Austrian priest talks bluntly on church,
gays
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
NCR STAFF Vienna, Austria
While Fr. Robert Nugent and Sr. Jeannine Gramick represent one
model of how to react when church leaders suppress ministry to gays and
lesbians -- staying within the fold to press for change -- Austrian priest
Johannes Wahala embodies another.
Call it rage against the machine.
Even if one tries to be very fair and even if one loves the
church as I do, we cannot say this church has contributed anything to a better
understanding of homosexuality, Wahala said in a late September interview
with NCR.
The hierarchy still considers the human being a trivial
machine, with morals as the input and correct behavior as the output. It is a
thoroughly dehumanizing view.
Austrians have quickly become accustomed to such blunt talk from
their countrys first openly gay Catholic priest, who -- after being fired
by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna -- now works in private practice
as a psychotherapist.
Austria is an overwhelmingly Catholic country of 8 million, where
modern Europes live-and-let-live approach to sexuality collides with
stern church morality.
Like Nugent and Gramick, Wahala was once his countrys
highest-profile Catholic minister whose specialty was pastoral work with
homosexuals. In 1997 and 1998, Wahala -- who had also served as a pastor and as
the archdioceses director of education -- helped to organize ecumenical
worship services for homosexuals. He was building the foundation for pastoral
outreach to gays and lesbians in the countrys nine dioceses.
Like his American counterparts, Wahala found himself facing
scrutiny. The Nugent and Gramick story unfolded over two decades; the
denouement was much quicker to come here.
On June 9, 1998, Wahala and Schönborn strolled together
across the square in front of St. Stephens Cathedral. As Wahala tells it,
Schönborn told him point-blank: You have to tell me openly and
honestly whether you are one of those concerned. You know there are rumors
about you.
Wahala hesitated, but eventually acknowledged that he was, indeed,
gay. Not long afterwards he came out publicly.
Wahala declines to say whether he was sexually active while under
vows. This is part of the personal sphere of intimacy that need not be
laid open to anyone, he said.
Soon after going public, Wahala received a letter from
Schönborn forbidding him the exercise of his priestly faculties. He was
removed from his positions in the archdiocese.
Wahala chose to speak his mind rather than plead for
reinstatement. He does so in a new book called Fired by Schönborn,
styled as an interview with Austrian journalist Thomas Hofer. It offers
Wahalas assessment of the situation facing homosexuals in the Catholic
church.
It has been read with interest here for its image of
Schönborn, since Wahala was once among the cardinals inner circle.
Wahala says Schönborn is fundamentalist and
reactionary in his thinking, while attempting to project an image
of moderation. He also suggests Schönborn plays fast and loose with the
truth.
Schönborn has had no comment.
Wahala told NCR that since the book appeared he has been
inundated with phone calls from other Catholic priests who recognize themselves
in it and want to talk. He said he knows many gay priests and even gay bishops,
many of whom he met in Viennas gay coffeehouses and clubs.
He declines to name names. That is a matter for the
individual conscience, he said.
Wahala, who has not been laicized, said he no longer acts as a
priest but considers himself a Catholic. His stance has not satisfied everyone
-- at a recent presentation for his book at the Vienna Press Club, Wahala faced
an angry member of the audience who demanded that he renounce Catholicism.
I consider the Catholic church broad enough even for
me, he said. Only time will tell whether the church here agrees.
National Catholic Reporter, October 15,
1999
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