Cardinal Gerhard Müller has said that the heretical German “Synodal Way” has to be stopped and that there is “no place for rainbow flags in the Church.”
In an interview with the Gibbons Institute, produced by Oxford philosopher and Blackfriars Fellow Jan Bentz, the prefect emeritus of the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith addressed the problems with the German “Synodal Way” and stressed that Pope Leo XIV is the successor of St. Peter and not of Pope Francis.
He criticized the “Synodal Way” and the German bishops for their pro-LGBT ideology and said that the process lacks proper foundation in the Christian faith and instead focuses on contemporary cultural and political ideas.
“There were people who were present there. There was no [word] spoken about God, the revelation about Jesus Christ, the only Savior,” Cardinal Müller said, adding that the focus was on “this modern ideology of wokism and this synodal way.”
The prelate stressed that the documents produced by the German “Synodal Way” have no theological authority.
“These documents they publish, they have no sense, or there’s no value for the magisterium,” he said.
He said the Synodal Way “cannot introduce heretical ideas in the anthropology and denying the revealed mysteries of God” and therefore it “must be stopped.”
“And there is no place for rainbow flags in the Church,” Cardinal Müller stressed.
During the German Synodal Way, more than two-thirds of the German bishops approved documents that included heretical statements, for instance, that homosexual acts are not sinful or that women can become priests.
The former Vatican prefect questioned the entire modern concept of “synodality” introduced by Pope Francis that attempts to constantly redefine the identity of the Church.
“There is a Church, the Catholic Church instituted by Jesus Christ – one, holy, apostolic, and Catholic Church. And there are synods, there are councils. But the Church, as the Church, is not a permanent synod,” he stated.
“The normal life of the Church is in preaching of the Gospel, living according to the way of Jesus Christ, living as a Christian in the family, in your profession, in the Holy Sacraments, in the liturgy,” he noted. “That is a Church. And we don’t need a permanent council to speak about it.”
He stressed that Pope Leo is bound by Catholic Tradition as the successor of St. Peter and not by the magisterium of his immediate predecessor.
“The Pope is not the successor of the Pope before, but he’s a successor of St. Peter,” Cardinal Müller said. “So chronologically, successor of the Pope before him, but this has no theological importance.”
He said that the Pope’s mission is to strengthen Catholics in their faith and proclaim Jesus Christ as the only mediator between God and man to the world.
He contrasted Pope Francis “practical approach” with Pope Benedict XVI’s emphasis on theological doctrine and clarity, stressing that his own approach was based on “the theological well-developed doctrine of Pope Benedict.”