Honduran Cardinal Maradiaga castigates powerful German Cardinal Müller:

[Are_grits_groceries]

C8’s Cardinal Maradiaga castigates CDF prefect: ‘He's German so he thinks in black and white'
24 January 2014 13:05 by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt

The leading member of the Council of Cardinals (C8) has sharply criticised the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal-designate Gerhard Müller. In several recent statements Cardinal-designate Müller has ruled out any revision of church rules barring divorced and civilly remarried Catholics from the sacraments.

Asked about this in an interview with the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, a Honduran, said: “He’s a German, one has to say, and above all he’s a German theology professor, so in his mentality there’s only truth and falsehood. But I say, my brother, the world isn’t like this, and you should be a little flexible when you hear other voices. That means not just listening and then saying no.”

Maradiaga, who was on a visit to Germany, said he was sure Archbishop Müller “will arrive at understanding other positions too”, even if at the moment “he listens only to his group of advisers”.
On the question of divorced and remarried believers, Rodriguez Maradiaga seemed to signal support for some sort of change.

“The Church is obliged [to uphold] the commandments of God,” he said, including what Jesus said about marriage: “What God has united, let no man separate.”

That said, Rodriguez Maradiaga reportedly added, “There are different approaches to making this clear. After the failure of a marriage, for example, we can ask if the spouses were truly united in God. There’s much room for further reflection there.”
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/363/0/c8-s-cardinal-maradiaga-castigates-cdf-prefect-he-s-german-so-he-thinks-in-black-and-white-

This is why Pope Francis has shaken up the Cardinals and the positions they hold. Cardinal Maradiaga is probably a stalking horse for the Pope.
Cardinal Müller is a very powerful force in charge of a group that has been fighting Pope Francis tooth and nail. The Pope is trying to outflank him with the voices of other more moderate Cardinals.

This Pope has not gone far enough and continues to make statements on abortion and LGBT rights that are regressive. Those who expected him to come full blast out of the gate and completely change Church doctrine ignore the realities of how the Pope, the Vatican and other groups work. It is extremely political and the internecine battles make Congress look positively agreeable.

Pope haters seem to think that approving anything he has done to be an approval of everything he has done. In that regard, they are as dogmatic as the conservatives who also hate him. Neither group will be happy until another arch-conservative is installed. This will mollify the conservatives and make the Pope haters happy because there will now be universal condemnation of him from the left as before.

In addition, Pope haters seem to believe that those who are giving him any acknowledgement are going to lay down and let him go about his job with no criticism. That is false. He deserves to have his feet held to the fire on issues he still has not moved on. Nobody should trust him completely or let his actions go unnoticed.

I believe that Pope Francis is the most dangerous Pope in a very long time. I think that because he is an enigma who moves with his own purpose. He cannot be labelled as fish or fowl. He has made many positive changes as well as continued to follow some conservative paths. He is dangerous to the conservatives because he is upending their world.

He is also dangerous to the more liberal groups because his changes could be only cursory while leading to more regression. Some seem to believe they already know. I haven't decided yet. We may never know who he really is or what his changes will lead to. Those who dismiss them are not looking very deeply at what they may really mean. Only time will tell.

I already know who will be attacking this and the arguments they will make. (Remember 'Hit dog hollers.') Complete inflexibility is not a trait that leads to any change except that of upheaval. Look at the Tea Party as an example of that. They will burn their party down before giving an inch. That trait is not confined to the right.

[Bluenorthwest]

1. But Francis just elevated Muller to be Cardinal, Benedict made him head of the

'Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith'. If Muller opposes Francis 'tooth and nail' then why did Francis elevate him among the 19 new Cardinals?
It is not Francis criticizing Muller, Francis is making him a Prince of the Church.

[Are_grits_groceries]

3. Here is an article about Müller and the CDF.

http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/church-reform-all-levels

There is quite a battle going on.
Müller is a conservative in many ways and that is reflected by the CDF. However, Müller is a mixed bag. He has made positive comments about Liberation Theology and supported the 'Bishop of Bling.'

This is why I consider Pope Francis to be dangerous. He makes moves and then counter-moves. Müller's appointment is one such move. Maybe he's really a stealth ally of the Pope in supporting change. On the other hand maybe the Pope is his stealth ally of conservatism.

Wheels within wheels.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. Can I be honest? That's really convoluted thinking.

Your OP suggests that Francis opposes a man who he just promoted, it suggests that Francis elevated the man who is critical of Francis' new promotion.
If Francis is great for either elevating or criticizing Muller, either way, then what is the point really? Whatever he does is s sign of revolution? Seriously?

A hater is a person who says others should not have equal rights. Not those denied rights who disagree with them.

Francis is anti gay, anti choice, he opposes contraception, he's a page from the Republican Platform, promoted here daily. Yesterday he tweeted his support to the religious right's anti choice rally in DC on the anniversary of Roe v Wade. Wheels within wheels indeed.

[Are_grits_groceries]

5. You want machinations and convoluted thinking

try the Vatican and all who work there. Add the Cardinals and Bishops for fun.

Pope Francis has also condemned the wealthy, put an emphasis on helping the poor and told the Church to stop obsessing over social issues and move to actively help people. This is so far from the Republican platform that it can't even be seen.

As much as conservatives love to rail about abortion, gay rights and such, the Pope's message about wealth scares them to death. It is no accident that Pope Francis has been called out by the RW.

I am not ignoring the issues that you point out as negatives. I said he needs his feet held to the fire on these ideas. However, you and others steadfastly ignore the Pope's other statements. You brush them off as insignificant while acting as if his other actions are huge.

And I never said whatever he does is a sign of revolution. I find him confounding with both progressive ideas on one hand and regressive ones on the other.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. I and others were aware that Benedict said the same things.

It's not my job to promote an anti choice cleric who claims my family is horrible if he happens to say something I agree with. It's my job to take care of my own, not some mega powerful, ultra rich conservative.
. I sure don't see any of the promoters of Francis 'holding his feet' to any damn fire. I see excuse and rationalizations for his bigotry, I don't see any of his supporters being critical of his vile words and actions, they deny that he does them, in fact. Yet you expect those he libels to annotate criticism with mitigating praise. Why is that?
In this OP, you praise Francis for another man's words of criticism of a guy Francis just promoted.
Where are the OP's from Francis boosters 'holding his feet to the fire'? What I see is 'I love this Pope' and folks claiming he does not judge gay people. He opposes our rights because he says we are from Satan, but he does not judge? How do you work that out? The claim is made constantly 'who am I to judge' they quote, but they don't explain how one can oppose the equal standing of another without judging the other. Can you?
You are calling people haters for criticizing a man who says our families are from Satan when he's not tweeting support to the anti choice march. It's a hard row you hoe, that's for sure.

[Are_grits_groceries]

7. First of all,

I am gay and I am a woman. I also know and am kin to more dirt poor people than you can shake a stick at. In addition I taught and saw how deeply poverty and societal neglect affected my students.

So far Pope Francis is one of my 50/50 people. LBJ is another. His record on civil rights issues and helping those without is stellar. He never forgot what it was like to be that poor. However, his Vietnam policies were disastrous and caused untold suffering.

Life is not a zero sum proposition. One does not cancel out the other and leave a clean slate. The entirety of his actions have to be considered. Some will hate him forever because of Vietnam with good reason. His other accomplishments are ignored. The same goes for many who admire his domestic work.

LBJ is not an easy man to pigeonhole. He can't be because he fits in too many. The best view of him is drawn with infinite shades of gray.

Praise of one side cannot mitigate the condemnation of the other. Life is not black and white. It would be so much easier that way. We can see it that way and miss the real view.

I can't speak for other people, but I don't take his regressive views lightly. If I mention a positive because it is such a new message from that quarter am I required to also list his negative views.

This is the same problem with criticizing President Obama. If a criticism is made, many immediately jump and list everything he has done that is good. That is an insane way to discuss any issue. Each issue has to be taken on its own merits. All the good does not negate the bad and vice versa.

I am not particularly fond of being referred to as the spawn of Satan. I also have a thick enough skin to absorb that and throw it back with some Christian dogma that directly contradicts that view. The same goes for other issues that I don't agree with.

I have dealt with these kinds of contradictions all of my life. I have relatives that I have grown up with who think very differently than I do on many issues. I have also seen a completely different side of them. It is very difficult to deal with when you know and love some people while at the same time
Feeling the sting of their opinions.

BTW I am not angry or yelling at you. It's hard to tell with a post. I think you are very angry with me, but I may have misjudged you.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. Cardinal Maradiaga was made Cardinal in 2001 by John Paul 2

Muller will soon join him, courtesy of Francis. So......