During a conversation with Jacob Rees-Mogg for GB News, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller hit out at the Pope’s actions against one of his cardinals, and called on him to open more lines of “respectful dialogue” in the church.
Pope Francis is evicting US Cardinal Raymond Burke, an outspoken critic of the sitting Pope, from his apartment in the Vatican, and revoking his salary.
Müller said of the decision: “Calling them enemies of the Pope only shows an un-Christian spirit.
“What the Pope’s position is in the Catholic faith is not determined by ideologies.
“I propose a respectful dialogue between grown up men. The ordination are appointed by Christ himself to be shepherds of the Church and to treat each other like brothers.”
Jacob also asked the cardinal about those who don’t participate in an ‘organised church’, and whether it takes them away from ‘the truth’.
“I think that the big mix mistake and the damage to the people not to participate in the life of the communion of the faithful.
“Only if you really believe in God and hope in the Son of God, in your life and your striving, and if you love God and your neighbour in the Holy Spirit, then you can also encounter God in the visible community of believers in the world, of the preaching and the celebration of the liturgy and the sacraments.
“However, there's also disappointment among many Christians about the poor example of their fellow Christians and some of their preachers and shepherds.
“That is why we must pray for the strength to remain with Jesus and His Church, even if there are some who betray or deny Jesus, like the apostles did in the face of Christ's passion.”
