Cover
story
Popes right-wing appointments fueled discontent
By JOHN L. ALLEN
JR.
Perhaps nowhere else in the world
have John Pauls selections for bishops backfired quite the way they have
in Austria.
In the 1960s, the Austrian bishops struck a dissenting note on
Humanae Vitae, Paul VIs encyclical reaffirming the traditional ban
on birth control. As a handful of other conferences did at the time, the
Austrian bishops said that Catholics who in good conscience could not assent
were not obliged to follow the teaching.
Through the 1970s, Austrias episcopacy -- under the impress
of Cardinal Franz König of Vienna, one of the leaders of the progressives
at Vatican II -- carved out a reputation for moderation.
When John Paul became pope, he named a series of conservatives in
what many saw as an attempt to rein in the Austrians. Observers say the
unpopularity of these selections is an important factor in the current
discontent.
The appointees included Klaus Küng, the head of Opus Dei in
Austria, to the diocese of Feldkirch, and Georg Eder to Salzburg. Küng
comes from a long line of conservatives; his brother Wolfgang, for example, is
an Austrian trade commissioner known for his far-right views.
Eder, whose only claim to fame before his elevation to the
episcopacy was as a writer of shrill letters to the editors of Austrian
newspapers, once said AIDS is Gods punishment for homosexuals. He also
said that he who recites a rosary does more for peace than any pacifist
demonstration.
Later came Kurt Krenn, another archconservative appointed
auxiliary bishop of Vienna with special responsibility for the artistic,
literary and scientific worlds -- even though he admitted on television
that he could not name one living Austrian artist, painter, poet, sculptor,
novelist, musician or scientist.
Krenn was eventually named to the diocese of Sankt Pölten. He
has said that supporters of the We Are Church agenda are anti-Christs and
compared its 1995 petition calling for church reform to the 1938 plebiscite
welcoming Hitler to Austria.
Hans Hermann Groër was named archbishop of Vienna in 1986.
Sources told NCR that Krenn was actually the first choice for the Vienna post,
with Groër a compromise candidate. At the time Groër was in
semiretirement tending a Marian shrine; his lone qualification seemed to be a
close friendship with the pope.
In 1995, a 37-year-old man claimed that Groër had sexually
abused him as a high school student. Four other accusers emerged, though none
filed legal charges (the Austrian statute of limitations had expired). As
evidence against him mounted and as his own statements became more evasive,
Groër was forced to resign.
John Paul accepted the resignation bitterly, saying that Christ
also had faced unjust accusations. Although more than 13 young men
eventually lodged charges against Groër, John Paul allowed him to become
prior of an Austrian monastery, adding to perceptions that the pope was
covering up for his friend.
By all accounts, it was anger over the Groër affair --
including the highly public criticism of his accusers by Krenn -- that
energized the 1995 petition drive.
Fifty-three-year-old Dominican Christoph Schönborn succeeded
Groër. Widely seen as a doctrinal conservative, Schönborn has earned
good marks so far by emphasizing conciliation and dialogue.
In April 1997, Schönborn led a group of bishops who announced
they were morally certain the charges against Groër were true.
Just before John Pauls June visit, Schönborn -- made a cardinal in
February -- announced that Groër would leave the country.
Despite Schönborns youth, he has been mentioned as a
papabile, a candidate for pope. He was the general editor of the new
universal catechism before being made a bishop and has ties to the Franciscan
University of Steubenville, Ohio, widely seen as one of Americas most
conservative Catholic colleges. Schönborn received an honorary degree
there last year. He is the sponsor of a small theological institute in Gaming,
Austria, that shares space with a branch Steubenville campus.
National Catholic Reporter, October 30,
1998
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