AUSTRIA
Austrian Independent
A Catholic preacher who established a group of “disobedient” priests reacted coolly to Viennese Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn’s warnings.
Speaking to Italian daily La Stampa last week, Schönborn said regarding the Austrian Church’s reaction to the Preachers’ Initiative: “Now is the time to clarify the various issues. We might take disciplinary measures, but I hope that this is not necessary.”
Schüller, who founded the group in June 2011, announced: “We have to wait and see what these so-called disciplinary measures are. We will then consult our juridical advisors and discuss our reaction.”
Schüller heads the parish of Probstdorf, Lower Austria. The former Caritas Austria president said the Catholic Church in the alpine country was not in a general crisis – despite high membership cancellation figures and no end to reports about sexual abuse at churches and clerical boarding schools, especially in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
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