According to friend, Pope simply terrified that there will be a schism in the Church

"When something was a matter, I was never quiet".

Erwin Kräutler lives in Brazil and campaigns against poverty, environmental destruction and for the rights of the Indians. Because of his commitment, he has been attacked time and again. 

Author Robert Schneider visits people with a migrant background in his "Krone" series "Fremd daheim? This time he does it the other way round and visits Erwin Kräutler, a Brazilian by choice, in his parental home in Koblach.

For him, the word "Du" is more than an expression of the personal closeness of two people. Being on first-name terms is a spiritual act, a kind of fundamental mood of his whole life, in the sense that we are ultimately only sisters and brothers, beyond all cultural circles, political systems or religions. Just because Dom Erwin Kräutler addresses everyone as "du" does not mean he is amical. For him, the "you" means something completely different: forget everything that makes you appear big and important in the world. Then we can talk. That's how I understand him, this 84-year-old gentleman who looks at me with an alert gaze out of the corner of his eye and is blessed with a hair-trigger mind.

He, who has received dozens of honorary doctorates and countless national and international prizes, has always been interested in human exposure. That is where he begins his day's work. According to his episcopal motto "Servus Christi Jesu" (Servant of Jesus Christ), he is interested in the defencelessness of the soul. Nothing less. In front of him on the table is a bilingual Bible in Greek and Latin, which he reads daily. And in the First Letter of John, which he quotes verbatim, he finds his theological worldview outlined, namely that Christ laid down his life for us, consequently we too must lay down our lives for our sisters and brothers.

Robert Schneider: A burning question first, Dom Erwin: Do you still use snuff?

Erwin Kräutler: I stopped in 2002. As soon as I sat at my desk, the first thing I needed was snuff. After writing, I almost needed a hoover. Then I knew: Now it's enough. Now you're addicted to it. And on 31 October 1975, Reformation Day, I stopped smoking.

As far as I'm concerned, there will probably be a few more Reformation Days. In this series I interview people with a migrant background who have settled in Vorarlberg. With you it is now the other way round. We are in your parents' house. Although you have been working in Brazil for almost sixty years, you still speak the dialect of the old Koblach people. "Eggs-eier" become "Oier", "eleven-elf" becomes "oalf". Where are you at home?

My roots are here but I lived my life in Brazil. Not for a minute, not for a second did I feel the need to go back to Koblach. I was and am always happy to be here but my place is in Brazil.

And yet you were so homesick as a boy at boarding school.

That was in the Xaverius House in Feldkirch. As an eleven-year-old boy. When I went up the Ardetzenberg and could see Koblach from there, I cried out loud. Nothing was right. The porridge didn't taste good. I was just terribly homesick.

"My roots are here, but I have lived my life in Brazil."

After grammar school you studied philosophy and theology. Was it always clear to you that you would enter a religious order?

No. I could also have imagined medicine. But at the Matura I put a black rosette in my buttonhole...

What does that mean?

It was a custom back then. Red meant law, blue stood for philosophy, green for medicine and black for theology. The girls said: "Erwin, you're joking. No one will believe you."

They thought, what a waste?

What they thought, I don't know. Of course, I was always very sociable, passionate about playing the guitar. Once when I had to hide the guitar from the Greek professor Holzer, he said to me: "Kräutler, when are you going to change your life?" I answered: "In the Hirbscht." And so it was.

You went to Brazil after your studies to your uncle Erich Kräutler, who later became Bishop in the Xingu Prelation.

Yes, he said, "If you are to study theology, then you come to us."

Your order is the "Missionaries of the Precious Blood". The word missionary has come to have a negative connotation.

In this country, the word has that connotation. In Brazil, strangely enough, it doesn't. I never proselytised anyone but lived with the people, because one thing was very clear to me: the Church has the task of pointing out to those responsible for government that poverty is not a fate, but is made.

(Matthew 28- The Great Commission- ignored also by the Pope who like the Bishop shelters behind the fear of proselytism

19 Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
euntes ergo docete omnes gentes : baptizantes eos in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti :

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.
docentes eos servare omnia quaecumque mandavi vobis : et ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus, usque ad consummationem saeculi.

Cathcon: The Bishop belongs to the Missionaries of the Precious Blood.  The Blood of Christ that washes sins away. I doubt he has preached this with any serious intent for years.)

You have always intervened, stood up for the rights of the indigenous people, fought against a huge dam project, played a decisive role in Pope Francis' encyclical "Lautato si", survived persecution and attacks.

One thing is clear, of course: if you stand up for the interests of the Indians, you are automatically against the interests of the landowners, the people in power. When it came to something, I was never silent.

Is it true that you are still under police protection in Brazil today?

Yes, it's true. As soon as I arrive at the airport.

You are friends with Pope Francis. Has his pontificate, which began so promisingly, failed?

I wouldn't put it that way. I think he is simply terrified that there will be a schism in the Church. That it will tear the Church apart. And he would be very sorry about that.

How can it be explained that at Vatican II in the early 1960s, there was such a euphoric mood of departure in the Church, but now the exact opposite is the case?

I don't know that myself, and I don't understand it either. When the Council was convened, one really had the impression that the Church was now throwing open all the windows to let in a breath of fresh air. It was the greatest ecclesiastical event of the 20th century. Without a doubt. I have the feeling that in many dioceses the documents of Vatican II have not yet arrived.

Cathcon: Oh, this convenient and complete myth propagated by progressives so their progressive greed can be fed more food!  The documents of Vatican II have been received and implemented throughout the Catholic world.  They were "gold-plated" by ecclesiastical bureaucrats with stipulations that went well beyond the intentions of the Council fathers.  The result has been an epic decline in the Church.   How many more years do we have to wait before the obvious interpretation is accepted?  The Church is in a post-conciliar stasis of mismanaged decline.

Will everything be different with the next Pope?

We don't know. The Cardinals of the Curia are still very powerful. But even there, there are wonderful personalities who do not wall themselves in. When John XXIII was elected, many people threw up their hands and thought he was just a transitional pope. A great fallacy. Perhaps the miracle will happen again and the Holy Spirit will descend upon the conclave.

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