On matters of dogma, Pope Francis is not a "professional theologian."
Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, made the remark in a recent interview with the German newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, according to LifeSite News.
The paper asked Müller about his relationship with the pope and whether he is his strongest opponent.
Müller replied by saying he had been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI. "With him [Benedict], I was closely connected due to the fact that we are both academic theologians, we have the same [German] nationality and share the same world-view," he said.
However, with Pope Francis, he said the relationship is not the same. "Pope Francis is not a 'professional theologian', but has been largely formed by his experiences in the field of the pastoral care, which is very different here with us [in the West]."
Müller pointed out that Pope Francis has "a highly spiritual and theological power of judgment which follows the spirituality of the founder of his own [Jesuit] order, St. Ignatius of Loyola."
However, Müller said it is "absolutely legitimate" that the pope lets his own life experience influence his papacy. "Thanks be to God, I have lived myself in Southern America for a long time, and so I can understand and assess well all of this [the special pastoral approach of the pontiff]," he said.
The interviewer then asked Müller if he has corrected the pope on matters of dogma. "That is what he [Pope Francis] has said already three or four times himself, publicly (laughs); and then he gave me a hug so that – as he said – the gossip ceases with regard to this matter," Müller said.
The cardinal said the theological understanding of the pope cannot be underestimated. "Again and again, he [the pope] refers to the teaching of the Church as the framework of interpretation, also in his spontaneous remarks in interviews," Müller said.
The cardinal denied reports that he is the "number one enemy of the pope," saying this is a "fairy tale."
He admitted that there is "some intentional disinformation on the side of those who want to claim the pope for their own ideologies instead of understanding him in the light of the teaching of the Church."
He then underscored that based on the Catholic faith, the papacy has been established by Christ Himself; and the Congregation for the Faith with its 25 cardinals who are appointed by the pope is the instrument legitimised by the pope in order to help him – and thereby to partake – in the exercise of his universal teaching office. "But we [at the CDF] are not called to exercise the art of flattery but, rather, to use our expert knowledge," Müller said.
