Cardinal Müller Harshly Criticizes the Synod

Cardinal Gerard L. Müller’s assessment of the synod which has just concluded is very worrying. Speaking at the Rome Life Forum, organized by LifeSiteNews, Cardinal Müller warned that it is pure illusion to think of “modernizing the truth of the Gospel with the help of relativistic philosophies or ideologically corrupt anthropologies.”

“Just look at the local realities where this progressive theology prevails: empty seminaries, the disappearance of monastic life, the abandonment of the faithful. In Germany, for example, 13 million Catholics have been lost in 50 years, going from 33 million in 1968 to 20 million in 2023.” And he reiterates to the Daily Compass: “The aim of this Synod was to change the hierarchical structure of the Church: taking the Anglican or Protestant Church as a model.”

The cardinal explains, accusing the Pope: “When the Pope called the laity to participate, he changed the nature of the Synod.… For some, increasing the role of the laity seems like a simple reform.… In reality, it ignores the  sacrament of Holy Orders, which is not just a function of service, but a direct, special institution of Jesus Christ. He established the Church with its hierarchy.”

“Appealing to the universal priesthood of all the faithful is in this case, a way of denying this structure willed by Christ.… If you want to talk to the laity, it’s all very well, but there are other instruments… but the Synod has a different nature and the Pope cannot change the sacramental structure of the Church. You cannot give episcopal authority to someone who is not a bishop.”

Taking up a question, Cardinal Müller explains that he criticized the provision prohibiting bishops from wearing a cassock during the work of the Synod. “The question of the cassock may seem to be an insignificant detail.… A synod, like a council, is a liturgy, a worship of God, not just a meeting. So even the dress says what the Synod has become, a torrent of chatter.”