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…