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Considered by many to be the Church’s best theologian following the death of pope emeritus Joseph Ratzinger 22 days ago, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, deposed in 2017 as Guardian of Catholic orthodoxy by the pope, has accused the pontiff of being surrounded by a “magic circle” of people in their lodgings in Santa Marta, who “are not prepared from the theological point of view” and “who also influence the appointments of bishops and cardinals”.

In a concerted action, this Saturday the press released advances on the appearance, next week, of a book-interview by the former Prefect for the Doctrine of the Faith, entitled “In good faith” written with the Vatican correspondent of the Messenger of Rome, Franca Giansoldati.

Müller maintains that “the institutional channels are unfortunately always the least consulted by the pontiff”, which he favors the parallel activity of the “magic circle”, of which he does not give names.

The German theologian, who has not received new functions from the Argentine pontiff since he lost his job, has dedicated himself to holding theological conferences around the world and, above all, is in charge ofThe academic legacy of the late Benedict XVI’s books and materials.

While exercising his pontificate, Ratzinger brought Müller, then bishop of Regensburg, to the Vatican, appointing him prefect of the doctrine of the faith. The cardinal exercises great influence in the orthodox and conservative galaxy, while claiming not to participate in conspiracies against the Pope “whom I am not an enemy of.”

Müller had long denounced that the monastery in the Vatican gardens where Ratzinger lived until his death and which he frequented, “Many people injured by Fancisco will be healed.”

sexual abuse​

On the serious issue of sexual abuse, the German cardinal stressed that “not everyone in the Church is treated the same way”. He referred in particular to the case of the Argentine bishop Gustavo Zanchettaformer Bishop of Oran, sentenced by the Salta court to four years’ imprisonment for abuse, which he is currently serving. It is not known whether he too was convicted in an internal Church trial.

Zanchetta resided in the Casa de Santa Marta after having obtained, following his resignation from the bishopric of Oran, that the Pope appoint him with a position of counselor in a Vatican dicastery (ministry).

In his case, Müller claims that the Argentine bishop “was able to enjoy a privileged status as a friend of the Pope. As a rule, friendships cannot influence the course of justice and must be treated equally”.

The cardinal theologian said there is another relevant case of sexual abuse, that of the Italian cleric Mauro Inzoli, a neighbor of the Communion and Liberation movement. “A Vatican court filed a lawsuit against him which ended with a sentence that reduced him to the lay state”.

According to Müller, a cardinal of the Curia went to Francis in Santa Marta to ask for mercy. “The Pope was convinced” and decided to change the sentence by adapting Inzoli’s sentence: his status as a priest was respected but he was forbidden to wear the habit in public and appear before the community as consecrated”.

“That is to say, it continued to be consecrated but could not be shown to outsiders as such. This is just one example,” says Müller with clear reproach.

In the book, the former Guardian of Catholic orthodoxy takes up the defense of Cardinal Giovanni Becciu, who was one of the greatest prelates closest to the Pope, but who was punished by Francis who prevented him from exercising the cardinal’s activity due to a sensational real estate scandal.

Becciu is subjected to a long criminal trial together with other prelates and laymen for the disastrous and opaque purchase of a large building in an affluent area of ​​London as an alleged investment for the Holy See.

The operation was a hassle. Becciu is accused of responsibility in the “matter” but the Pope has changed his mind about the cardinal and half-rehabilitated him. The ups and downs of the case continue to be an earthquake for the prestige of the Holy See.

Müller said Becciu was convicted “according to an article in the weekly The Espresso that someone brought to the Pope, with an inquiry into the cardinal. He was humiliated and punished before the world without giving him a chance to defend himself.

The tensions of these three weeks, also caused by the accusations leveled against the Pope by Archbishop Georg Gasnwein, Benedict XVI’s secretary and prefect of the Papal Household for many years, have been joined by a decision by the pontiff on the spiritual retreat with the ecclesiastical authorities of the Roman Curia, the central government of the Church.

withdrawals

Without warning, Francis this year gave up holding spiritual retreats together with the leaders of the Curia, as has always happened, except when they were suspended during the most acute phase of the pandemic.

Withdrawals are made during the Preparation for Lent and they are a common reflection among the heads of the “ministries” of the Curia and their superiors. It is a meditation together, plus prayers and reflections that include sermons from a preacher.

Pope Francis has introduced the novelty of changing the retreat in the Vatican Apostolic Palace with a seat in a religious house in the nearby town of Ariccia, isolated in greenery and silence to create a atmosphere of greater spirituality and recollection.

But yesterday a communication arrived, the Pope invited the cardinals and department heads to get organized “e live in a personal way a period of spiritual exercises which suspends the working activity”.

The pontifical provisions establish that participants in the spiritual exercises gather in prayer from the afternoon of 26 February to Friday 3 March, the first week of Lent.

They were also suspended during the same period the Pope’s activities including the suspension of the Wednesday general audience.

The Vatican information site the seismograph He underlined that “when separate spiritual exercises were held in the Curia, the reasons were clearly explained. Another site writes that the Pope would have reacted like this “to constant criticism which he allegedly received for managing the funeral of his predecessor Benedict XVI”.

Francis is preparing his next trip to Africa scheduled for the beginning of February to the Republic of Congo and South Sudan, which he had to suspend a year ago due to knee problems that prevented him from walking and forced him to use a wheelchair.

Francisco undergoes intense cycles of physiotherapy which now allow him to get up and walk around briefly leaning on a stick. They are also the only alternative to a knee and perhaps hip operation, the procedure of which makes the pontiff uncomfortable, who has already said he prefers any alternative before undergoing another surgery.