Pope Francis Criticizes Former Doctrinal Head Muller: He Has ‘Good Intentions’ But Is ‘Like a Child’, by Maike Hickson

Pope Francis has criticized Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the Vatican’s former head of doctrine who continues to raise concerns about the direction the Church is taking under the Francis pontificate, stating that the cardinal “has good intentions” but is “like a child.”

In the context of Pope Francis’ September 4 flight to Mozambique, the news websites of the German and Austrian Bishops’ Conferences, Katholisch.de and Kathpress.at, both report that Pope Francis was also asked about Cardinal Müller and his recurrent interventions that now seem to have a “critical view of the current pontificate.”

Pope Francis is reported to have answered: “He has good intentions, he is a good man. The Pope likes him. But he is like a child.”

The Pope made these comments in front of a smaller group of journalists on his flight to Mozambique, Africa, while greeting the journalists on board. Kathpress.at states that “the Pope made these comments at a short greeting of media representatives who are traveling with him. In this context, he [the Pope] was asked about some contributions of the former chief of the Congregation for the Faith which indicate a critical view of the current pontificate.”

Roland Juchem, Rome Correspondent of Katholische Nachrichten-Agentur (KNA), which works with Kathpress and Katholisch.de, told LifeSiteNews that the Pope’s remark on the Cardinal “stems from the usual papal walk on his flight to greet [the journalists]. In this case, a colleague briefly asked the Pope about Cardinal Müller and his distancing statements about his pontificate.”  …