Editor’s note: The following interview with Gerhard Cardinal Müller by Roland Noé was originally published at Kath.net on October 5, 2020. It is published here in English by permission of kath.net.
Kath.net: On Sunday, [October 4,] Pope Francis published his new Encyclical, Fratelli tutti. What is your initial evaluation?
Cardinal Müller: The Encyclical is quite comprehensible and is to be recommended for more in-depth study, insofar as it is addressed to all people of good will and even teaches with Veritatis splendor by John Paul II that intrinsically evil acts do exist, contrary to most German moral theologians. It would be wrong to say that it is consistent with the Freemasons’ or the United Nations’ talk about fraternity, because it emphasizes the transcendence of brotherhood in God the Creator and expounds God as Father and the Church in Mary as Mother of all mankind. Its argumentation can be situated along the line running from John XXIII to Benedict XVI about [the Church’s] social teaching and the non-negotiable values of human rights. The Christian message is not reduced to what is universally human, but rather the reverse: the human way of life that grows from the faith is recommended as a foundation for the coexistence of human beings of different religions and cultures in today’s global civilization.
Kath.net: The world is currently preoccupied with the elections in the United States; President Donald Trump might be voted out of office. What could the election of Joe Biden possibly mean for Christians? How critically do you view the “Catholic” Biden, who for example has no problem with the fact that his Party supports the killing of preborn children up to the ninth month of pregnancy?
Cardinal Müller: I cannot and do not intend to pass judgment on Joe Biden’s personal faith. But his stance on the legalization of killing children in the mother’s womb until the ninth month—and in the case of deformities even after birth—contradicts “the sacred right to life of every human being” that belongs essentially to him through God, his Creator. Pope Francis, who gladly cites divine authority, vigorously expounds this in his latest Encyclical Fratelli tutti as one of the non-negotiable fundamental values (FT 39; 207). The COVID crisis has shown us again that we are not “masters and owners of nature” (René Descartes), as the modern philosophy of autonomy claims, but rather that we are dependent on inorganic and organic nature as prior givens (FT 34), as they proceed from God’s wise plan.
For this reason human rights are universally valid and form the foundation of every culture and of the unity of the human race (FT 22). The inviolability of every human life from conception until natural death is clear to every human being who uses his reason, and even more profoundly to those who believe in God in the Word of His revelation in Jesus Christ. The excuse that the mother and the persons who influence her have the choice to decide about the life of the child in her womb is self-deception and flagrantly contradicts the dignity of the human being who is killed and of the one who kills.
Anyone who votes for Biden, and above all for his running mate who will soon become his heir as President, must know (1) that with his vote he is saying yes to abortion and to the commercialization of infanticide and trafficking with their organs, (2) that with his vote he is endangering the fundamental human right of the free public exercise of religion, (3) that with his vote he is abetting the exclusion of Catholics from public office, and (4) that he is submitting in a cowardly way to the hate-speech against Catholics, for instance against Amy Coney Barrett, a Catholic wife and mother of seven children, as a candidate for the Supreme Court. Let no one say afterward that he didn’t intend it, that he had never thought that it could get so bad, and that he fell for the propaganda against “the religious right wing” in America.
Kath.net: Now [= the week of October 5-9] U.S. President Donald Trump too is infected and sick with the COVID-19 virus. What does this mean for the election, for the United States of America? How should Catholics generally deal with the pandemic?
Cardinal Müller: As human beings and Christians, we sympathize with anyone who has been struck by an insidious disease. Anyone who feels Schadenfreude [joy in another’s misfortune] in such a situation ought to seek psychological help and, as a Catholic, should seek absolution as soon as possible in the Sacrament of Reconciliation for a serious sin against love of neighbor. We must follow all reasonable protective measures that are enacted by the legitimate authority. However we also have the right and the duty to defend the human right of freedom of religion, which in many countries is being restricted, but with the corona virus as the excuse. State authorities must not impede, much less forbid, the administration of the sacraments and pastoral care, for instance to lonely, old, and dying people. The Church is God’s establishment and not an NGO [non-governmental organization] subordinate to the State within the framework of a civil religion that is led by politicians according to their own requirements, likes, and dislikes.
Kath.net: In Germany the controversial Synodal Process is currently on the agenda of the Bishops’ Conference. There have already been words of warning from Rome, but the Conference President, Bishop Bätzing, seems uninterested in them. Will German Catholics who want to live by the normal faith of the Church become part of a Catholic underground Church in the next few years?
Cardinal Müller: In his latest Encyclical the Holy Father warns against replacing objective debate—in society and all the more in the Church—with the defamation of those who think differently and of persons who dissent from mainstream views (FT 156; 201). For example, the insults and idiocies that I experienced from the echo-chamber of the “German Church” when I once supported a statement against the misuse of the corona-virus crisis by fanatically controlling states, at the expense of religious freedom and of an adult citizen’s self-determination and for the benefit of international organizations that have their own interests, is only one proof of the loss of a free, dignified culture of debate.
It is clear, after all, that we can talk about a reform of the Church only if the standards of revelation hold true, as they are formulated in a binding way in Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition, and the Church’s Magisterium. There is no right to sexual pleasure—that is indeed the main topic of most of the synodal fellow-travelers—outside of the personal love of a husband and a wife in marriage. Sex without love makes people unhappy—no amount of discussion will obliterate that fact as long as the human being is a person and has not regressed into an instinct-driven animal.
The concept of self-referential pleasure is senseless and ends in frustration. This is because the body-soul pleasure of sex and eros is ordered to selflessness in the agape of interpersonal communion and for precisely this reason is also “essentially good” (Gen 2:22-25; 1:31). Religious vows and the celibate lifestyle of priests (in the Tradition of the Western-Latin Church) are not powdered wigs at the mercy of hair stylists and the latest fashions, but rather are founded on the Gospel of Jesus about the coming of the kingdom of God. No doubt it is the goal of a loud and well-financed ideological tendency to brand church-going Catholics who take morality seriously as “conservative” and “right-wing,” to marginalize them, and even to drive them out of the Church.
If the Holy Father himself together with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for the Clergy and the Council for Promoting Christian Unity demands that the German bishops renounce their erroneous ways in questions concerning the Eucharist, the sacramental constitution of the Church, sexual morality, and the loss of the New Evangelization, then practicing Catholics in Germany should not let themselves be intimidated and marginalized. Ask your bishop why lots of money is available for the Frankfurt Debates, but Catholic schools are being closed against the parents’ will, because allegedly there is no money for them! Young people with a good introduction to the faith are more pleasing to God than Church accounts in the black. Empty churches are worse than empty coffers.
Kath.net: Once again the unpleasant corona-virus topic: In not a few states Masses are being restricted again, now as before, or else Catholics must accept injunctions that are often very dubious, because simultaneously in other areas (businesses, restaurants, etc.) the regulations are considerably looser. For example it is viewed as a scandal that in many dioceses communion on the tongue was forbidden. What do you say about these restrictions?
Cardinal Müller: As I said, many diocesan administrations throughout the world, among them the ones in Germany that are used to being vassals to the State, were all too quick to subject the divine commandments concerning the bestowal of grace in the sacraments to the will of the civil authorities, which for example in California, Spain, and Red China were just waiting for an excuse to gag the Church. This is evident from the fact that they applied those measures very carelessly or not at all to their fellow ideologues. Communion on the tongue is the normal form of receiving the Eucharist; besides that, however, communion in the hand is also allowed in many regions. If on account of the danger of contagion only communion in the hand is possible temporarily, then Catholics can certainly comply, as long they maintain reverence for Christ, the Son of God and the world’s Redeemer, who is truly, really, and essentially present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Kath.net: One more question about the latest developments in the Vatican and the dismissal of Curial Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu after a financial scandal. What is your judgment on this dismissal and also on the return of Cardinal Pell to Rome?
Cardinal Müller: As a matter of principle I cannot make a personal judgment, nor am I well versed in this matter. Let’s wait and see what facts the courts find out and what judgments they pass. There is, now, this all-too-human aspect in the Church of God, which often severely tries our faith. A lot of it also depends on a deep-seated mentality here that one should care for one’s family and friends—without worrying much about the consequences for the credibility of the Church. Dealing with money, which we obviously need in order to carry out the Church’s tasks, has always been a delicate matter. The Church needs in these positions competent people from the world of business and finance, who have no interest in enriching themselves and who as good Catholics think only about the welfare of the Church.
As for the comparison between the budget of many a German and American diocese with the Vatican’s balance sheet, a retired German director of a savings bank would certainly be more suitable than a priest who had a diplomatic career with the Holy See and is consecrated a bishop and elevated to the rank of cardinal. Those who portray the Holy Father as the solitary Hercules in the Augean stables, fighting alone against a world of enemies in the Curia and “the wicked conservatives” in the Universal Church, certainly are doing him no favor in this hour.
As the successor of Peter, the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, is acknowledged by every Catholic, and is supported by the Cardinals of the Roman Church to the best of their knowledge and conscience. Now the opportunity has arrived to overcome all fractiousness and that unholy way of thinking in terms of friend and foe. All of us, united with the Pope and the bishops, must oppose not only financial corruption but even more importantly corruption in the teaching of our revealed faith and every temptation to isolate ourselves schismatically in a circle of like-minded people. In our love for the Church of Christ, we must interiorly overcome personal injuries, apocalyptic fantasies about the end times, and the impulse to resign ourselves, according to the motto of the King of Saxony when he was compelled to abdicate: “Then do your dirty deeds alone.” For His Church, in which He made us members of His Body through Baptism, was not redeemed by our blood. Christ is the one who “loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” We do not reform the Church and make her attractive, but rather He liberates and heals the Church from “her spots, wrinkles, and other blemishes” (see Ephesians 5:25-26).
Kath.net: Thank you cordially for the interview!
(Translated by Michael J. Miller.)
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Thank God for the clarity, candour, courage, wisdom and faithfulness of this outstanding servant of the Word and the Catholic Church: Cardinal Gerhard Muller.
Amen John kelly.
I was really struck by the cruel and cold nature of the writing here. The “Catholic” people who wrote this article are obviously aligned with the most hypocritical, chaotic, lying, and criminal U.S. president of our times. He’s actually evil and very obviously so. I am actually heartbroken because I grew up Catholic and am a confirmed in the church. I now know why I drifted away now. You can’t be a “one issue only is evil” church—abortion. This latest article does nothing to acknowledge the blatant atrocities against health and well-being of the populace during the Pandemic that this administration has perpetrated That just tells me you are completely misogynist and only worried about any “crime” a women may commit. Yes, abortion is bad and to be avoided, but the fact that you only concertante on this and not the constant factual lying, the racism, the criminality (fraud and cheating in taxes), the grotesque comments about women, and the ill treatment of immigrants tells me that you don’t care about any of these topics. I’m an attorney and was a prosecutor before I retired and grew up reading Shakespeare, George Orwell,
Dickens, and Arthurian literature, as well readings from the New Testament. I am appalled and shocked at the lack of love and kindness in what I just read. Shame.
From a German’s perspective: Trump may be a sinner and a show-off, no doubt. But certainly he is not evil. He didn’t start a war as Obama did. However, Obama had the nerve to accept the Nobel Peace Price after only one year in office. Anything you blame has been in America already before Trump was elected president.
Werter Peisisteatos,
Ihre freundlichen Worte für Trump sind nicht wirklich zu Ende gedacht.
Seine Handlungen gegenüber den Ärmsten der Armen z.B. in der Dritten Welt. Dem Hass den er über sein eigenes Volk auskübelt. Seine menschenverachtende haltung zu den Toten Virusopfern auf dem Tablett des eigenen wirtschaflichen Erfolgs, sein anstachelnder Rassenhass wird nicht durch das wedeln mit der Bibel vor einem freigeprügelten Kirchbau wettgemacht.
Wenn sich die Kirche vor den Karren Trump spannen lässt muss es nicht wundern wenn die Gläubigen weg bleiben
Quatsch.
Katharine, have you read St Thomas Aquinas?
To Katharine, Your drifting away from the Church is very disturbing! Did your obvious support for illegal immigration, abortion,socialism,and support for a radical government that limits freedom for Catholics have anything to do with it? Hopefully one day you will actually read the New Testament and the veil will be lifted from your eyes so that you may see the truth.
This is an hystetical and irrational reaction to the cardinal’s words. You have obviously taken at face value the overwhelmingly vicious aminus of the media against Trump. I’m not going to spar her about your allegations of racism and other isms against Trump, except to advise you to look closer at Biden’ record on these issues. Abortion, whether you like it or not, is the preeminent issue for Catholics in good conscience. It is so because its promotion not only devalues human life, but denies the most fundamental of all rights, the right to life. And if you believe this is mysogonistic, take it up with the Creator who conferred on woman the privilege of bearing a child.
I’ve got to tell you, lady: I’m certainly not an “only one issue is evil” voter. I’m an “ALL of the inextricably interwoven strands of the very real “seamless garment” purveyed by the culture of hedonism and the culture of death for the past 150-175 years, and still being pushed and purveyed aggressively and obnoxiously today, are evil” voter.
That “seamless garment” is composed of: contraception; abortion; euthanasia; forced sterilization; elective sterilization; and pornography.
There is only one issue – life. Without that, there’s nothing else to talk about.
The only reason there are other issues in the first place is because you live, you breathe.
Unlike those who were killed by their mothers in the womb.
Had you been killed by your mother as well, then there would not be any issue single or not to speak about. You would not be writing here to talk about multiple issues.
I wonder if those who are against the single issue of life and abortion is because they’ve taken someone else’s right to this issue.
I now know why I drifted away now.
And we all know why as well.
the racism
The well documented, abridged, history of Joe Biden’s racism for your edification, counselor.
The Top 7 Racist Comments Made by Joe Biden Over the Years
“I was really struck by the cruel and cold nature of the writing here.”
Behold thyself in a mirror.
“The “Catholic” people who wrote this article are obviously”
Oh, so you get to decide that people aren’t Catholic because they disagree with you?
“aligned with the most hypocritical, chaotic, lying, and criminal U.S. president of our times.”
Isn’t it handy to be able to just shriek a laundry list of complaints without having to provide any supporting facts?
“He’s actually evil and very obviously so.”
Calumny. You presume to read his soul and to judge him, mostly because you disagree with his policies and assume that therefore he is evil.
“I am actually heartbroken because I grew up Catholic and am a confirmed in the church. I now know why I drifted away now.”
Hmmm. You drifted away then because of posts on a website now, and because of the man who is president now? Your precognition is impressive!
“You can’t be a “one issue only is evil” church—abortion.“
It’s not one issue; but it is the foundational one, because a baby who is killed is deprived of anything to do with the other issues.
I am left wondering whether the problem is that you had an abortion and therefore reflexively flail and thrash around and hate anyone who does something to stop it.
“This latest article does nothing to acknowledge the blatant atrocities against health and well-being of the populace during the Pandemic that this administration has perpetrated.”
What atrocities? He took the advice of scientists, none of whom knew (or know) for sure how to stop the Wuhan coronavirus. What steps did he not take that you know for sure would have stopped the pandemic, and knew for sure at the time he didn’t take them? What steps did he take that you know for sure would have stopped it, and knew for sure at the time he took them? Many different countries did many different things to combat the virus; and no country has succeeded in eliminating it.
“That just tells me you are completely misogynist and only worried about any “crime” a women may commit.“
By putting it in scare quotes, you’re denying that abortion is a crime against an innocent child. And you might as well argue that because rape is a crime committed overwhelmingly by men, it would be appropriate to write to anyone who condemns it, “That just tells me you are completely misandrist and only worried about any “crime” a man may commit.”
“Yes, abortion is bad and to be avoided,”
You say that in the same tone you’d say something like, “Yes, chewing with your mouth open is bad and to be avoided.” It’s a lot more important than that.
“but the fact that you only concertante on this and not the constant factual lying, the racism, the criminality”
Even if your accusations were true, which I deny, none of those things is as important as saving the lives of innocents.
“(fraud and cheating in taxes)” Oh, you’ve examined all of his paperwork, have you? You’ve hear evidence from prosecutors and defense and come to a conclusion? I doubt it very much. I don’t know anything about how taxes for businesses work, since I’ve never run one, but I’ve read analyses of the hysterical “Trump didn’t pay taxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!” accusations that explain how they work, and that he did pay taxes. You, on the other hand, sit in your little high chair and swallow all the pablum the press chooses to feed you.
,”the grotesque comments about women,”
It sounds as if, in your opinion, some crudeness is far, far, far worse than butchering babies.
“and the ill treatment of immigrants”
He doesn’t let illegal immigrants flood into the country. They break the law when they try to do so, and detaining them while their claims are judged is not “ill treatment.” If it’s the children who are separated from people who may or may not actually be their parents to whom you’re referring – those parents have just deliberately brought their children through dangerous situations. Separating them from the adults in that case is hardly a bad thing.
“tells me that you don’t care about any of these topics.”
What it should tell you is that we don’t agree with the way in which you think a particular problem ought to be solved. It’s nice to be able to set yourself up a throne on lofty heights and sneer down at us, isn’t it?
“ I’m an attorney and was a prosecutor before I retired and grew up reading Shakespeare, George Orwell, Dickens, and Arthurian literature, as well readings from the New Testament.”
None of which is relevant to your argument. And why only the *New* Testament?
“I am appalled and shocked at the lack of love and kindness in what I just read.”
Unlike the loving kindness you spew at the President because you dislike him.
“Shame.”
You may keep that shame for yourself. You’ve certainly earned it.
So, you didn’t know why you drifted away from the Catholic Church until now? How long have you been away? For your own salvation,, please re-examine your current beliefs and ask God for help.
Given your extensive reading I am at a loss to understand your reasoning. I recently read a book on prayer in which the writer cautioned that some lack mental discipline but” grow accustomed to becoming god of our fantasies”. As a Catholic convert (50 years ago) I too had become “accustomed” but the wisdom of the Church emboldens me to beg you to critically and prayerfully examine your own thinking.
Katherine Chambers,
We’re not voting for which candidate has the most sympathetic personality. We’re making a choice based upon who will affect the culture our children and grandchildren inherit.
If we had laws enshrining other evils in the way our laws enshrine feticide then perhaps you might look at it differently. But children in the womb are the only class of human beings in America that have absolutely no rights or value if they are unwanted.
Immigrants, refugees and the poor at least have a chance at a better life. If one is denied birth then no other human rights signify.
´…communion in the hand is also allowed in many regions. If on account of the danger of contagion only communion in the hand is possible temporarily, then Catholics can certainly comply, as long they maintain reverence for Christ….´
Instead of ´digital´ communion, perhaps people should consider opting for ´palmoral´ communion – https://www.cfnews.org.uk/digital-communion-a-modern-invention/
And we are all shocked and appalled by the hypocrisy, self-righteous, and total absence of any love or kindness in your own cruel and cold writing, so I guess we’re all even.
Good and wholesome ..
1 – liked the words about the serious sin against charity that needs confession and psychological help when one rejoices in the misfortune of others ..such an attitude , ? even an indirect curse , since one is thus asking for similar experience for oneself as well as for those one is to be asking / praying for and with ..
Hoping too that the above words also ring loud and clear about similar attitudes towards the often erroneously perceived weaknesses of holy persons as well ..
2 – ‘sex without love makes people unhappy ‘ ; good words to be etched in many persons ..for the clarity that The Oneness of ‘ Love ‘ as Divine Will as holiness as unity , including with generations and all who are in The Divine Will .. that allowing in the serpent as the agent of lust and evils as self will to manifest as a bestial nature is what The Lord , The Trinity desires us to be set free from , to be instead crowned with the Divine Will , with its blessings , the tremendous truths as to what same can accomplish , even for the creation itself ..
Same thus to help serve the truth and connection as to what those who choose for the enemy also bring , not just into own lives but of many …
3 – We have oceans of info of that truth, yet same often get cleverly hidden , thus those who aspire for power , ? even instigated by forces who desire to counter The Kingdom promote and condone the evil choices ..
Thank God that the words of the Arch Bishop leave no room to be wimpy and vacillating as to where the foundation need to be ..
4 – The good will of the Arch Bishop that exhorts all to stand with the Holy Father – may that blessing bless The Church in Germany and other places too that have been afflicted by the ‘ errors of Russia ‘ , in the contempt and hatred for The Divine Will, advocating instead to rebel and throw away the destiny and the blessing , to serve the same old liar ..
Mary, Undoer of Knots , help all your children to desire and to live for The Son of the Divine Will so that the light and truth of same would make nations to dance in the joy of its peace and blessings !
A good German soldier Cardinal Gerhard Müller again acquiesces to his Commandant. I peruse Fratelli Tutti again: “Different religions share spiritual and moral values in a spirit of truth and love (271). Reason, by itself cannot establish fraternity (272). If there is no transcendent truth, in obedience to which man achieves identity, then there is no principle for just relations between people. The transcendent dignity of the person is found in the image of the invisible God (273). The Church esteems the ways in which God works in other religions, and ‘rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions.’ She has high regard for their manner of life and conduct, their precepts and doctrines which often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men and women” (277). Religion is perceived by Francis as a political fraternity defined as “political love”. If we follow this pattern we come to this conclusion. “In these pages of reflection on universal fraternity, I felt inspired particularly by Saint Francis of Assisi, but also by others of our brothers and sisters who are not Catholics: Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu, Mahatma Gandhi and many more” (286). Reason, and intellectual apprehension of the transcendent dignity of the human person, not first and foremost Christ is apparently the “ultimate foundation” of brotherhood. Although Christ is often mentioned, he seems relegated as one among many. From Sandro Magister. “God today. With him or without him changes everything”, the headline issue 2009 Italian Bishops Conf was “Benedict XVI’s ‘overriding priority’ more than ever before ‘when in vast areas of the world the faith is in danger of dying out like a flame which no longer has fuel’. That is, the priority as the pope had written that same year in his March 10 letter to the bishops – ‘of making God present in this world and giving men access to God. Not to any sort of god, but to that God who spoke on Sinai, to that God whose face we recognize in love driven to the very end, in Jesus crucified and risen’. There is no trace of this dramatic urgency in the 130 pages of Fratelli tutti. (Sandro Magister L’Espresso Oct 12). “What characterizes Christianity more and more is the dimension of ‘caritas,’ and less and less that of Transcendence. Fratelli tutti, demonstrates this. And this is a great dilemma within Christianity, which Pope Francis presents ‘in actu exercito.’ Transcendence is not denied, but is increasingly ignored” (Atheist philosopher Salvatore Natoli excerpt by Sandro Magister in L’Espresso Oct 12).
Sadly, Muller is like that. I suppose he tries his best to be respectful to the chief who showed him zero respect.
Peter. Cardinal Müller evidently has great respect for the Chair of Peter and declines confrontation with Francis when it is justified. Cases in point serial child abuser Fr Mauro Inzoli sacked by Benedict 2012 was reinstated by Francis 2014 again arrested by Italian police for sexual abuse of minors. You’re likely aware but some readers unaware need to know hard facts about this pontificate. December 2016 the Pontiff ordered Cardinal Müller then Prefect for the CDF to dismiss three CDF staff, allegedly the Cardinal’s best assistants in attacking clerical child abuse. “Cdl. Müller was very perplexed, because they were good priests, and among the most professionally capable. He declined to obey, and asked the Pope for a private audience. He had to wait because the meeting was postponed several times. Finally he was received. He said, ‘Your Holiness, I received these letters, but I have not done anything, as these persons are among the best in the Congregation. What have they done?’ The answer was: ‘I’m the pope, and I don’t have to give reasons for any of my decisions. I’ve decided that they must go, and therefore they must go.’ He stood up, extending his hand, signaling that the meeting was over” (M Tosatti). Müller remained deferential to the extent that he refused to criticize the Pontiff when he was in turn dismissed from the CDF, yet felt it necessary to criticize the four Cardinals who submitted the Dubia to Pope Francis. I’m inclined to believe in response to Johann du Toit’s concern that the Roman Pontiff has a very wide spectrum information gathering apparatus through a papal diplomatic corps stationed worldwide, and is presumably aware. What we’re confronted with is a dual messaging policy orthodox and heterodox. Such a policy, after 7 years sufficiently apparent, has a mitigating effect on practice of the faith. Our human nature Fallen and in constant need of supplication and grace tends to choose the sensually friendly wider path, rather than the more ‘rigorous’ Way of the Cross.
Father, I must say I was shocked that the Pope quoted Desmond Tutu. Tutu supports abortion, euthanasia, same sex “marriage”, he supports the anti-Israel BDS movement (despite it’s links to terrorism and it’s open antisemitism). He also loves to play the race card in a manner that would make Al Sharpton envious.
A lot of people outside South Africa are unaware of Tutu’s negative traits, and I pray the same is the case for his Holiness.
I was a bit surprised to hear Desmond Tutu referenced also.
K. Chamber: “Yes, abortion is bad and to be avoided.” Wow, what an understatement. That’s like saying, “Eating too much ice cream is bad and to be avoided.” Praise the Lord for my Catholic faith and the power of the Holy Spirit to discern between what is ‘bad’ and what is truly evil from Satan. I will pray for you Ms. Chamber along with Biden, Harris, Pelosi, Sanders et al – you still have a chance to repent.
To further amplify what you wrote:
“It is the guilty soul that must die; not for the son the father’s punishment, not for the father the son’s; good shall befall the good, evil the evil. It may be the wicked man will repent of all his sinful deeds, and learn to keep My commandments, and live honestly and uprightly; if so, he shall live on; life, not death, for him. All his transgressions shall be forgotten, and his uprightness shall bring him life.
“What pleasure should I find in the death of a sinner, the Lord God says, when he might have turned back from his evil ways, and found life instead?
“It may be the innocent man will lose his innocence, and begin to live as foul a life as that other in his wickedness; if so, shall he be spared? No, all his upright life shall be forgotten; a traitor, shall he not die in his treachery, a sinner in his sins?
“And yet you say, The Lord is inconsiderate in His dealings! Listen, sons of Israel; it is your dealings that are inconsiderate, not Mine. The innocent man loses his innocence, and lives amiss; it is death I deal to him; he dies for his guilty deeds. The wicked man abandons his wicked ways, and learns to live honestly and uprightly; he wins life by it. He bethinks himself, and turns away from his evil doings; there is life, not death, for him.
“What, should the sons of Israel hold the Lord inconsiderate? It is you who are inconsiderate, men of Israel, not He. Each by his own life you shall be judged, men of Israel, the Lord God says. Come back, and make amends for all this guilt of yours, that shall else be your undoing; away with them, your defiant rebellions against Me; a new heart, a new spirit! Why must you choose death, men of Israel? Die who will, his death is none of My contriving, says the Lord God; come back to Me, and live!”
– Ezekiel 18: 20-32
“And thus Job answered the Lord: ‘I acknowledge it, Thou canst do all Thou wilt, and no thought is too difficult for thee. Here indeed is one that clouds over the truth with his ignorance! I have spoken as fools speak, of things far beyond my ken. Henceforth it is my turn to speak, Thine to listen; my turn to ask questions, Thine to impart knowledge! I have heard Thy voice now; nay, more, I have had sight of Thee; now I am all remorse, I do penance in dust and ashes.'”
– Job 42: 1-6
I’ll have to agree with Bishop Schneider’s assessment of FT more. (An interview available over at Remnant)
I am confused, how can you protect the child in the womb and when that child becomes an adult it is ok to kill him as an unarmed man? What is the difference, is this not pro-life? I thought one of the commandments states thou shalt not kill. How can you justify one but not the other?
Easily. There is a difference between innocent and guilty.
Yes, you are confused.
One million US citizens in the womb killed per year with no due process, for no other reason than they were not wanted by one maybe two people. 22 adult US citizens executed in 2019 that had the dignity of due process that led to their convictions by a jury and a judge, and the opportunity to repent during their time on death row, which some do.
When children become adults they have the freedom to make both good and bad decisions. That applies both to law breakers and law enforcement officers.
We all face choices as adults but without being born we will never have an opportunity to make them.
I am an M.D. Board certified psychiatrist and committed Roman Catholic. As a medical doctor I am opposed to abortion. However, we do not stop abortions by calling out pregnant mothers who want an abortion as ‘sinners’ or demeaning them or making abortion illegal. Abortion is not a legal issue. What is needed is education, i.e., “is the unborn baby even at the zygote level a human being”? Expectant mothers, their families and all medical personnel involved need to be truly educated on this issue. You don’t stop abortions by merely making them illegal.
Yes, abortion is a legal issue. “You don’t stop abortions by merely making them illegal.” Maybe not, but If they are illegal and less unavailable there are fewer of them.
You might as well argue, “As a medical doctor, I am opposed to murder. However, we do not stop murder by calling out people who want to kill others as “sinners” or demeaning them by making murder illegal.”
Or how about “As a medical doctor, I am opposed to adulterating food with poison. However, we cannot stop companies from adulterating food with poison by calling out companies that want to do that as criminals or demeaning them by making adulterating food with poison illegal.”
As to education, you’ve clearly missed the many people who are quite happy to admit that unborn babies at whatever stage are human – but think women should have a right to kill them anyway.
*less available, not less unavailable. Sorry.
Leslie, I trust this means you oppose President Trump as much as you may oppose Biden. The Trump/Pence ticket does not believe in the full legal protection of the unborn, as can be seen from their lack of regard to outlaw abortifacient contraceptives, fertility clinic destruction of embroyos, Plan B contraception, and, possibly, RU-484 and any privately funded ongoing efforts pertaining to embryonic stem cell research.
ALL UNBORN, not just some, of the unborn must be legally protected. Both candidates’ positions are unacceptable.
Alan Heap,
Neither do you end trafficking and other violations against children by making those illegal but that’s where you start.
As a German Catholic, I am deeply ashamed of my compatriot bishop and cardinal in the Vatican for this unfair intrusion into the US election campaign – and about this impudent support of a completely immoral man like Donald Trump. Shame on him!
Fr. Benedikt Michels (Cistercian monk of Place of Our Lady)
Apparently the Cistercian monks of Place of Our Lady aren’t taught that calumny is a sin. By what right do you decide that President Trump or anybody else is “completely immoral?” I can disprove your statement with two simple statements, any one of which would would in fact suffice: He is doing his best to stop abortion. He is doing his best to protect people who know that contraception is a sin from being forced to pay for it.
You are the one who should be ashamed.
While I can agree that calling the president ‘completely immoral’ is wrong, it would be a grave mistake to turn a blind eye to the myriad of evils this president has engaged in, evils that should be openly publicly discussed by all of us, yes? It is unfortunate that Cardinal Muller did not address any of these.
Among these objective evils:
-He has not sought to legally protect all of the unborn, meaning those whose destruction does not come about by surgical abortion
-He has not sought to outlaw contraceptives
-He has not sought to outlaw no-fault divorce
-He has not sought to remove legal recognition of sodomite marriage and return the US to the traditional legally recognized understanding of marriage
-He has actually started a campaign to battle and remove the remaining anti-sodomy laws that exist in various other countries
-He has amplified the United States’ already unjust support for Zionist objective wrongdoing in Palestine
-He has sought to inflict the wholesale, objectively evil, decimation of the Iranian economy and economically harm all Iranians
-Last but not least, he has led a wholesale battle against truth and everyday reality by stating over 20,000 lies, falsehoods, and misleading comments since becoming president – which excludes his conduct during the 2016 campaign and his entire previous life.
I hope you will give consideration to this myriad of evils as you consider the full facts and merits of this election.
I hope
He is doing his best to protect innocent babies from being murdered. He is protecting the religious freedom of those who were being forced to finance contraception.
And you don’t care anything about that, because you’re too busy pinching your lips together and perching on your lofty throne of solitary virtue.
Did you personally count those alleged 20,000 lies, falsehoods, and misleading comments? I doubt it. You’re just vomiting forth what you were fed by his enemies.
Incidentally – a fair number of those alleged lies, falsehoods, and misleading comments are jokes. You know, for people with a sense of humor. You may have met one of them once. https://catholicconvert.com/blog/2020/10/28/frankly-i-love-trumps-humor-and-personality-he-wins-the-personality-contest/
Fr.Benedikt,
Do you think Pres. Trump’s actions in office are completely immoral or simply his personal failings?
If you might take the time to look at the federal judges appointed and executive orders made during his administration it may illustrate why people of faith support Donald Trump. We’re not voting for him based upon his manners. I think we can all agree on that.
🙂
It’s not about his rough demeanor, it’s about his accomplishments. I hope as a man of faith you can see the good in that.
Dear Mr. P. Benedikt Michels, First, I would like to point out that I can find no evidence, let alone authentication, that “Place of Our Lady” is in fact a Catholic monastery of Cistercian monks in Germany or that you are a Catholic monk or priest. Second, the irony seems to be lost on you that Episcopalian Donald J. Trump is more Catholic in his objective moral acts and publicly professed religious beliefs than any of the bishops in your country who have been embarked for years on a schismatic and suicidal “Synodal Path” that flatly contradicts infallible Catholic dogma in multiple areas. Third, I am obliged to remind your calumnious condemnation of Mr. Trump as “completely immoral” constitutes objectively grave matter for Confession and betrays a shocking lack of spiritual depth and theological competence in one who claims to be a vowed monastic in Holy Orders.
My understanding is that abortion is not merely a religious issue or a legal issue, but a human issue.