Cardinal Müller rejects ‘financial improprieties’ allegation

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, at a penance service in St. Peter’s Basilica on March 29, 2019. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Aug 2, 2024 / 12:15 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller has vigorously refuted claims of financial impropriety during his tenure as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, dismissing the allegations as “cheap tabloid literature.”

The former prefect, who served from 2012 to 2017, insists that “not a single cent” was mishandled under his leadership, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

In an interview with the German Catholic weekly Die Tagespost, Müller addressed a recent report suggesting his term was not renewed due to financial mismanagement.

Citing several anonymous sources at the Vatican, the Pillar reported that allegedly large sums of cash were found in the dicastery offices and that over 200,000 euros intended for the dicastery’s bank account were deposited into Müller’s personal account. 

The report also claimed these discoveries were made during an investigation led by the late Cardinal George Pell’s economic secretariat.

In response to these allegations, Müller said: “If people had realized, as Cardinal Pell did, that the dicastery did not lose a single cent in the end, they could have spared themselves the rehashing of a long-settled matter.”

According to CNA Deutsch, the cardinal acknowledged that a staff member had “booked money back and forth between the individual accounts of the dicastery and, although not illegally, kept unusually large amounts of cash.” 

However, Müller emphatically stated that this employee had not misappropriated “the slightest bit” of the dicastery’s property.

The former prefect also addressed questions about replacing an antique conference table in the dicastery’s offices. Müller explained that he had procured valuable new furniture for the dicastery through fundraising efforts during his tenure. As part of this process, he said, the old conference table was properly disposed of with the approval of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA).

“As prefect, I was able to acquire valuable new furniture for the dicastery through fundraising,” Müller stated, emphasizing that all actions were taken with proper oversight and approval.

Speculations and successors

The allegations suddenly surfacing this week are not the first time Müller’s departure has made headlines that the cardinal subsequently dismissed.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed the German prelate to lead the Church’s highest doctrinal department in 2012. His five-year term ended without renewal in 2017 under Pope Francis.

At the time, media reports alleged the pope had asked the cardinal “five pointed questions” in a personal conversation — a claim Müller categorically dismissed.

Nonetheless, his departure from office was widely interpreted as a desire for new leadership in the Vatican’s doctrinal office. 

Müller’s successor, Jesuit Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, was succeeded in 2023 by the personal theologian and ghostwriter to Pope Francis, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.