The government commissioner for Jewish life in Germany and the fight against anti-Semitism, Felix Klein, accused the former Regensburg bishop of “spreading absurd, anti-Semitic conspiracy myths that are harmful to our society and only exacerbate existing problems”.
In an interview with the editorial network in Germany, Klein said: “A clear, unmistakable distance is required from the irresponsible statements made by Cardinal Müller by the Catholic Church.”
The President of the European Rabbinical Conference (CER), Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, also called on the Vatican and the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) to “distance themselves clearly from such crude statements and positions”.
“Especially in this phase in which conspiracy myths, false narratives and hatred are used to attempt to divide our society and incite it against democracy and pluralism, religious representatives should have a moderating effect and resolutely advocate social cohesion and oppose conspiracies, hatred and slander “, said Goldschmidt according to the announcement on Wednesday.
Rathje: “Antisemitische Cipher”
Müller (73), the former Catholic bishop of Regensburg and ex-head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican, spoke in an interview that there was a financially strong elite behind measures against the pandemic. The cardinal and judge at the Vatican Supreme Court also explicitly mentioned the American-Jewish investor George Soros. This could “be seen as an anti-Semitic cipher,” said political scientist and expert on conspiracy theories, Jan Rathje.
Müller had already signed an archbishop’s manifesto against the corona restrictions at the beginning of 2020, in which narratives from conspiracy theories appear. The talk was of the “prelude to the creation of a world government beyond control”. Müller then said that the text had been deliberately misunderstood.
Goldschmidt: “Great disappointment for many people”
“Cardinal Müller’s statements are a great disappointment for many people who are looking for orientation and need confidence in this difficult time of the pandemic,” said Goldschmidt about the latest statements.
The Bavarian anti-Semitism commissioner Ludwig Spaenle (CSU) also sharply criticized Müller’s remarks: “Cardinal Müller used anti-Jewish clichés and made anti-Semitic thoughts acceptable to some believers.” He asked him to distance himself from his statements and to apologize for them.
Source: Nachrichten
