Cover
story Protestors in Vienna call for women priests
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
NCR Staff Vienna, Austria
Dublin wasnt the only place in late June where Catholic
activists spoke up in favor of womens ordination. In Vienna, a band of
protestors stood outside St. Stephens Cathedral June 30 while Cardinal
Christoph Schönborn ordained seven new priests, demanding that the church
stop wasting the call of women.
The small cluster of protesters was part of the European We Are
Church movement, which was born in Austria in 1995 (NCR, Nov. 6, 1998).
Several were wearing purple stoles, a symbol of the push for womens
ordination.
Austria has long been at the forefront of pressure within the
Catholic fold for reform. Last fall, the We Are Church movement launched a
theological formation program for women who want to become priests, a sort of
shadow seminary awaiting a change in church teaching. Supported
financially by their parishes, 25 Austrian women are currently in training.
The group claims more than 100 Austrian women have expressed a
wish to become Catholic priests.
During the June 30 demonstration, group members held signs reading
Brother Pope, Brother Bishops: Learn from the Sister Churches! and
We demand an end to discrimination against women in the Catholic
Church. They distributed literature in German and English to bystanders
in the crowded square in front of the cathedral, which is in the heart of
Viennas most popular shopping and dining district.
Real life is different from what the official church
announces, the flyer said. Its mostly women who care for the
work in the parishes. Women dont want to be discriminated against
anymore, and they dont want to be excluded from important functions and
decisions.
A We Are Church spokesperson told NCR that Schönborn
was aware the protest was taking place, but had declined to speak with
organizers.
Hes not very happy that were here, the
spokesperson said.
We Are Church was born in 1995, amid a sexual misconduct scandal
that eventually led to the resignation of former Viennese Cardinal Hans Hermann
Gröer. The movement circulated a petition demanding five reforms in the
church, including the ordination of women. It garnered more than a half-million
signatures in Austria, a nation of just under 8 million, and more than 2
million signatures in Germany.
National Catholic Reporter, July 13,
2001
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