Cardinal Gerhard Müller is quickly becoming the Poster Prelate of Diabolical Disorientation.
Sandro Magister has just published excerpts of an interview that will appear today in the Italian magazine, Il Timone, wherein Müller offered statements so entirely at odds with reality that one wonders if he isn’t suffering dementia.
For instance, asked to comment upon a supposed conflict between conscience and mortal sin, Müller said:
For Catholic doctrine, it is impossible for mortal sin to coexist with sanctifying grace.
Indeed! He then went on to characterize the notion that mortal sin and sanctifying grace (also known as the grace of justification) can coexist as an “absurd contradiction.”
Of course it is! This is elementary Catholicism. No authentic member of the Body of Christ would insist upon such a thing, but Jorge Bergoglio does:
Hence it is can no longer simply be said that all those in any “irregular” situation are living in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of sanctifying grace. More is involved here than mere ignorance of the rule. (AL 301)
Not only is this an “absurd contradiction;” it is, as the Council of Trent infallibly taught, heresy:
“In opposition also to the subtle wits of certain men, who, by pleasing speeches and good words, seduce the hearts of the innocent, it is to be maintained, that the received grace of Justification [sanctifying grace] is lost, not only by infidelity whereby even faith itself is lost, but also by any other mortal sin whatever, though faith be not lost; thus defending the doctrine of the divine law, which excludes from the kingdom of God not only the unbelieving, but the faithful also (who are) fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, liers with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, railers, extortioners, and all others who commit deadly sins…” (Council of Trent, Session VI, Chapter XV)
Asked if Familiaris Consortio (article 84) and the requirement for divorced and “remarried” couples to live in continence in order to receive the sacraments is still valid, Müller responded:
Of course, it is not dispensable, because it is not only a positive law of John Paul II, but he expressed an essential element of Christian moral theology and the theology of the sacraments. The confusion on this point also concerns the failure to accept the encyclical “Veritatis Splendor,” with the clear doctrine of the “intrinsece malum.” (intrinsic evil)
In this, Müller appears to be deliberately citing the dubia which references precisely these two documents of John Paul II; the same that His Humbleness refuses to reaffirm.
Hold your applause, however, as the punchline is about to be delivered…
According to Cardinal Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith:
It is not “Amoris Laetitia” that has provoked a confused interpretation, but some confused interpretations of it.
Either he is the smartest guy in the room with a master plan for defending the true faith so clever that only the positively brilliant can appreciate it, or he is exactly what I said at the outset; a victim of the Master Deceiver and the face of diabolical disorientation.
Surely, it is the latter, but for those who may as yet still doubt as much, Müller added:
The magisterium of the pope is interpreted only by him or through the congregation for the doctrine of the faith. The pope interprets the bishops, it is not the bishops who interpret the pope…
I am certain that readers of this space need no reminder that the “pope,” via his letter to the bishops of Buenos Aires, stated that there “are no other interpretations” than theirs; namely, guidelines that plainly treat the aforementioned teaching of Familiaris Consortio, and likewise Sacred Scripture and the Tradition of the Church, as entirely invalid.
As if he hadn’t made an ass of himself quite thoroughly enough, Müller chastised those who would dare to interpret Amoris Laetitia in this way, saying:
The bishop, as teacher of the Word, must himself be the first to be well-formed so as not to fall into the risk of the blind leading the blind…
If Gerhard Müller is representative of the “proper authorities” upon whom we are awaiting a formal declaration of Jorge Bergoglio’s formal heresy, my advice is don’t hold your breath; rather, use it to warn everyone in your circle of influence to avoid this man as a “heathen and publican” (Mt. 18:17) while begging Our Lord to save us from this terrible crisis.