A Blunt Cardinal, a Cautious Pontiff, by Phil Lawler

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture, Sep 18, 2025

 Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.

The two interviews at the top of the Catholic World News headlines today are both fascinating, but for very different reasons.

Diane Montagna’s interview with Cardinal Gerhard Müller is terrific, and needs no explanation. The Vatican’s former top doctrinal official says “I don’t want to be diplomatic,” and he isn’t. His comments on Charlie Kirk, Pope Leo (and by implication Pope Francis), Muslim immigration, the collapse of European culture, “woke” ideology, and the LGBTQ pilgrimage in Rome are clear and cogent, provocative and invigorating. See the whole interview; you won’t need to read between the lines.

The interview of Pope Leo by Elise Ann Allen—actually a set of excerpts from her forthcoming book—is a very different sort of conversation. Where Cardinal Müller take pride in being undiplomatic, the Holy Father is scrupulously careful in his speech. Where the cardinal obviously wants to stir up his audience, the Pontiff just as obviously wants to maintain the calm.  ….

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