Austrian church nears schism

Kapellari fears clerical split

An end to the feud between the Austrian Church’s leaders and a "disobedient" group of preachers seems out of reach.

Bishop at the National Shrine to Our Lady at Mariazell

Graz Diocese Bishop Egon Kapellari warned from a splitting of the country’s Catholic Church if the Preachers’ Initiative failed to stop its activities. Kapellari appealed on the association of parish priests – which was established by former Caritas Austria head Helmut Schüller last year – to "slow down."

(Cathcon- surely that should "Stop! Now!  Before it is too late!")

Schüller’s movement wants the Vatican to scrap celibacy to help stop the decline of the number of young men interested in becoming priests. The Preachers Initiative also said priests should be allowed to give Holy Communion to people who married a second time at registry offices after getting divorced following church weddings. The group, which officially declared itself disobedient, furthermore called on the Conference of Austrian Bishops to act more independently from the Vatican. It said there should be no barriers to women interested in holding sermons.

Link to Austrian Times English language edition broken as of 2023