Recently, 76-year-old Curial Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller said that in Western society today, Jesus Christ would likely be imprisoned for His teachings on biological sex and traditional marriage, according to Christian Today.
"Jesus contradicts the modern ideology that aims to destroy marriage between a man and a woman and the institution of the family, which consists of parents and their children," the cardinal told British news channel GB News anchor Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Referring to Chapter 19 of Matthew's Gospel, Cardinal G. Muller noted how the Pharisees tried to tempt Jesus by questioning him about marriage, but he rebuffed them by affirming that God, according to his plan, created man and woman and established marriage between man and woman.
"I believe that today the Savior would be condemned not only for being the Messiah, but in Canada, the United States or European countries He would go to jail also for telling the truth about marriage between a man and a woman," the Catholic hierarch continued.
Cardinal Muller's comments came in response to a question from J. Rees-Mogg about the current situation in the Catholic Church, especially in light of Pope Francis' recent high-profile removal of 65-year-old conservative Bishop Joseph Strickland from his duties as head of the church by Pope Francis Diocese of Tyler (Texas, USA) and the deprivation by the Pope of 75-year-old Cardinal Raymond Burke of his main privileges - a Vatican-subsidized apartment and salary.
As the publication notes, both Catholic traditionalist hierarchs are outspoken critics of Pope Francis. For example, Bishop J. Strickland has repeatedly accused the pontiff of "undermining the foundations of the faith," especially in connection with the pope's increasingly lenient attitude toward the LGBT community[banned in Russia - ed.]. Recall that Francis recently authorized Catholic priests to bless same-sex "couples," although the Vatican noted that this blessing does not mean the Catholic Church's approval of same-sex "marriages" in general and certainly cannot replace the rite of marriage.
Cardinal R. Burke, former bishop of La Crosse (USA), also denounces the current course of the Vatican in every possible way. He has repeatedly called Pope Francis' current program "human and political rather than ecclesiastical and divine." Notably, the pontiff has now decided to chastise prominent hierarchs of the "conservative wing" who have consistently opposed abortion, feminism, the potential ordination of women, recognition of the LGBT community and so-called "gender theory," and who believe that unrepentant politicians who participated in the legalizing abortion, and "unrepentant sodomites."
According to one source, at a November 20, 2023 meeting of the heads of departments of the Roman Curia, during which it was decided to strip Cardinal Burke of his privileges, the Pope said that Burke was his "personal enemy."
Pope Francis later denied that he had called Burke his enemy, but confirmed that he deprived him of his salary and evicted him from a Vatican-subsidized apartment because the cardinal used "his privileges against the Church."
"That they [Bishops Strickland and Burke] have been labeled enemies of the Pope only demonstrates the unchristian spirit of the current Vatican," Mueller observed and called for respectful dialog between both sides.
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