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Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller in Rome in July 2022

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Oliver Weiken/dpa

Bishops who take a position against the AfD?

For the former head of the highest Catholic religious authority, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, the opportunism cannot be overlooked, as he told the right-wing Catholic “Tagespost”.

Müller is alluding to the many demonstrations “against the right” and a statement by the German bishops at their spring general assembly.

A unanimously adopted declaration said that ethnic nationalism was incompatible with the Christian faith.

The bishops write that it is precisely this ethnic-nationalist attitude that dominates the AfD.

Such parties are “unelectable” for Christians.

Müller told the “Tagespost” that the German Bishops’ Conference “was not allowed to act as a traffic light election agent.”

The cardinal has been polarizing for years; he is considered a conservative hardliner and agitator.

During the corona pandemic, he spread conspiracy myths and said, for example, that the pandemic was being used to “bring people into line” and subject them to “total control”.

When it comes to church issues, he has repeatedly positioned himself against reform processes that are currently being initiated in the Vatican.

Whether it's about same-sex marriage or priesthood for women: Müller is against it.

According to Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), the 76-year-old doesn't want to know anything about being conservative.

He is therefore neither right-wing nor left-wing, but “simply Catholic”.

There has been a more progressive course in the Vatican since Pope Francis.

Under the new Prefect of the Faith, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, Catholic clergy were allowed to bless unmarried and homosexual couples or to baptize trans people.

From 2012 to 2017, Müller was himself prefect of the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees the purity of Catholic teaching.

Afterwards, his term of office was no longer extended by Pope Francis, which is why the relationship between the two is strained.

Müller accused Pope Francis of “only mourning the victims and not naming the perpetrators” in the Ukraine war.

One would like to see clear statements and more solidarity here.

During a visit to Ukraine, many people told him that they expected Francis to visit the Kiev suburb of Butscha, said Müller.

Bucha is considered a symbol of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

"Terrible massacres have just happened in Butscha and many other places, and evil must be called by its name."

Before his time in the Vatican, Müller was Bishop of Regensburg from 2002 to 2012.

Among other things, he is accused of delaying the investigation into the abuse scandal at the Domspatzen during this time.

Müller has always denied this.

hba/dpa