Pope Francis Edges Out Leading Conservative Doctrine Chief
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJULY 1, 2017
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis declined Saturday to renew the mandate of the Vatican’s conservative doctrine chief, tapping a deputy instead to lead the powerful congregation
that handles sex abuse cases and guarantees Catholic orthodoxy around the world.
But the greater clash between Müller and the pope concerned Francis’ divisive 2016 document on family life "The Joy of Love," in which he
used strategically placed footnotes to offer a cautious opening to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive communion.
It was also Benedict who insisted that bishops around the world send all cases of credibly accused priests to the congregation for processing,
since bishops had for decades moved pedophiles around from parish to parish rather than sanction or report them to police.
Church teaching holds that unless these Catholics receive an annulment, or a church decree
that their first marriage was invalid, they are committing adultery and cannot receive communion unless they abstain from sex.
Benedict had taken a hard line against clerical sex abuse during his time as prefect of the congregation himself,
and later as pope, defrocking hundreds of priests accused of raping and molesting children.
Müller and Pell were two most powerful cardinals in the Vatican, after the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin,
and their absences will likely create a power vacuum for the conservative wing in the Holy See hierarchy.
