Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller — the former head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) — said there is “no proof” that he mishandled money during his tenure and referred to allegations of financial improprieties as a … […]
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, at a penance service in St. Peter’s Basilica on March 29, 2019. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
CNA Newsroom, Aug 2, 2024 / 12:15 pm (CNA).
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller has vigorously refuted claims of financial impropriety during his tenure as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, dismissing the allegations as “cheap tabloid literature.”
The former prefect, who served from 2012 to 2017, insists that “not a single cent” was mishandled under his leadership, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.
In an interview with the German Catholic weekly Die Tagespost, Müller addressed a recent report suggesting his term was not renewed due to financial mismanagement.
Citing several anonymous sources at the Vatican, the Pillar reported that allegedly large sums of cash were found in the dicastery offices and that over 200,000 euros intended for the dicastery’s bank account were deposited into Müller’s personal account.
The report also claimed these discoveries were made during an investigation led by the late Cardinal George Pell’s economic secretariat.
In response to these allegations, Müller said: “If people had realized, as Cardinal Pell did, that the dicastery did not lose a single cent in the end, they could have spared themselves the rehashing of a long-settled matter.”
According to CNA Deutsch, the cardinal acknowledged that a staff member had “booked money back and forth between the individual accounts of the dicastery and, although not illegally, kept unusually large amounts of cash.”
However, Müller emphatically stated that this employee had not misappropriated “the slightest bit” of the dicastery’s property.
The former prefect also addressed questions about replacing an antique conference table in the dicastery’s offices. Müller explained that he had procured valuable new furniture for the dicastery through fundraising efforts during his tenure. As part of this process, he said, the old conference table was properly disposed of with the approval of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA).
“As prefect, I was able to acquire valuable new furniture for the dicastery through fundraising,” Müller stated, emphasizing that all actions were taken with proper oversight and approval.
The allegations suddenly surfacing this week are not the first time Müller’s departure has made headlines that the cardinal subsequently dismissed.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed the German prelate to lead the Church’s highest doctrinal department in 2012. His five-year term ended without renewal in 2017 under Pope Francis.
At the time, media reports alleged the pope had asked the cardinal “five pointed questions” in a personal conversation — a claim Müller categorically dismissed.
Nonetheless, his departure from office was widely interpreted as a desire for new leadership in the Vatican’s doctrinal office.
Müller’s successor, Jesuit Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, was succeeded in 2023 by the personal theologian and ghostwriter to Pope Francis, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.
Cardinal Gerhard Müller (center) and Father Joseph Hamilton (at left), personal secretary to the late Cardinal George Pell, were among the priests celebrating the Jan. 10, 2024, Mass held on the first anniversary of the cardinal’s death. / Credit: Elizabeth Alva
Rome Newsroom, Jan 10, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).
A requiem Mass was held in Rome on Tuesday evening to mark the first anniversary of the death of Cardinal George Pell and to celebrate the cardinal’s illustrious ecclesiastical career.
The chapel of the Domus Australia was filled to capacity for the Mass, which was celebrated by Cardinal Gerhard Müller. In attendance were numerous cardinals and bishops, an array of priests from Rome, ambassadors to the Holy See, and faithful from Rome and abroad who came to pray for the beloved cardinal.
Father Joseph Hamilton, rector of the Domus Australia and Pell’s former secretary, noted in an exclusive interview with EWTN: “I think His Eminence was very loved here in the city of Rome. His witness was very much appreciated and his loss was very unexpected.”
“I think that a beautiful Mass to commemorate his life, to pray for the repose of his soul, and to ask for his intercession here in the chapel, which he renovated and which he loved, I’m hoping will bring consolation and some degree of closure for those who have been grieving for the cardinal over the last year,” Hamilton added in his interview.
Pell died at the age of 81 on Jan. 10, 2023, after suffering a cardiac arrest following a scheduled hip replacement days prior at Rome’s Salvator Mundi hospital. He previously served as archbishop of Sydney and Melbourne before Pope Francis appointed him to head the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy in 2014, making him the most senior Australian prelate.
During his homily, Müller reflected on the long illustrious life of the departed cardinal, noting that Pell and Pope Benedict — who passed away less than two weeks before the cardinal — were “role models of the true faith.”
Müller reflected on his early life, noting that the cardinal showed great “athletic abilities” and “high intellectual talent,” which would have brought him “a brilliant career in the world.” But, Müller continued, Pell eschewed worldly goals and opted to “follow Christ’s call to the priestly service.”
Pell was renowned for his quick wit and towering stature. Müller, reflecting on his personal relationship with the late cardinal, highlighted Pell’s commitment to “marriage and family in the spirit of Christ, teachings against relativization by secularist-minded participants in the Synod of this topic.”
Müller also touched upon the darkest chapter of Pell’s life, which stands as “a great testimony of Christian patience.”
Pell was convicted on Dec. 11, 2018, on five charges of sexual abuse while he served as archbishop of Melbourne in the late 1990s. After serving 404 days in solitary confinement, Australia’s high court unanimously overturned the convictions, based on reasonable doubt of the appellate proceedings, in April 2020.
“He was relentlessly pursued by a bloodthirsty mob and made himself a victim of justice by anti-Catholic agitators in the media and the police apparatus,” Müller remarked regarding the vilification of the late cardinal in mainstream media.
Auxiliary Bishop Richard Umbers of the Archdiocese of Sydney spoke with EWTN after the Mass, noting that the evening was an opportunity to mark “the anniversary of a man who was a lion in the Church. I think it’s giving due recognition to someone who’s been very important in the life of Australia, if not in fact the whole world.”
While recognizing that Pell was a “lightning rod for the Church,” Umbers explained that he was a man “of great strength and tremendous courage.”
Pell’s legacy is not just limited to his theological acumen or reforms of the Vatican’s handling of financial affairs, but it is most tangibly seen in the revitalization of the Church in Sydney.
“I think the impact of Cardinal Pell is very visible in Sydney,” Umbers said. “He was a big man with great vision, and the last 20 years in the Archdiocese of Sydney have seen real growth and leadership amongst a number of young Catholics.”
“You find an environment there which is quite extraordinary. A lot of life, especially in the area of university chaplaincy. He [Pell] invested heavily in that area and took great interest in the next generation of leaders,” Umbers added.
According to Father Hamilton, one of the hallmarks of Pell’s legacy will be his example of strength and unity for the Church as it is going through a period marked by division and is mired in crises.
“We are one Catholic Church, we have one faith, we have one pope, we’re one people. If we stand together, we’re strong. If we’re divided, we’re weak, and I think that his [Pell’s] witness to us and his legacy to the Church is that it is one, holy, catholic, apostolic Church that he was proud to serve and that he was proud, in a very humble way, to be a confessor of. I think that that leaves us an astonishing and shining example,” he said.
Bishops gathered at the19th Plenary Assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar in Accra, Ghana, July 2022. / Courtesy of SECAM.
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