Pope Taps German to Head Orthodoxy Post

Sky News Australia
July 2, 2012

http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=767494&vId=


The Pope has named Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller to head the Vatican's all-important orthodoxy office, tapping a German theologian like himself to head the congregation he presided over for nearly a quarter-century enforcing Catholic doctrine.

The 64-year-old Regensburg bishop replaces American Cardinal William Levada, who turned 76 last month and is retiring after seven years at the helm of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the former Holy Office.

While Mueller is considered a staunchly orthodox, conservative theologian - he has penned some 400 academic articles and founded an institute to publish all the pope's writings - some of his positions have raised eyebrows in Rome and abroad.

Chief among them is his friendship with the Reverend Gustavo Gutierrez, the Peruvian priest considered the founder of liberation theology, the Marxist-influenced theology advocating for the poor.

Pope Benedict XVI, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, spent much of his tenure at the congregation battling liberation theology, arguing that it misinterpreted Jesus' preference for the poor into a call for rebellion.

Mueller was a student of Gutierrez, wrote a book with him on liberation theology in 2004 and in 2008 was given an honorary degree at the Pontifical University of Lima, where he delivered a speech titled My Experiences with Liberation Theology.

He has also served on several ecumenical committees, including being named the chief Catholic negotiator in theological talks with Lutherans.

None of this has endeared him to traditionalist, archconservative Catholics, who have for the most part championed Benedict's conservative line and raised questions about Mueller's appointment, which has been rumoured for months.

In addition to handling clerical sex abuse cases, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is responsible for negotiating with a group of traditionalist Catholics, the Society of St. Pius X, which split from Rome over the liberalising reforms of the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council.