A Catholic preacher plans to withdraw from his local parish after a gay man entered the community council. Florian Stangl, a homosexual carer of disabled children, received a majority of votes in the recent Stützenhofen parish community council ballot. Viennese Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, the highest representative of the Austrian Roman Catholic Church, gave the […]
Tag: Church
The head of the Austrian Preachers’ Initiative has reacted positively to the Pope’s criticism. Pope Benedict XVI. said in his Maunday Thursday sermon held in Italian in the Vatican that disobedience was no solution. The Pope mentioned a “group of priests from a country in Europe” without directly referring to Helmut Schüller or his movement. […]
Pope condemns Austrian priests
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Pope Benedict XVI has sharply condemned a group of dissident Austrian priests and laymen for questioning key teachings of the Catholic Church. The group, known as the Pfarrer Initiative, has challenged the church on topics such as priestly celibacy and its ban on female priests. Speaking during a Maundy Thursday mass in the Vatican, the […]
Kapellari fears clerical split
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An end to the feud between the Austrian Church’s leaders and a “disobedient” group of preachers seems out of reach. Graz Diocese Bishop Egon Kapellari warned from a splitting of the country’s Catholic Church if the Preachers’ Initiative failed to stop its activities. Kapellari appealed on the association of parish priests – which was established […]
A parish priest who encouraged clergymen to be “disobedient” towards the Vatican plans to go international. Helmut Schüller of the Preachers’ Initiative said yesterday (Sun) that “2012 will be the year of internationalisation”. Schüller – who previously headed Caritas Austria – said the Austrian Roman Catholic Church should “finally take members seriously”. Schüller criticised the […]
Church considers charging apostates
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A conservative politician has started a countrywide debate by suggesting that people should be ordered to pay a charge after leaving the Church. Maximilian Hiegelsberger of the People’s Party (ÖVP) said earlier this week that Austrians who decided to cancel their membership in the Roman Catholic Church could be asked to transfer a certain sum […]
Members of a small parish in Vienna are outraged by Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn’s decision to hand over the church to the city’s Serbian-Orthodox community for free. Neuleuchenfeld parishioners harshly criticised Schönborn for his decision made public last year. Now the Vatican decided to reject their appeal. It promised to rule on the issue by […]
Catholic rebels gather pace
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A group of priests opposing the Vatican’s principles finds more and more support, according to its head and a new survey. Former Caritas Austria President Helmut Schüller’s Preachers’ Initiative made headlines in June by “calling for disobedience” towards the Vatican. The group explained it rejected the Church’s refusal to let women work as priests in […]
The two-year-old son of an Italian family visiting a church in Spitz was hit by the 200 pound holy water cauldron and was seriously injured. Police said that during the family’s visit to the parish church in Spitz in the Krems district of Lower Austria on Wednesday noon the little boy pulled himself up on […]
Sieve licence photo gets all-clear
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A resident of Vienna angered by authorities has been allowed to wear a sieve on his head in a photograph used for his driving licence. Niko Alm explained today (Weds) he was furious that officials had no problem with Muslim women wearing headscarves when posing for their driving licence and passport pictures. The atheist decided […]