The head of the Austrian Church has launched an attack of one of the most senior cardinals in the Vatican, saying that Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, “deeply wronged” the victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy when he dismissed media reports of the scandal. In a meeting with editors of the main Austrian daily newspapers last week, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the Archbishop of Vienna, also said the Roman Curia was “urgently in need of reform”, and that lasting gay relationships deserved respect. He reiterated his view that the Church needs to reconsider its position on re-married divorcees.
On Easter Day, Cardinal Sodano called the mounting reports of clerical sex abuse “petty gossip”. This had “deeply wronged the victims”, Cardinal Schönborn said, and he recalled that it was Cardinal Sodano who had prevented Joseph Ratzinger, then a cardinal, from investigating allegations of abuse made against Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, the previous Archbishop of Vienna, who resigned in disgrace in 1995.
Cardinal Schönborn said that Pope Benedict was “gently” working on reforming the Curia but he had the whole world on his desk, as the cardinal put it, and his way of working and his style of communication did not make it easy to advise him quickly from outside.
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The Vatican press spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi, praised the Austrian Church for its openness in dealing with the clerical abuse crisis and told the Austrian daily Kurier on Monday that Cardinal Sodano’s words at Easter were “certainly not the wisest”
If reform is to come to the Roman Catholic Church, others in the hierarchy must follow Cardinal Schönborn's example in speaking the truth. As Fr Roy Bourgeois says, "Silence is complicity". Words from insiders carry a power that no criticism from outside can match. Cardinal Sodano's words seem to have been more than Cardinal Schönborn could bear, and since he has difficulty communicating with the pope, he communicated in a manner that will surely get Pope Benedict's full attention.
I thank God and Cardinal Schönborn for his courageous act.
pretty amazing. All it takes is a crack and then the facade cracks....
ReplyDeleteOh, praise God. I hope more of them come forward.
ReplyDeleteThe Vatican press spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi, praised the Austrian Church for its openness in dealing with the clerical abuse crisis and told the Austrian daily Kurier on Monday that Cardinal Sodano’s words at Easter were “certainly not the wisest”
ReplyDeleteThis has me the most gobsmacked (because I was expecting that the Vatican would demand Schönborn hand over his head!)
Could it be? Will B16 instead throw Sodano overboard, and really begin a Vatican house-cleaning?! (which concludes w/ his OWN resignation---unless he dies first?) Well, I'll believe it when I see it...
Schönborn did take over from the most unfortunate choice of Groer. The minute Groer was appointed there was a hue and cry from the Austrians about his unsuitabilty. It was far from "petty gossip."
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see Schönborn taking a positive stand on gay relationships.
I really like Cardinal Franz König when I was in Vienna. He was truly ecumenical, which Schönborn is not. Of course König was appointed by John XXIII.
My jaw dropped when I read the account, especially the positive words about gay relationships.
ReplyDeleteAnd the praise from Lombardi is pretty amazing. But Cardinal Schonborn may yet be in trouble.
Amelia, I remember Cardinal König. He was a hero to me.
It's good to see, from time to time, that the entire College of Cardinals is not rotten. It's still heartbreaking to see what's come of the Roman Church.
ReplyDelete