Bishop prefers diversity to Catholic unity
Bishop Glettler: "Spirituality is not a uniform mush".
Bishop Hermann Glettler of Innsbruck wants to say goodbye to a "uniform" Church and advocates visa facilitation for earthquake victims
Not only society, but also the Church has a plural face today, says the head pastor of Innsbruck Diocese. To use this as an opportunity, however, one must resist the primal desire for conformity.
The bishop in front of one of his sculptures: as a trained art historian, Hermann Glettler has also remained faithful to art as Innsbruck's head pastor.
Cathcon: See Bishop Glettler's art....
STANDARD: The Catholic Church is facing an enormous increase in the number of people leaving the Church - 90,808 people turned their backs on the Roman Catholic Church in 2022. How much does this development hurt you?
Glettler: This development does not leave me cold. Every single resignation hurts. Nevertheless, I would like to draw attention to those who belong to our Church and make their contribution, also financially. In the diocese of Innsbruck these are after all around 360,000 people. There are also new members. Not infrequently it is personal crises or family occasions that bring people back.
STANDARD: Your tendency to optimism is honourable, but the high number of flocks leaving is a clear sign that the Church is no longer with the people in many areas, isn't it?
Glettler: That is a sore point. A lot of trust in the Church has been lost. It can only be rebuilt through personal encounters and genuine interest in the people. And for sure, especially now, in these nervous times, there is a need for many offers of pastoral care.
STANDARD: Where do you see the reasons for the current wave of departures? Is it the abuse debate in the universal Church, which is also having an effect on Austria, the eternal "hot potatoes" such as celibacy, female ordination?
Glettler: Certainly a mix of all of these. We have a lot of homework to do. Of course, there is a trend that affects many associations, political parties and other organisations as well: people are distancing themselves critically from institutions. Again: I don't want to gloss over anything, but I don't want to make an exaggerated drama out of the church departures.
STANDARD: The critical attitude towards institutions has massively increased during the Corona pandemic. Was it a mistake that the Church perhaps positioned itself too clearly? For example, with calls to vaccinate?
Glettler: We certainly reacted too panic-like in some moments. But probably as a society as a whole. And it was suggested that we would get everything under control with all these measures. But as the person responsible for the diocese, it was important for me to support the essential measures. Ultimately, however, we are currently confronted with a great systemic rage. The high level of indignation does not make it easy for those responsible to prescribe anything. But yes, the Church has certainly overreacted in some areas.
STANDARD: The pastoral theologian Paul Zulehner notes that faith today is not "fated". In the past, Austria was Catholic and Christianity was embedded in culture. Nowadays, there is more of a choice, also in terms of religion. Do you have any sympathy for this thesis?
Glettler: Yes, it's a clear finding. Today, religion is no longer a social framing, a determining cultural matrix. The religious landscape is highly plural. That is both an irritation and an opportunity. Individuals must choose, decide, set out on their own personal journey to find a spiritual source. The doctrine of prosperity has taken over the socially dominant status of traditional religions - with all the rites, temples of commerce and sacrifices that go with it.
STANDARD: The new Religion Monitor of the Bertelsmann Foundation shows a rapid loss of importance of the churches. Over 90 per cent of those surveyed answered in the affirmative to the question that one can still be a Christian without a church. How do you see that?
Glettler: I don't want to deny anyone being a Christian. The Spirit of God works freely, even far beyond the boundaries of church membership. But when someone discovers that God has a passionate heart for all people, then that person will also want to help build community. Then the focus is no longer on one's own ego with its sensitivities. But who knows, maybe the church will have to shrink even further to achieve this authenticity again.
STANDARD: The supermarket of faith is full today, people have also become more volatile in their faith. I can be a Hindu today, a Buddhist tomorrow and an atheist the day after. Is the Catholic Church perhaps simply no longer putting attractive offers on the shelves?
Glettler: The image of trade and consumption only applies to a certain extent. But yes, as a Catholic Church we have
Glettler: The image of trade and consumption only applies to a certain extent. But yes, as a Catholic Church we have a very good offer, but not infrequently fail the customer-oriented service and freshness test. The spiritual hunger would be there, the demand for fresh food and spring water for heart and soul. The church, to use a metaphor, is often just the moderately attractive well in the middle of the village, ancient and in need of renovation. You first have to discover the fresh water from the well.
STANDARD: Yet the church is often far removed from the reality of people's lives. How do you want to overcome this gap?
Glettler: What do we mean when we say "the Church"? Is that me as a bishop? The head of the hospital chaplaincy? The priest in the suburb outside? Is the church what DER STANDARD writes about it? Fortunately, I know many believers, parishes, social institutions and other church initiatives that show a living face of church.
STANDARD: With which you have elegantly dodged the question. Recently, however, the Continental Assembly on the Synodal Process in Prague more than clearly showed the inner-church conflict in the LGBTQ+ area. The positions seem to be completely irreconcilable. Again: Isn't the Catholic Church today enormously far away from any reality of life?
Glettler: Sorry, I didn't mean to avoid you. I am convinced that we need consensus and dissent in the Church right now. Christian spirituality is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Perhaps we still dream far too much of a uniform church. The colourfulness of society is an opportunity for the Church - and at the same time a test of strength, which, however, does not have to end in discord.
STANDARD: Keyword colourfulness of society: There is a clear swing towards the right camp. Politicians are questioning financial support for earthquake victims and the rationale for schoolgirls with a migration background. Shouldn't the Church raise its moral finger here?
Glettler: It hurts a lot when humanitarian challenges are turned into political pocket change for domestic political profiling. Using people's misery to play party politics is shabby. However, the Church is not the moral head teacher. As part of civil society and committed by faith, we stand up for the weakest, including refugees and people in their most vulnerable phases of life.
STANDARD: Are you actually in favour of visa facilitation for Turkish or Syrian earthquake victims?
Glettler: Yes, immediately. The catastrophic situation in the crisis areas urges this. Thousands are unable to return to their homes, they are fighting death from the cold. I think we should take in a reasonable contingent of the most severely affected, at least for a certain time. The committed "help on the ground", which was also provided in an exemplary manner by the Austrian Armed Forces and other emergency forces, must not become an excuse.
STANDARD: When it comes to the cardinal question, your name often comes up. Could you imagine succeeding Cardinal Christoph Schönborn as Archbishop of Vienna?
Glettler: I keep this topic far away from me. I like being a Bishop here in Tyrol very much.
STANDARD: You are sometimes described as the "representative of a new generation in the Church". Wouldn't it be quite an exciting signal towards modernisation to appoint you to this function?
Glettler: I certainly don't want to recommend myself. But being a believer also means responding. God challenges each one of us.
STANDARD: Do you see yourself as the "representative of a new generation"?
Glettler: I don't know. And I can't do much with labels of that kind. Wherever I am, I try to answer God's call, as uncomplicatedly and joyfully as possible.
STANDARD: You are considered a "grassroots person". The higher you climb the career ladder, the further away you are from this base. How do you deal with that?
Glettler: I have already made up my mind: When I retire as a bishop, I'll become a parish priest in a multi-cultural parish again. I am grateful for every personal encounter.
The modernist wants to replace the Church which is one, holy, Catholic and apostolic with a poor imitation which is diverse, secularised, inclusive and cut off from the apostolic tradition.
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