Cardinal Müller speaks out regarding the situation of Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland, and asks him not to resign.
Newsroom (23/09/2023 09:00, Gaudium Press) A letter from Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has been published by the German media Kath.net. concerning the situation of the American Bishop Joseph Strickland, who has allegedly been pressured by the Holy See to resign.
“If I could advise Bishop Strickland, he should not resign under any circumstances, because then they (those calling for his resignation) could wash their hands of it, claiming innocence,” said the Cardinal.
The Cardinal goes on to say that “a bishop can only be removed by the Pope, according to the dictates of justice, if he has been guilty of something serious (heresy, schism, apostasy, crime or totally unpriestly behaviour), for example, giving a pseudo-blessing to people of the same sex or in extra-marital relationships which offends God and deceives people of their salvation”.
Avignon: an historical example
“The arbitrary dismissal of a bishop from a diocese, where the bishop is appointed by Christ himself as its pastor, undermines the authority of the Pope, as happened historically with the unworthy distribution of offices in the Avignon papacy (This loss of trust was one of the main reasons for the break of Reformation Christianity from the Catholic Church and its hatred of the Pope, who, by his arbitrary actions, put himself in the place of God).”
Papal authority not ‘absolute’
“According to Catholic doctrine, the Pope is not the absolute Lord of the Church, but only Christ’s representative for the universal Church, the first servant of his Lord, who said to Simon Peter, who had just been appointed the Rock of the Church: ‘He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”‘ (Mt 16:23)
“The Pope has no authority from Christ to persecute and intimidate good bishops in the image of Christ, the Good Shepherd, who, according to the episcopal ideal of Vatican II, sanctify, teach and guide the flock of God in the name of Christ, just because false friends denounce these good bishops to Francis as enemies of the Pope, while heretical and immoral bishops can do as they please, and who daily torment the Church of Christ with nonsense.”
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
