The President of the Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, has accused Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller of using "clearly anti-Semitic ciphers" with his statements on the corona pandemic.

That is "irresponsible and unacceptable, especially in view of the currently heated mood," said Schuster on Tuesday to the Internet portal "kathisch.de".

Thomas Jansen

Editor in politics.

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Müller, who was Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith until the summer of 2017 and thus held one of the most important offices of the Catholic Church, said in a video interview last week that the corona pandemic was being used to “bring people into line now, one to subject it to total control, to establish a surveillance state ”.

In the conversation with the Austrian-based Catholic “St.

Bonifatius Institut ”he also expressed the view that behind the measures against the pandemic stood“ people who sit on the throne of their wealth ”and have no idea of ​​the everyday difficulties people in the pandemic face.

They now see an opportunity “to get their agenda through”.

Shortly afterwards, in the interview, Müller mentions the names of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the American-Jewish investor George Soros and the director of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Klaus Schwab.

"I don't really want to be created and redeemed according to the image and likeness and image of Klaus Schwab, Bill Gates and George Soros, who whiz to Glasgow with private jets and impose the great austerity measures and restrictions on the masses," said Müller, apparently with a view to the world climate conference in the Scottish city.

Not the bishop's first conspiracy theories

At the request of the German Press Agency, the 73-year-old clergyman confirmed the authenticity of the slightly more than two-minute long video that was broadcast by the “St.

Bonifatius Institut ”on Twitter.

So far, the German Bishops' Conference has only had one reaction on Twitter from its spokesman Matthias Kopp.

“One wonders about these theories”.

Cardinal Müller says here "I assume so - as a private person", wrote Kopp.

It is not the first time that the former Regensburg bishop has spread conspiracy theories in connection with the corona pandemic.

In early 2020, he signed an open letter from the former Vatican ambassador to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, warning that the corona pandemic should be used to create a world government.

At the time, Müller protested against allegations and said the letter had been misunderstood.

So far, Pope Francis has apparently taken no offense at Müller's statements.

In June of that year he appointed him judge of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Catholic Church, the Apostolic Signature in Rome.