Card. Kasper attacks Card. Müller who publicly proclaimed Catholic doctrine

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’

.- 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.

UPDATE:

Fr. Finigan may be ailing – PLEASE pray for him! – but he hasn’t lost a step:

UPDATE:

See Robert Royal’s take at The Catholic Thing.

 

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19 Comments

  1. JabbaPapa says:

    In my own little ways, I’ve been having to deal over the past couple of days with some who are claiming the Manifesto to be “schismatic” — I replay to them, “how can a statement of doctrines drawn exclusively from the Cathechism of the Catholic Church be schismatic ?” — they seem not to like that question, as none so far has even attempted to answer it.

    (of course, the real danger of schism comes from the rejection of the doctrines reminded to us in the Manifesto ; hence in a way they’re right, because of their own rejection of these fundamental teachings)

  2. Mark says:

    1 John 2:22-23
    22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
    23 Any one who denies the Son does not have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.

    I’m not sure how it can be any clearer than this. These people make me so mad. They speak in circles and confuse themselves, believing they are so much smarter than everyone else.

  3. mepoindexter says:

    I can see no reason to ever object to an otherwise zealous and passionate proclamation of Christian truth…unless of course Kasper doth protest too much methinks.

  4. JustaSinner says:

    The Dark One is laughing his *** off! It’s like the Church and American Secular Politics has been transported to Bizarro World. Welcome to the Gas Lit Age.

  5. Lurker 59 says:

    In reading Card. Kasper’s reply (as well as his other works) one is immediately struck by how boring a religious worldview it presents — it utterly lacks pathos. A lot can be argued over why Germany has empty Churches, but a large part has to do with presenting such a yawn-inducing religious view.

    The drama of the Christian mission is not for the Christian to find unity through what is in common with one’s neighbor, but rather for the Christian to share with one’s neighbor that which that which the neighbor does not have — salvation through Christ alone.

    One of the interesting differences between the writings of Card Kasper and Card Müller is that Card Kasper’s is essentially an appeal to authority while Card Müller’s is an appeal to truth. This is fascinating to watch Card Kasper ultimately rest his argument on “because Pope Francis says so” (to be overly dramatic) given his decades-long work with ecumenicism with the Orthodox (go look up how he presents the Petrine Primacy there).

    This is something to watch — the more this theological camp is pressed on issues through reasoning and the presenting of the Deposit of the Faith, the more they will fall back on raw authority of papal volition, and obedience to that will, during this Papacy.

  6. HvonBlumenthal says:

    It’s the Disinformation technique much used by the Soviets during the Cold War, to accuse your enemy of committing the very crime you are committing yourself.

  7. Lurker 59 says:

    @JabbaPapa — I have heard the answer to your question “how can a statement of doctrines drawn exclusively from the Catechism of the Catholic Church be schismatic ?” and can articulate their answer more fully.

    —>Card. Müller is being schismatic in his document because he is creating an individualistic presentation of truths that are contrary to and in conflict with the praxis laid out in the development of the Catholic tradition carried out through the Spirit of Vatican II. He is creating an approach that is not in accord with the trajectory of the Spirit, the Magisterium, nor that of the Holy Father. (Here follows quotes from Pope Francis backed up by various theologians (who were in conflict with Pope BXVI and St. Pope JPII) and incorrect readings of Vatican II). <—-

    The whole movement of "sing a new Church into being" is about changing the praxis of the Church. With the papacy of Pope Francis, that theological camp has the opportunity to start codifying that change in praxis — thus changing the doxology. The document "On Human Fraternity" is theologically dubious but is perilous because it is a movement towards codifying of false ecumenism.

    When seminarians study how to engage in ecumenical relations with Islam "On Human Fraternity" is going to be one of the main documents that they will be taught to emulate the praxis of. And why won't it be as, after all, it is an official document signed by Pope Francis?

  8. Ave Maria says:

    Most of us here know full well where the source of confusion and division are coming from.

  9. Fr_Sotelo says:

    Very good analysis, Fr. Z.

    Kasper should be happy to see a fellow cardinal do what most cardinals fail to do, which is confirm the Faith of his brethren.

  10. Marissa says:

    I thought the Vatican just celebrated 500 years of Martin Luther?

  11. Anneliese says:

    Cardinal Kasper is the most Lutheran catholic in the entire Church, so I’m not quite sure why he’s criticizing Cardinal Mueller. There’s an extraordinary amount of foolishness coming out of Germany.

  12. Pius Admirabilis says:

    Cardinal Kasper is a spiritual son of Karl Rahner, one of the architects of Vatican II, who subverted Thomistic thought into something completely heretical. Although he was not a member of the “Nouvelle Théologie” movement, he nevertheless was a Modernist, and is still a great influence and teacher for many, including Cardinal Kasper. Kasper represents a theology coming from the 60’s to 80’s. He clings to ideas of a hippie generation, of the ’68 movement, of Modernism, and of the “Spirit of the Council”. He was never a proponent of coherent Catholic thought well grounded in Tradition, but he is an ultra-liberal, and has been criticized many times, even by other Cardinals. I don’t think many Liberals are left who would take him seriously because he is so out of reality. That he even dares to attack Cardinal Müller, is absolutely astonishing and ridiculous. However, I think this signifies the rupture we see everywhere anyway.

  13. Il Ratzingeriano says:

    I do not find it surprising that Cardinal Kasper finds orthodox Catholicism upsetting. Among heretics the sin of orthodoxy is the one sin that cannot be forgiven.

  14. Marine Mom says:

    Diversion and infectious disdain
    The effective remedy to the devil’s toxic seeds of disdain that halt and divert us is an overriding love that does what love must do.
    Hold fast to your mission

  15. liebemama says:

    It is also to note that katholish.de did not even print Cardinal M.’s “Glaubensmanifest”, only very briefly summarized. While they did print the entire Kasper rebuttal to it.!

  16. Therese says:

    This post reminded me of two things Servant of God John Hardon famously said, both real zingers.

    “We are witnessing a massive effort to remake our historic Faith.” [Regarding the development of the then-new Catechism of the Catholic Church.]

    And:

    “Walter Kasper does not even believe in the Incarnation.”

    For more see Ordo Dei, the blog of Dr. Robert Hickson: https://ordodei.net/2018/12/27/remembering-father-john-a-hardon-s-j-1914-2000/

  17. robtbrown says:

    Fr Z says l

     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.

    All true, having read Jesus the Christ and The God of Jesus Christ in 1993 as part of doctoral research, my generous conclusion was that the 2nd book wasn’t as bad as the first.

    Perhaps it can be summarized: Kasper seems unaware of the existence of the Letter to the Hebrews.

    And that raises the question: If the Letter to the Hebrews is substantially Jewish-based Catholic theology, is Kasper’s theology intrinsicly anti-semitic?

  18. TonyO says:

    Card. Müller is being schismatic in his document because he is creating an individualistic presentation of truths that are contrary to and in conflict with the praxis laid out in the development of the Catholic tradition carried out through the Spirit of Vatican II.

    Lurker, excellent use of all the jingo words of modernism. Fits perfectly with the definitions for them, here:

    http://whatswrongwiththeworld.net/2014/03/tonys_testy_terminology.html

  19. Gab says:

    Card. Müller is being schismatic in his document because he is creating an individualistic presentation of truths that are contrary to and in conflict with the praxis laid out in the development of the Catholic tradition carried out through the Spirit of Vatican II.

    LOL.

Comments are closed.