Maike Hickson: Bishops Applaud Cardinal Müller for ‘Prophetic’ Manifesto of Faith 

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By Maike Hickson, LifeSiteNews, Feb. 11, 2019

Support Cdl. Müller’s doctrinal manifesto amid Pope Francis’ confusion. Sign the petition here. Sign the petition here.

Maike HicksonFebruary 11, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – At least three bishops so far are publicly supporting Cardinal Gerhard Müller after he issued a “Manifesto of Faith” on Friday in the hope of clearing up the growing doctrinal confusion in the Church.

Bishops Joseph Strickland, Thomas Tobin, and Marian Eleganti all expressed their gratitude to Cardinal Müller, the former head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, for reaffirming the essential tenets of our Catholic Faith.

“Thank God for Cardinal Müller’s strength and fidelity to Christ and his Teaching,” says Bishop Strickland.

Bishop Strickland, of Tyler, Texas, responded only half an hour after the publication of the Manifesto, in the late afternoon on February 8. He wrote on Twitter: “Let us embrace this joyful challenge with new vigor…………..Cardinal Müller Issues ‘Manifesto of Faith’.”

On Saturday morning, Bishop Thomas Tobin, of Providence, Rhode Island commented on Twitter: “I just read Cardinal Mueller’s ‘Manifesto of Faith’. I really appreciate his clear, concise, and ordered approach. Highly quotable, and an excellent summary of the faith. ‘May Mary, the Mother of God, implore for us the grace to remain faithful.’”

Additionally, Bishop Marian Eleganti, the auxiliary bishop of Chur, Switzerland, sent an appreciative comment to LifeSite. “I am very grateful to Cardinal G.L. Müller for his prophetic statements concerning questions of the Faith and of the proclamation at a time of confusion and of bewilderment among many faithful and those who are seeking. The Holy Spirit may enlighten us and turn us into credible witnesses of the Gospels and of the Catholic Faith!”

Cardinal Müller, who has issued his Manifesto of Faith in the capacity of the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, explicitly states that he had been asked to do so by many clergymen and laymen alike. He says: “In the face of growing confusion about the doctrine of the Faith, many bishops, priests, religious and lay people of the Catholic Church have requested that I make a public testimony about the truth of revelation. It is the shepherds’ very own task to guide those entrusted to them on the path of salvation.” He further states that this Manifesto “was written with the aim of strengthening the Faith of the brothers and sisters whose belief has been massively questioned by the ‘dictatorship of relativism.’”

The support for Cardinal Müller comes as some have tried to characterize his Manifesto as an “attack” on Pope Francis. For example, Cardinal Walter Kasper, a high-profile liberal admired by Pope Francis, accused Müller of sowing “confusion and schism.”

Cardinal Müller based his Manifesto fully on the teaching of the Catholic Church’s 1992 Catechism and restates the Church’s basic teaching on the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation; the Catholic Church as founded by Jesus Christ as an “instrument of salvation”; the Church’s sacramental order, to include the teaching on the Holy Eucharist according to which only those in the state of sanctifying grace may receive Holy Communion fruitfully unto salvation; the moral law which interdicts acts like adultery, homosexuality, contraception, and abortion; as well as the danger of the eternal loss of one’s soul.

Cardinal Müller ends his text with a call, reminding all the “workers in the vineyard” to preserve the entire Catholic Faith and to pass it on loyally to the faithful: “As workers in the vineyard of the Lord, we all have a responsibility to recall these fundamental truths by clinging to what we ourselves have received. We want to give courage to go the way of Jesus Christ with determination, in order to obtain eternal life by following His commandments (CCC 2075).”

The cardinal released his manifesto to a worldwide audience, in seven different languages, thus allowing for a widespread affirmation of the orthodox Catholic faith.

To this end, LifeSite is hosting a petition at its LifePetitions platform so the Catholic clergy and faithful of the world, in all language groups, can make a visible sign of their support for the full and unvarnished faith and for the Cardinal’s initiative.

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Dr. Maike Hickson was born and raised in Germany. She holds a PhD from the University of Hannover, Germany, after having written in Switzerland her doctoral dissertation on the history of Swiss intellectuals before and during World War II. She now lives in the U.S. and is married to Dr. Robert Hickson, and they have been blessed with two beautiful children. She is a happy housewife who likes to write articles when time permits.

Dr. Hickson published in 2014 a Festschrift, a collection of some thirty essays written by thoughtful authors in honor of her husband upon his 70th birthday, which is entitled A Catholic Witness in Our Time.

Hickson has closely followed the papacy of Pope Francis and the developments in the Catholic Church in Germany, and she has been writing articles on religion and politics for U.S. and European publications and websites such as LifeSiteNews, OnePeterFive, The Wanderer, Rorate Caeli, Catholicism.org, Catholic Family News, Christian Order, Notizie Pro-Vita, Corrispondenza Romana, Katholisches.info, Der Dreizehnte,  Zeit-Fragen, and Westfalen-Blatt.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/bishops-applaud-cardinal-mueller-for-prophetic-manifesto-of-faith