UNITED STATES
On the Way
July 19, 2013 By Phil Fox Rose
In his leadership roles as president of Caritas in Austria and vicar general of Vienna, Fr. Helmut Schüller witnessed the dysfunctionality of the institutional church and the harm to communities caused by parish consolidation, overworked priests and the disenfranchisement of the laity. His “sorrow” in the face of these observations led him to stand for a series of reforms he believes can restore vitality to the Roman Catholic Church. On Tuesday, July 16, in New York I attended the first stop on a 15-city ”Catholic Tipping Point“ American tour where Fr. Schüller is outlining these reforms. What’s most interesting about his efforts is that he remains a church leader in good standing even though he’s calling for women priests and honoring of gay unions, among other things. He was stripped of his monsignor title, but at least so far is managing to advocate for major reform from within the Catholic bureaucracy – an ordained priest, church pastor and church magazine columnist.
Fr. Schüller is a vibrant, upbeat presence. When asked directly about the relationship with his archbishop, he said that Cardinal Schönborn has asked him not to do this, but did not stop him, and that they are in ongoing dialogue. Some of this, perhaps, is possible because of Cardinal Schönborn’s open-mindedness – it’s hard to imagine the same being tolerated in most American dioceses. In fact, because it’s been made clear his message is unwelcome and several local bishops have forbidden him to appear on church property, all the venues for Schüller’s American tour are Protestant churches or secular buildings except one, Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, which is hosting him in active defiance of Archbishop Chaput. As Schüller said on Tuesday at Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan, this is not a problem for him, but it is a problem for American Catholics. It is not a prohibition of him to speak — he can speak anywhere. It’s really an attempt to prohibit the Catholic laity from listening to his message.
Fr. Schüller got the world’s attention in 2006 when he organized the Austrian Priests’ Initiative, calling attention to the shortage of priests and suggesting reforms specifically to address that problem. In 2011, he upped the ante in his a “Call for Disobedience” with a list of practical actions local priests and parishes could enact that, while disobedient to the wishes of church authorities, do not violate any essential Catholic or Christian principles. More on them in a minute.
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