Researchers said holy water at religious shrines and churches in Austria is often contaminated with fecal matter and bacteria. Scientists at Vienna University medical school’s Institute of Hygiene and Applied Immunology advised the faithful not to drink water, especially in hospital chapels. They came to the conclusion after analyzing the water quality at 21 “holy” Read more
The Catholic bishops of Austria have stipulated that the only currently permitted translation of the Latin words “pro multis” in the Eucharistic Prayer is “for all”. Last year Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI told the German-speaking bishops that their new translation of the Missal — due to come into use on the first Sunday of Advent Read more
The Church in Austria is “sounding out” how to allow people in “irregular relationships” to take part in church life, the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna said. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn made his comments after allowing a gay man in a civil partnership, to remain on a parish council in Lower Austria. Continue reading
The leader of Austria’s Roman Catholic Church has faced down calls for radical change from priests and lay people, saying dialogue was useful but calls for disobedience should be challenged. “We are in talks and will remain in talks because I and the bishops are still convinced that a lot can and must be cleared up by dialogue,” Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn said on Friday after a four-day meeting of bishops.
Catholic rebels in Austria have been making increasingly strident calls for “disobedience” and changes in the Church, after record numbers of Austrians deserted it last year, many of them in response to allegations of sexual abuse by priests.
Read the article...The leader of Vienna’s Roman Catholic community urged his flock on Wednesday to step up their religious fervor rather than hope for sweeping changes demanded by dissident priests such as letting women join the priesthood or ending celibacy rules. In the midst of a revolt backed by hundreds of priests in the traditionally Catholic country, Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn published an open letter (here in German) acknowledging the need for a new spirit at a time that church membership is shrinking.
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Austrian media are making the dissident priests’ call to reform something more than it is according to Michael Pruller, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Vienna. Cardinal Schonborn is however interested in working with the dissenting Austrian priests to help bring new life to Viennese parishes, Pruller said. Pruller confirmed that despite media reports to the Read more
A highly influential abbot is of the view the divisions in the Austrian Catholic Church in Austria cannot be dampened nor the current conflict resolved by a meeting between the Archbishop of Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schonboern and representatives of dissident priests. Abbot Martin Felhofer of the Schlägl Abbey said that a threat of open schism looms Read more
A drive by Austrian priests to reform the rules around the ordination of women and an end to celibacy is getting widespread support. In a recent poll conduced by the Oekonsult polling institute, 71.7% of Austrians said the “priests initiative” was both “fair and reasonable”, with 64.7% saying they would sign a “call for insubordination”. The “Priests’ Read more
Niko Alm wanted to test an Austrian law saying that head coverings would only be allowed in official documents for religious reasons. So the tongue-in-cheek atheist applied for a new driver’s licence in his country with a photo of himself wearing a pasta strainer as headgear. Alm said he was a “pastafarian” and that the Read more