Curia is loyal, says Müller

The Prefect of the Congreg­ation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, has denied that there is opposition to Pope Francis in the Roman Curia, writes Christa Pongratz-Lippitt.

Asked in an interview with the German daily Rheinische Post whether the Curia was more ­critical of Pope Francis than many Catholics were, Cardinal Müller replied: “There is no opposition to the Pope. Loyalty to the Successor of St Peter is a prerequisite for the office of cardinal. We do our best to support the Pope in matters of church teaching.”

Asked how he thought Pope Francis would respond to “hot button” issues, such as allowing remarried divorcees to receive the Eucharist, Cardinal Müller said Francis “wants people in difficult situations to be accompanied and integrated into church communities without, however, lowering the standard of church teaching”.

The Church’s agenda was to trust in Jesus Christ and not a watered-down Christianity “at bargain prices”, he emphasised.

Meanwhile Cardinal Raymond Burke has pointed out that remarried divorcees are “fully aware of the irregularity of their situation”.

He told the German Tagespost: “From a sort of sentimentality we act as if the truth were something bad nowadays.”