UNITED STATES
Fox News
By John Moody
Published July 02, 2017
There are two ways of looking at the Roman Catholic Church under the rule of Pope Francis: an increasingly tolerant, inclusive, mercy-based charity, or a spectator blood-sport between ideological rivals who will reconcile their differences. Under the second scenario, Francis just scored what might be a knockout punch.
By removing Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Francis neutralized one of the few princes of the church whose job it was to call out the pope for his seemingly endless appetite for doctrinal change. Müller, who was installed in his job by Francis’s predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, represented the conservative wing of the church that has looked askance at the current pontiff’s disregard for centuries-old tradition and restrictions.
Making matters even worse, Francis replaced Müller with Archbishop Luis Ladaria, who like Francis is a Jesuit. That reduces the likelihood that the pope will meet opposition from the one office in the church with the duty to interpret Catholic magisterium – that is, spreading doctrinal teaching to the church’s billion plus adherents.
Ever since Francis assumed the Throne of Peter in 2013, he and Müller seemed to be on a collision course. Soon after becoming pope, Francis floated the idea of letting divorced Catholics who had remarried outside the church receive Holy Communion. In his role as chief interpreter of church doctrine, Müller let the pope know that was a non-starter.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.