20. 07. 10. - 12:00

Confessional box auction offline after 'satanic' bid

Catholic Church killjoys have ordered a parish to take its confessional box auction offline - right after the highest bid was exactly 666 Euros.

Priest Otto Weber of cash-strapped Hirschstetten parish in Vienna-Donaustadt decided to offer one of the church’s confessional boxes on eBay to carry out essential renovations.

But Archdiocese Vienna decision-makers forced the canny cleric to stop the auction only hours after it went online last night (Mon).

Erich Leitenberger, a spokesman for the diocese, said today: "It’s not acceptable to sell objects used in administering a sacrament to someone."

Referring to Weber’s suggestions over what could be done with the confessional box, he stressed: "Confessional boxes must not be rebuilt into a sauna, a bar or anything else."

The auction was visited by thousands of internet users last night. More than 200 people put in offers, with a top bid of 666 Euros - the "number of the devil" - before it was abandoned.