VATICAN Silent in Response to Reports of Muller’s Dismissal from C.d.f.

By Gerard O'Connell
America
June 30, 2017

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/06/30/vatican-silent-response-reports-mullers-dismissal-cdf

Cardinal Gerhard Muller (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Editor’s note: This story will be updated as events develop.

Late Friday evening, as multiple news outlets were reporting that Pope Francis has not reconfirmed Cardinal Muller as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the end of his five-year mandate, the Vatican remained silent.

The news was first reported by the blog Rorate Caeli, which has frequently criticized Pope Francis. Despite queries to the Vatican press office, neither a statement nor a denial has been issued, and church officials are uniformly refusing to comment.

Benedict XVI appointed Cardinal Muller as head of the C.D.F. in 2012 for a period of five years. The 69-year-old German cardinal, who has remained close to the emeritus pope, was due for reconfirmation in that position on July 2 and had a meeting with Pope Francis on the morning of June 30.

Controversy over Cardinal Muller’s role at the C.D.F. has focused on the interpretation of “Amoris Laetitia.” America has learned that a number of cardinals had asked Francis to remove Cardinal Muller from that post because he had on a number of occasions publicly disagreed with or distanced himself from the pope’s positions, and they felt this was undermining the papal office and magisterium.

In an interview on May 12 with EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo, for example, Cardinal Muller reiterated his argument that Pope Francis’ post-synodal statement on the family does not open the door to receiving Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics. This came after bishops’ conferences in Germany, Argentina and Malta issued guidelines on “Amoris” that allow divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive the sacrament in certain situations.

“It is not good that the bishops’ conferences are making official interpretations of the pope,” Cardinal Muller said. “That is not Catholic. We have this document of the pope, and it must be read in the context of the complete Catholic tradition.”

Sources in Rome expect the Vatican to issue a statement soon, perhaps as early as Saturday.