The Deacon's Bench
From CNA:
The Vatican announced Saturday that as Cardinal Gerhard Müller’s term as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith comes to an end, the Pope has not renewed it, but has appointed Jesuit Archbishop Luis Ladaria to take his place.
The decision was officially published in a July 1 communique from the Vatican, which stated the Holy Father’s thanks to Cardinal Müller for his term.
July 2nd marks the end of Müller’s five-year mandate as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which included the positions of president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” the Pontifical Biblical Commission and the International Theological Commission.
Pope Francis named Jesuit Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, archbishop of Thibica, as his successor in the same duties. Archbishop Ladaria has been secretary, the second in command, of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2008.
The Vatican did not specify what Cardinal Müller will be doing next.
Of note: the new head of the C.D.F. is the man heading the commission studying women deacons. He’s also considered to be theologically conservative.
In 1975 he obtained a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, with a thesis entitled, The Holy Spirit in St Hilary of Poitiers, and became professor of dogmatic theology at the Comillas Pontifical University. In 1984, he assumed the same position at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he was vice-rector from 1986 to 1994. He became a member of the International Theological Commission in 1992 and a consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1995.
In March 2004, Ladaria Ferrer was named Secretary-General of the International Theological Commission. He led the Commission’s evaluation, beginning in 2006, of the concept of limbo. The Commission concluded that there is hope that children who die unbaptized are able to receive salvation and enjoy the beatific vision.
On 9 July 2008, Ladaria Ferrer was appointed Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Titular Archbishop of Thibica by Pope Benedict XVI. He continued to be general secretary of the International Theological Commission[1] until 22 April 2009, when he resigned and was succeeded by Charles Morerod, O.P.
His episcopal consecration took place on 26 July 2008. The principal consecrator was Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone SDB, his predecessor as Secretary of the Congregation. The co-consecrators were Cardinal William Joseph Levada and Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, one of the founders of the Community of Sant’Egidio.
Ladaria Ferrer is considered to be theologically conservative and subscribes to ressourcement, a return to earlier sources, traditions, and symbols of the Church.He also has a predilection for patrology and Christology. On 13 November 2008, he was appointed a consultor of the Congregation for Bishops and on 31 January 2009, a consultor of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
He was named a member of the Holy See’s team charged with the dialogue with the Society of St. Pius X that began on 26 October 2009.
On 2 August 2016, he was named President of the Study Commission on the Women’s Diaconate, formed by Pope Francis to consider the possibility of allowing women to serve as deacons.
And America, meantime, has some background on the removal of Muller:
Controversy over Cardinal Müller’s role at the C.D.F. has focused on the interpretation of “Amoris Laetitia.” America has learned that a number of cardinals had asked Francis to remove Cardinal Müller from that post because he had on a number of occasions publicly disagreed with or distanced himself from the pope’s positions, and they felt this was undermining the papal office and magisterium.
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