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 4:05 AM By MAX
"Thou shall not covet thy neighbors' goods" and "Thou shall not steal" (-God's "Commandments", not suggestions.) CCC: "2411 Contracts are subject to commutative justice which regulates exchanges between persons and between institutions in accordance with a strict respect for their rights. Commutative justice obliges strictly; it requires safeguarding property rights, paying debts, and fulfilling obligations freely contracted. Without COMMUTATIVE JUSTICE, NO other form of justice is possible. One distinguishes commutative justice from legal justice which concerns what the citizen owes in fairness to the community, and from distributive justice which regulates what the community owes its citizens in proportion to their contributions and needs." Lastly, read the "Ratzinger Report" pgs 169-190 regarding Liberation Theology. Liberation Theology is wrong; it does not liberate but enslaves. All Bishops should include ALL teachings of the Church in their Social Justice programs, not just those that suit their political bias. Bishops should be more concerned about Saving Souls for eternity.
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 4:52 AM By Dottie
So when are we going to hear from the Vatican and all Bishops' Conferences that each Country (as well as individuals) is required to pay its own debts? CCC # 2411 - Commutative Justice. Liberation Theology is merely stealing - taking from one person and giving his possessions to another against his wishes - even if given the name "taxation" to procure social/financial equality. Jesus never taught this. Jesus gave the rich young man a choice.
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 6:18 AM By Canisius
Very, very, very bad news for any hope of healing the schism between SSPX and Rome, this guy does not want it to happen. Meanwhile I sure the gay masses will flourish ..sigh....
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 7:43 AM By Francis
Max (4:05am): You have quoted seriously out of context to the point of misrepresenting and trivializing the Holy Father's document. The opening line of the document you quote goes (in English translation): "Liberation theology is a phenomenon with an extraordinary number of layers. There is a whole spectrum from radically marxist positions, on the one hand, to the efforts which are being made within the framework of a correct and ecclesial theology." Bishop Müller obviously has intellect to discern the layers, and Catholic heart to know what to love and what to correct. He's accepted a job that trivializers can't even fathom.
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 8:15 AM By max
i just did some WWW research on this german bishop and it turns out that he really CFLAMPED DOWN on some liberal dissident ghroups in a very strict way. especially groups that tried to remake catholicism into something warm and cuddly for every tom, dick and harry that walks in the door. germany and nearby countries are going through a very whacko period right now where many priestss and lay people are trying to make communion open to EVERYBODY, and of course ordination also.
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 8:40 AM By Bud
"Hans Küng described his appointment as a “catastrophe.”
Wonderful! Good choice!
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 11:59 AM By JOHN
Levada back in CA----bad news. A priest of the 60's and friend of Quinn.
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 12:00 PM By Gil
Catholic World News reports that We Are Church is also strongly against him. Another sign that it's a good appointment.
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 12:57 PM By Jimmy Mac
There is no such thing as a "gay mass." There are only masses offered in the presence of Catholic congregations, irrespective of their constitutive participants.
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 4:35 PM By max
FROM CATHOLIC CULTURE ORG: An Austrian organization strongly critical of Church teaching is criticizing Pope Benedict’s appointment of the bishop of Regensburg as the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Archbishop Gerhard Müller is a “hardliner” who has called “reform groups parasitic,” We Are Church said in a statement. The organization faulted the prelate for “limiting the participation of the laity” and said that he is not a “team player.”
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 4:52 PM By Elizabeth
John,
Keep praying to the Holy Spirit that we will get an orthodox AB, who will clean house, and has NO history with San Francisco!!!!!
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 5:08 PM By Kenneth M. Fisher
Why aren't you giving us the WHOLE story about how he allegedy does not believe in the Traditional teachings on The Immaculate Conception, and the True Presence in the Blessed Sacrament? There are probably other things about this man we should know as well.
What are true believes to do when the Head of the Propagation of the Faith may well be a heretic.
As for myself, I will do what Our Lady of Akita asked us to do, "stay with Tradition.
Our Lady of The Americas, pray for us. Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 5:23 PM By JLS
Jimmy Mac, if the constitutive participants are all gay, then it would be a black mass.
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 5:25 PM By JLS
"open ordination", max? Maybe a good deal, though ... especially if it could be done on line. Heck, put on your Alfred Hitchcock "Psycho" movie get up and send in the cyber info with the cyber debit and oilah, you're then all set.
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 5:42 PM By Juergensen
"Hans Küng described his appointment as a 'catastrophe'" ~ Praise be to Jesus!
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 7:33 PM By MAX
Frances, I didn't quote the Holy Father's position on Liberation Theology, and you should not either. I merely directed people to the Ratzinger Report which he approved. Liberation Theology is wrong and he does clearly state that in the book. Here is one quote (pg 175): " An analysis of the phenomenon of liberation theology reveals that it constitutes a fundamental threat to the faith of the Church. At the same time it must be borne in mind that no error could persist unless it contained a grain of truth. Indeed, an error is all hte moredangerous, the greater that grain of truth is, for then the temptation it exerts is all the greater". "So to it (Liberation Theology) alters all forms of Church life; the Church's constitution, liturgy, catechesis, mortal options". AND "The Sermon on the Mount is indeed God taking sides with the poor. But to interpret the "poor" in the sense of the marxist dialectic of history, and taking sides with them in the sense of a class struggle, is a wanton attempt to portray as identical things that are contrary". AND "What is theologically unacceptable here, and socially dangerous, is this mixture of Bible, christology, politics, sociology, and economics. Holy Scripture and theology cannot be misused to absolutize and sacralize a theory concerning the socio-political order..."By ...mixing up God, Christ and idelogies - they only succeed in producing a dreamy fanaticism that can lead to even worse injustices and oppression..."
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 7:34 PM By MAX
. . . AND lastly for the purposes of proving that Liberation Theology is wrong is: "It is also painful to be confronted with the illusion, so essentailly un-Christian, which is present among Priests and Theologians, that a new man and a new World can be created, not by calling each individual to conversion, but only by changing the social and economic structures. For it is precisely personal sin that is in reality at the root of unjust social structures". There are many more quotes that prove the ultimate evil of Liberation Theology. Read the Ratzinger Report.
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 8:18 PM By Francis
JLS, I envy the spontaneity with which you invent new facts and re-jigger old ones for new purposes: "if the constitutive participants are all gay, then it would be a black mass." Great way to insult gays, satanists, intellectuals who know what a black mass really is, and amuse the rest of us. I would have called it a "pink mass" and missed half the fun.
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 9:05 PM By JLS
I saw Kung on TV news decades ago and it looked like his neck and head were going to blow up. His theology is stupid, although many educated people think it is brilliant. He's the Catholic version of a Rube Goldberg drawing ... great articulation for nothing other than endless illusion.
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Posted Thursday, July 05, 2012 10:42 PM By Rick DeLano
As a theologian, ++Muller has certainly said some things which are....troubling.
His theological days are now at an end. He is here to preserve the Faith once delivered, and if he does this, then his theological innovations might, please God, be judged mercifully.
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Posted Friday, July 06, 2012 8:10 AM By Bruce
Would anyone care to guess who wrote this? "Eucharistic devotion such as is noted in the silent visit by the devout in church must not be thought of as a conversation with God. This would assume that God was present there locally and in a confined way. To justify such an assertion shows a lack of understanding of the Christological mysteries of the very concept of God. This is repugnant to the serious thinking of the man who knows about the omnipresence of God. To go to church on the ground that one can visit God who is present there is a senseless act which modern man rightfully rejects."
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Posted Friday, July 06, 2012 9:22 AM By JLS
Francis, you seem to confuse argument for fact. Were you aware of the difference? Wait, you were one of those "educated" in a memorization school, weren't you ... taught to regurgitate data and wholly unaware of the act of reasoning.
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Posted Friday, July 06, 2012 9:23 AM By JLS
Francis, btw, it is hardly possible to insult gays ... because their consciences are so deranged and dulled by their behaviors. When they are insulted, they always take it as a come on. They crave it.
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Posted Friday, July 06, 2012 11:04 AM By Bob One
Mr. Fisher, don't you think that calling the Bishop a heritic is a little strong? Since the Pope knows him so well and he has worked so closely with the Pope on personal projects, your charge sort of implicates the Pope as a heritic as well, or at least as someone who wants a heritic in that position. Is that what you meant?
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Posted Friday, July 06, 2012 12:15 PM By Bruce
These quotes strike resoundingly at the very essence of the Catholic Church, at its Holy of Holies, at that Presence in the tabernacle that set it apart all through the ages, not only from all non-Christian religions, but also from the seven thousand or so sects that have retained the name of Christian. The source is the book Die Sacramentale Begrundung and it is available on bookstands in Germany. Its theses have never been rejected or censored.
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Posted Friday, July 06, 2012 3:38 PM By Kenneth M. Fisher
8:18 PM By Francis,
I have read a great deal about "Black Masses". I have also discussed them with knowledgeable priests of all ranks. I cannot tell you what I know of those horrible sacrileges on this Site, it would be rightfully censored!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
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Posted Friday, July 06, 2012 3:47 PM By Kenneth M. Fisher
Bob One, 11:04 AM,
I often write things in the hope that someone will prove me wrong, so far none of you have done that. By the way, what is your definition of "may be"?
Are you aware that the successor of Pope Liberius called him a heretic? Beliefs that are spoken, published and in contradiction to the Magisterium, are indeed heresies!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
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Posted Friday, July 06, 2012 4:30 PM By JLS
The passage noted by Bruce is an English literal translation of something written in German in 1965 by then Fr. Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. I can read the version supplied by Bruce, above, and see that it can be interpreted in a way that would be alarming; however, it also can be interpreted in a way that is doctrinally sound. Even if the Pope were a native speaker of English and wrote it in English, it still can be interpreted doctrinally sound. I recall from my days in German class in both high school and university, and in other literary type classes, how difficult written language is for many otherwise bright students. I can see why many people would read the passage and interpret it to oppose Church doctrine. The key is to consider what the introductory condition is, "such as is noted in ... ": This phrase conditions the entire passage, and is not overtly clarified; it requires the reader to know what the context happens to be. One can then mentally list a variety of probable contexts and then see if the passage makes sense in light of any of them. It does. If you are good at this, then you're all set; otherwise, go on to something that you can deal with better.
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Posted Friday, July 06, 2012 4:37 PM By JLS
Let me continue my defense of the Pope's passage posted by Bruce: Consider the last scene of the movie, Heartbreak Ridge, where the "Gunny" is addressed respectfully by the General, and after getting the context of the situation, the General then asks the Major who screwed up the action what his assignment was prior to being given command of an infantry company. The Major replied that he was a supply officer. The General then asked him, "Were you good at it?". The Major answered, "Yes, sir". Upon which the General advised the Major, "Then go back to what you are good at". Theology can become what they call "sublime". This means it sometimes requires both faith and reason ... intertwined ladders that simply reach beyond the capabilities of most people. This is why holy bishops are critically necessary for the Church ... "holy" bishops. The also ran bishops are good for nothing. A bishop is either holy or worthless. Understanding God is a great thing, but holiness in our lives is far greater. Holy lives will help the soul discern the motives of the bishop and discern if the bishop is a holy one. Assuming that the Pope is taking his own order to the bishops to get holy in stride, then you might make another attempt to see the virtue in the passage.
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Posted Friday, July 06, 2012 4:55 PM By Francis
JLS: When [gays] are insulted, they always take it as a come on. If thats the case, why do you insult them?
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Posted Friday, July 06, 2012 6:45 PM By max
KENNETH M. FISHER there you go again, using the word 'heretic' like you some some monopoly on it. the holy fathr does NOT appoint heretics to lead the holy office, but your adherence to some so-called INDEPENDENT CHURCH is what leads you astray, time and time again, in the delusional notion that you know more than, and better than, the roman catholic church. you are indeed indepdenent, but bishop Müller is not: he is a successor to the apostles, close to the vicar of christ on earth, and chosen by same to head this important congregration. as for YOU...well, none of the above.
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