Gerhard Müller, Bishop of Regensburg, takes over from retired Cardinal Levada as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Liam sent me this link, with the following commentary from “New Catholic” at Rorate Caeli:
Müller’s nomination is also meant as a sign of a positive reevaluation of Liberation Theology, of which Müller is an enthusiast, in the Vatican – signaled by an article by Müller himself highlighting “positive” aspects of this dreadful movement published last December in L’Osservatore Romano. Which considering last week’s news on the collapse of the Church in Brazil, the one most ravaged by Liberation Theology, probably means people in the Vatican simply cannot understand numbers… Or do they want those numbers?
If the traditionalists are dismayed, is that good news for the Church? My friends know I don’t subscribe to the enemy-of-my-enemy meme. I see equal opportunity splinters all over the place. Will Bishop Müller be a CDF head in the image of Joseph Ratzinger, an active theologian as well as a bureaucrat? Or should we pay more attention to the man as an administrator: the guy who blew up consulting bodies in his diocese, alienated himself from his brother bishops somewhat, and extended a hard line to stray sheep regardless of their ideology?
I think the internet conservative Catholics are really in trouble spiritually, if they expect like-minded leadership in their own image, and start spouting “heresy” at every bishop’s every published word–which they watch carefully, I’m sure. Given what I’ve seen in the comboxes at RC and WDTPRS, the ministry of Peter sure has it’s work cut out for it in the cyber-age.
Catholic Sensibility 