Church criticised for consecrating virgins

 "Vocations, ordinations and vows belong to the DNA of the Church and are by no means relics from a 'moth-ridden clothes box of the Middle Ages'," Lackner said. He was reacting to a critical editorial in the "Salzburger Nachrichten".

The Church's handling of the consecration of virgins was also critically discussed in the Archdiocese of Salzburg itself, for example by the chairperson of the Catholic Women's Movement, Michaela Luckmann, and the President of Salzburg Catholic Action, Elisabeth Mayer.

The liturgy was performed by Auxiliary Bishop Hansjörg Hofer, who described the consecration of virgins as a "striking signal against forgetfulness of God". Consecrated virgins vow celibate chastity and a life of following Christ. The way they live this, however, is up to them. In 1970, Pope Paul VI issued an instruction re-introducing the rite of the consecration of virgins.

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A video of the ceremony

This from the editor of the Linz Diocesan Newspaper.  If he despises this modest step, he must hate monastics.

On Monday, a native of Upper Austria was consecrated a "virgin" by Salzburg's Auxiliary Bishop Hofer. Let it be said in advance: Of course, personal decisions are to be accepted as long as other people are not affected by them. This means: If a woman has herself permanently consecrated as a "virgin", that is her private matter and as such is not to be commented on.

The consecration took place in the Salzburg Cathedral, the young lady invited people to attend in the "Kronen Zeitung" and on her homepage, the whole affair was comprehensibly criticised in the "Salzburger Nachrichten", whereupon the Archbishop of Salzburg defended the step. The image that the church thereby presents in a modern, developed and enlightened society is unfavourable: Again, it is about the topic "church and sex" against the background of the justified rejection of the church's sexual morals even by the majority of church members and the denial of the actual ordination office (deacon, priest, bishop) for women.

In these contexts, a consecration of a virgin can no longer be a positive witness for the church in the public today. It is therefore incomprehensible why in Salzburg the big stage of the cathedral was used for the matter instead of choosing a private setting.

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