Card. Kasper Attacks Card. Müller Who Publicly Proclaimed Catholic Doctrine

Fr Zed discusses the attacks on Cardinal Müller by the heretic, Kasper the Friendly Ghost.

From Fr Z's Blog

Be sure to check out these important posts and podcasts:

PODCAzT 169: Bp. Athanasius Schneider on “the only God-willed religion”
PODCAzT 170: Card. Müller – Manifesto of Faith: “Let not your heart be troubled!”

The second of those presents Gerhard Card. Müller “Manifesto”.  He addresses some point of confusion coming from highly placed clerics in the hierarchy and some of the libs who echo them.

At CNA I saw that one of the very inveterate promoters of confusion, who has exercised great influence begin in 2013, Walter Card. Kasper, has compared Card. Müller to – wait for it – Martin Luther.

My emphases and comments.

Cardinal Kasper says Mueller’s manifesto spreads ‘confusion and division’

Munich, Germany, Feb 10, 2019 / 01:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Walter Kasper has released a criticism of Cardinal Gerhard Müller’s “Manifesto of Faith,” accusing it of containing half-truths and blanket statements that could lead to division and confusion in the Church.  [This from the guy who wants adulterers to receive Communion.  Matthew 7:3-5]

In a statement on katholisch.de, Kasper said that while the manifesto “contains many statements of faith that every upright Catholic can wholeheartedly affirm,” some of the truths in it “are pointed out so pointedly that it fades out the other half.” [See what he did there?]

[…]

Kasper, who has been an outspoken advocate of the admission of the divorced-and-remarried to Holy Communion, accused Müller of making “unacceptable blanket statements,” such as the assertion that “the conscience of the faithful is not sufficiently formed.”  [Considering that polls – and our experience – show that Catholics use contraception at the same rate as everyone else, cohabit, resort to abortion, etc., can anyone take Kasper seriously?  But what did Kasper do in the German piece?  He pivoted to … wait for it… clerical sexual abuse!  “And what will many say when they think of priests who are accused of abuse? Is their conscience adequately formed?”  You can’t make this stuff up.]

“It is undoubtedly true that the confession of the Triune God constitutes a fundamental difference in belief in God and the image of man from other religions. But are there not similarities, especially with the Jews and the Muslims, in the belief in the one God? [There are also similarities between crabs and snakes.  There are some pretty obvious differences, too.] And are not these similarities today fundamental to peace in the world and in society? Half the truth is not the Catholic truth!” Kasper charged.  [un-believable]

He also said that he was “totally horrified” to read Müller’s statement that failing to teach the truths of the Catholic faith “it is the fraud of Antichrist.”

Kasper suggested that Müller was following the path of Martin Luther: “One who rightly advocates reforms in the Church, but wants to pursue these behind the Pope’s back and enforce them in opposition to him? I would find that hard to believe. For that could only lead to confusion and  division. That could unhinge the Catholic Church.”  [Speaking of unhinged.]

Kasper, in the German original, also picks on a couple CCC references, but not very effectively.  Pretty feeble, really, especially if you do what he says he did: look up the references.

I am reminded of the Aesop fable of the Crab and the Snake (not that I think that Müller is either one).   This is an Greek way of referring to “the pot calling the kettle black”.   If there is anyone who has excelled in the presentation of “half truths”, it is Card. Kasper.  Just review his arguments for Communion for the divorced and remarried.

Next, the comparison of Müller to Luther is hilarious.  In the German he actually said, “Steht hinter dem Manifest ein Luther redivivus? Is there a Luther redivivus standing behind the manifesto?” Kasper himself has promoted some of the best Lutheran Christology you will ever read.   Kasper is wholly into kenotic theology, of which Luther, on the basis of Phil 2:7, was the progenitor.  Aquinas explained that Christ’s self-emptying referred to defects assumed by Christ’s Body.  Christ took our passible flesh and, hence, became subject to suffering and death. On the other hand, Christ was perfect in knowledge and virtue.  Kenotic theology extends Christ’s kenosis beyond His Body.  Christ is, for example, in the dark about His identity, mission, etc.  This is Luther’s “theology of the cross… Kreuzestheologie… theologia crucis” (contrasting a theologia gloriae) that emphasizes Christ as victim, but not so much as the priestly victim who offers Himself in sacrifice.  I read Kasper in seminary, which was 30 years ago.  However, as a former Lutheran, his work bothered me.  It has been quite a long time, but I remember Kasper avoiding mention of Christ’s priesthood and how he seemed to ignore the priestly/sacrificial dimension of his mission.   I am certainly open to correction, if someone out there has a truer handle on Kasper’s Christology.

Kasper, incredibly, says he is worried that Müller’s Manifesto might sow confusion in the Church.  Just read that again and think about it.

In any event, if they aren’t shooting at you, you aren’t over the target.

Müller’s offering is going to tweak a lot of consciences.