New Bishop of Linz speaks
Extracts from an interview that the new Bishop of Linz, Bishop Ludwig Schwarz gave to the Upper Austrian News.
Battles between the extremes must not be allowed
[Cathcon: a false analysis given that the liturgical anarchists in the Diocese have been dragging the centre of the Diocese further and further towards the abyss of non-Catholicism. The Bishop and all faithful Catholics have a duty to resist.]
S: I was completely surprised about my appointment. [Cathcon: Oh yes! Completely! - says the best friend of the Archbishop of Vienna. ]
OON: Do you find it difficult to follow in the footsteps of Bishop Aichern? Everyone talks about the wonderful climate he has created. [Cathcon: Dreamland! Everyone is talking but not about the "wonderful climate". ]
S:I have a good relationship with Bishop Aichern and I ask him for his help when I succeed into office. He is a person who can go straight to people. To become like him is my intention. [Cathcon: so what was the point of replacing Bishop Aichern, if the new one follows the same disastrous policies?)
OON: How will you go about the problem of tension between the conservatives and progressives in the diocese?
S: I will go to this group personally and listen to them. I will also make it clear to them that there must not be any battles between individual wings and that unity is most important. This was Christ's intention: The divine principle of Jesus Christ, the eucharist and the Holy Spirit this unity can be achieved.
OON: Complaints were raised in Rome on the illegitimate changes in the liturgy (in the form of the Mass) in some places. What is your position?
S: I am not familiar with any complaints to Rome. [Cathcon Only a hermit halfway up an Austrian mountain could not to have heard about the complaints; but the new Bishop was the Auxilliary in Vienna. The Diocese received a visitation from Rome investigating their liturgical practices.] However, we must try [ Cathcon: why insert try here!] and celebrate the liturgy in the prescribed manner. There isn't total freedom of interpretation [Cathcon: so how far will he allow people to go?]. Liturgy is not self-fulfilment. Liturgy means that God is praised and prayed to in the liturgy. If you look at the Missal, you will find that several ways of arrangements of the liturgy are envisaged, some parts of the Mass have clear guide lines.
OON: Would you like that the retired Bishop Aichern to collaborate with you in Linz?
S:I have not talked to Bishop Aichern yet. It is his right to decide what he wants to do in his retirement. But we have a good understanding and I could imagine that he stays in the Diocese of Linz. [Cathcon: Surely as a monk the outgoing Bishop will want to go back to his monastery as quickly as possible. Given the damage he has done, this would be the best solution.]
OON:When are you coming to Linz?
______
The Bishop is a supporter of Medjugorje and went on a private visit at the beginning of September 2003.
In a separate interview at the time, he said:
“Many Austrians came to Medjugorje during these years, many speak about it positively and with enthusiasm, because they experience a personal change. In this place of grace of Our Lady, they made a deep experience of Jesus Christ in the sacraments, especially in confession and the Eucharist. This atmosphere of liberation impresses them. They speak about peace, about harmony between God and men and between men: Harmony brings peace, and the most beautiful fruit of peace is joy. Many come back home filled with joy. There are also some sceptical opinions about Medjugorje. Many say: let us wait for the judgment of the Church.
From the first moment, I was impressed by the pilgrims here, as well as by the atmosphere of prayer, of inner-joy and peace that radiate everywhere. As Christ himself says, I believe that a good tree can be recognised by good fruits.
Dying on the cross, Jesus Christ gave us in heritage His own Mother. Mary, Mother of God, is our heavenly Mother who loves us as she loved her divine Son. The Second Vatican Council says that the Blessed Virgin Mary, after her Assumption, remains close to her children, helps them and leads them. This is why there is the possibility of apparitions of the Mother of God. We know that the Church has recognised the apparitions in La Salette, in Lourdes and in Fatima. The Mother of God is the model of the Church, she loves us, she loves her children and she leads us towards Salvation, towards Jesus Christ. "Per Mariam ad Jesum". Her most important themes in Lourdes and in Fatima, which we find also here in Medjugorje, are prayer, Eucharist, penance, conversion, the sacrament of reconciliation, involvement in favour of peace. These are the intentions that we find also in the Gospel, Jesus' own intentions.”
Battles between the extremes must not be allowed
[Cathcon: a false analysis given that the liturgical anarchists in the Diocese have been dragging the centre of the Diocese further and further towards the abyss of non-Catholicism. The Bishop and all faithful Catholics have a duty to resist.]
S: I was completely surprised about my appointment. [Cathcon: Oh yes! Completely! - says the best friend of the Archbishop of Vienna. ]
OON: Do you find it difficult to follow in the footsteps of Bishop Aichern? Everyone talks about the wonderful climate he has created. [Cathcon: Dreamland! Everyone is talking but not about the "wonderful climate". ]
S:I have a good relationship with Bishop Aichern and I ask him for his help when I succeed into office. He is a person who can go straight to people. To become like him is my intention. [Cathcon: so what was the point of replacing Bishop Aichern, if the new one follows the same disastrous policies?)
OON: How will you go about the problem of tension between the conservatives and progressives in the diocese?
S: I will go to this group personally and listen to them. I will also make it clear to them that there must not be any battles between individual wings and that unity is most important. This was Christ's intention: The divine principle of Jesus Christ, the eucharist and the Holy Spirit this unity can be achieved.
OON: Complaints were raised in Rome on the illegitimate changes in the liturgy (in the form of the Mass) in some places. What is your position?
S: I am not familiar with any complaints to Rome. [Cathcon Only a hermit halfway up an Austrian mountain could not to have heard about the complaints; but the new Bishop was the Auxilliary in Vienna. The Diocese received a visitation from Rome investigating their liturgical practices.] However, we must try [ Cathcon: why insert try here!] and celebrate the liturgy in the prescribed manner. There isn't total freedom of interpretation [Cathcon: so how far will he allow people to go?]. Liturgy is not self-fulfilment. Liturgy means that God is praised and prayed to in the liturgy. If you look at the Missal, you will find that several ways of arrangements of the liturgy are envisaged, some parts of the Mass have clear guide lines.
OON: Would you like that the retired Bishop Aichern to collaborate with you in Linz?
S:I have not talked to Bishop Aichern yet. It is his right to decide what he wants to do in his retirement. But we have a good understanding and I could imagine that he stays in the Diocese of Linz. [Cathcon: Surely as a monk the outgoing Bishop will want to go back to his monastery as quickly as possible. Given the damage he has done, this would be the best solution.]
OON:When are you coming to Linz?
______
The Bishop is a supporter of Medjugorje and went on a private visit at the beginning of September 2003.
In a separate interview at the time, he said:
“Many Austrians came to Medjugorje during these years, many speak about it positively and with enthusiasm, because they experience a personal change. In this place of grace of Our Lady, they made a deep experience of Jesus Christ in the sacraments, especially in confession and the Eucharist. This atmosphere of liberation impresses them. They speak about peace, about harmony between God and men and between men: Harmony brings peace, and the most beautiful fruit of peace is joy. Many come back home filled with joy. There are also some sceptical opinions about Medjugorje. Many say: let us wait for the judgment of the Church.
From the first moment, I was impressed by the pilgrims here, as well as by the atmosphere of prayer, of inner-joy and peace that radiate everywhere. As Christ himself says, I believe that a good tree can be recognised by good fruits.
Dying on the cross, Jesus Christ gave us in heritage His own Mother. Mary, Mother of God, is our heavenly Mother who loves us as she loved her divine Son. The Second Vatican Council says that the Blessed Virgin Mary, after her Assumption, remains close to her children, helps them and leads them. This is why there is the possibility of apparitions of the Mother of God. We know that the Church has recognised the apparitions in La Salette, in Lourdes and in Fatima. The Mother of God is the model of the Church, she loves us, she loves her children and she leads us towards Salvation, towards Jesus Christ. "Per Mariam ad Jesum". Her most important themes in Lourdes and in Fatima, which we find also here in Medjugorje, are prayer, Eucharist, penance, conversion, the sacrament of reconciliation, involvement in favour of peace. These are the intentions that we find also in the Gospel, Jesus' own intentions.”
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