Frustrated left-wing Catholics

First Amazon Bishop Kräutler tried to take the Pope for his agenda, now he pathologises Francis.

For a long time, Bishop Kräutler and his comrades-in-arms tried to instrumentalise Pope Francis for themselves and interpret him in their own way. But Francis did not want to follow their agenda.

The legendary Amazon bishop Erwin Kräutler is pessimistic with regard to the upcoming Synod: "I find it hard to believe that Pope Francis, now more than 86 years old, will have the courage, for example, to abolish compulsory celibacy," reads his article published online in the "Herder Korrespondenz". Bishop Kräutler, who is only three years younger, is above all frustrated that Pope Francis did not use the Amazon Synod to push through the agenda that Kräutler had longed for and conjured up. This is despite the fact that a clear majority in the Synod openly voted for it.

Effects on the whole Church

For a long time, Bishop Kräutler and his comrades-in-arms have tried to instrumentalise Pope Francis for themselves and interpret him in their own way. The Amazon Synod was supposed to clear the way for their idea of Church reform: "New approaches to the ordained priesthood" and "personae probatae", not just "viri probati", as Kräutler put it in an interview with the "Tagespost" three years ago. Because Francis did not want to follow this agenda despite a majority in the synod assembly hall, it was apparently no longer enough to pass the buck to evil hardliners in the Vatican. So the Pope himself is being pathologised: The old man doesn't have the courage, is the new Kräutler narrative.

Joint responsibility for the priest shortage

This is a well-known but dishonest method: bishops who refuse to follow the left-wing Catholic agenda are accused of being afraid and lacking courage. So now Pope Francis too, garnished with an allusion to his age. Is it completely inconceivable for Kräutler & Co. that the Pope would have an appreciation for celibacy - which is, after all, Jesus' way of life? And in times like these, doesn't a pope need much more courage to resist a synod majority and at the same time the spirit of the times than to simply submit to the pseudo-democratic majority?

Bishop Kräutler justifies his plea for the ordination of proven men and women for many years with the glaring priest shortage in the Amazon region. "If people do not have a Eucharistic celebration at Christmas or Easter or Pentecost, then something is missing."

Yes, that's right! For 35 years, Kräutler, who comes from Vorarlberg, was responsible as Bishop of Xingu for preaching the Gospel to the people in the Amazon region. If the shortage of priests there is now so dramatic, then as bishop he bears a share of responsibility for it. But of course it is more convenient to demand a reform of the world church order from the Pope than to think about the promotion of priestly vocations - and one's own failings in this regard.

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