Bishop of Linz "In the interests and for the benefit of the Diocese"

The withdrawal of Gerhard Maria Wagner from his nomination given to the Bishop of Linz has had positive reactions.

"I'm glad, because I believe that the best gift is that Mr. Wagner can give to the diocese." Peter Hurka reacted from the platform "We Are Church" immediately after the surprising withdrawal of his nomination by Wagner. This is "in the interests and for the benefit of the diocese," the Linz Diocesan Bishop Ludwig Schwarz noted.

The Catholic journalist and native of Upper Austria Hubert Feichtlbauer doubts that Wagner made the move voluntarily. "Wagner is not the guy who gives up," believes Feichtlbauer to an instruction from Rome. "But it should probably look formalistic. The pressure on Wagner was too immense, so I believe that the Pope asked him to withdraw. "

For Hurka, Wagner's resignation, "is but only half the battle, since Mr. Wagner is not an accidental case as the Church has systemic failure ."

Even today, at the crisis meeting convened by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of all nine diocesan bishops and the Military Bishop, one could get a "person of the same profile as the new candidate ," says Hurka.

Instead, in parishes men and women should be elected to work on a three-name proposal for the future Bishop of Linz and these eventually forwarded to the Vatican. "The Pope can then choose a binding candidate from this proposal," Hurka suggests

Source