who is the astonishing Cardinal Müller who will celebrate the closing mass?

Born at the end of 1947, Gerhard Ludwig Muller is a pure product of German theology, between Mainz, Munich and Freiburg im Breisgau. After 24 years of ministry as a priest and professor of theology, he was named bishop of Regensburg in 2002 by John Paul II. Close to the man who would become Pope Benedict XVI, is a very active theologian, publishing both in the areas of fundamental theology and on ecumenical questions. He is also very influenced by the research of Gustavo Gutierrez, one of the founding theologians of American liberation theology.

It is therefore not surprising that this theologian's journey led him to Rome. In 2007, he participated in the life of various Roman congregations. In 2012, he became prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and archbishop at the same time. After the election of Pope Francis, he was also named cardinal in 2014.

Tensions Pope Francis

But on July 1, 2017, the man was relieved of his duties as prefect by Pope Francis. A decision that Cardinal Müller digested very badly, retaining bitterness against the Argentine pontiff who did not pass. The reasons for his replacement by a Jesuit and close friend of Francis, Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, are unclear. But it is a safe bet that the fundamentalist question has something to do with it. While Müller received the superior of the Society of Saint Pius X in 2014 in Rome to discuss a possible rapprochement, Pope Francis obviously has a different reading of the events. In 2021, he returns to the decree published by his predecessor which had liberalized the practice of traditionalists in the dioceses. Faced with the growing risk of division which he noted almost everywhere, and out of concern to continue the movement of the Second Vatican Council, Francis put an end to Benedict XVI's essay.

At the age of 70, relieved of his Roman duties, Cardinal Müller resumed his activities as a theologian and preacher. But his expressions bring him closer and closer to the most conservative circles and to those who oppose the pastoral overtures of Pope Francis.