Progressive Bishop disappointed with Pope and thinks Francis may be running out of time
Bishop Kräutler on Francis' Pontificate: "I would have expected more".
Austro-Brazilian Bishop misses reforms in women's diaconate and celibacy obligation - Bolsonaro was a "catastrophe for all of Brazil" - Lula "I trust improvement"
Emeritus Austro-Brazilian Bishop Erwin Kräutler would have hoped for more internal church reforms from the pontificate of the first South American to sit on the Chair of Peter, Pope Francis. "If I am honest, I have to say I would have expected a bit more," replied the 83-year-old, who is still recovering in his Vorarlberg home after hospital treatment for a pulmonary embolism. Specifically, Kräutler mentioned openings in the direction of women's diaconate and celibacy obligation, which would be desirable especially for his long-standing sphere of activity in Amazonia. The hope for such changes "dies last", he said in the "Neue Vorarlberger Tageszeitung" (Sunday), "and Cardinal Schönborn said that hope does not die at all".
He knows Francis well, not least because of his involvement in the Synod of Bishops on Amazonia three years ago, Kräutler said. In the run-up to that, there had been more than 80,000 requests to speak "and thus also a tailwind from the people". "Too little came out for that," said Kräutler, who served as Bishop of Xingu, Brazil's largest diocese by area, from 1981 to 2015. In the Catholic Church today, there is a "quite vocal" group that is "traditionalist in the negative sense". It is difficult to fight against them. "Even the Pope is having a hard time," Kräutler admitted.
A permanent diaconate for women would make sense, since two thirds of the small church base communities in Brazil are led by women. In addition, there are married men who are committed to faith and church. "With them, even conservative bishops say they have absolutely no inhibitions about ordaining these men as priests," Kräutler said. He is not against celibacy in principle, he said. "But there must be exceptions" - such as for Protestant married pastors who convert.
He did not dare to predict whether the upcoming World Synod on Synodality would lead to reforms in this direction, referring to the Pope's advanced age.
Brazil's "awakening from a nightmare"
Asked about the political situation in his adopted country of Brazil, Kräutler repeated his often voiced criticism of the right-wing populist, Jair Bolsonaro, who was voted out of office. The member of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, who moved to Brazil at the age of 26, commented on President Lula da Silva's third term in office as "a waking up from a nightmare" for the largest country in Latin America. "Bolsonaro was a disaster for the whole of Brazil." Lula had worked to narrow the gap between the poor and the better-off in his previous policies, he said.
"However, he did not pay special attention to Amazonia in his first two presidential terms," Kräutler criticised. But now there is international pressure against the land theft there, and Kräutler considers it "symbolic" that Sonia Guajajara, an indigenous woman he knows, has been appointed Minister for Indigenous Peoples. "I already trust him to improve", despite the long-standing divisions in the population, Kräutler said of Lula.
Under police protection since 2006
He himself is still - and has been since 29 June 2006 - under police protection in Brazil. "At that time, I strongly campaigned against the Belo Monte power plant and for the indigenous peoples," Kräutler said. Even before that, his comrade-in-arms Sr Dorothy had been murdered - "not an individual act", but a targeted act by a group, as the bishop emphasised. At that time, he had also reported cases of abuse and subsequently received death threats. In the meantime, he had wanted to renounce protection a few times. "But the state police in charge have asked me to continue accepting it," Kräutler said.
Until he can fly back to Brazil, he will probably remain convalescent until March or April, he said. "However, I definitely want to go back, ... I am an emeritus bishop, but that doesn't mean much in Brazil," Kräutler said. He has a successor in Xingu, he said, but he also still has a function in the Brazilian Bishops' Conference. "I never understood emeritus to mean that I now sit in an armchair and watch television all day."
In 2010, "Dom Erwin" was awarded the Alternative Nobel Prize for his commitment to the human rights of Indians and the preservation of the tropical rainforest in the Amazon region. However, he never saw these honours, among others, as personal prizes for himself, Kräutler now remarked. "It was always a team effort" - with successes such as the anchoring of indigenous rights in the constitution.
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