You can help stop the rot in Austria

Pierre Le Gros the Younger (1666-1719), Religion overthrowing Heresy and Hatred, Altar of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Chiesa del Gesù, Rome

photo credit: Nick in Exsilio

Mundabor flags up an urgently serious matter within the Church in Austria: 313 priests and deacons have signed up to a "call to disobedience" citing "the Roman refusal of a long-overdue Church reform and the inaction of bishops" and declaring that they will:

-  pray for Church reform at every liturgy, since “in the presence of God there is freedom of speech” 

- not to deny the Holy Eucharist to “believers of good will,” including non-Catholic Christians and those who have remarried outside the Church 

-  avoid offering Mass more than once on Sundays and holy days and to avoid making use of visiting priests--instead holding a “self-designed” Liturgy of the Word 

- to describe such a Liturgy of the Word with the distribution of Holy Communion as a “priestless Eucharistic celebration”; “thus we fulfil the Sunday obligation in a time of priest shortage” 

- to “ignore” canonical norms that restrict the preaching of the homily to clergy 

- to oppose parish mergers, insisting instead that each parish have its own individual leader, “whether man or woman” 

- to “use every opportunity to speak out openly in favour of the admission of the married and of women to the priesthood” (Reported by CatholicCulture.org)

 So essentially what these 313 clergy are saying is that they are not Catholic. End of story. No ifs, ands or buts. They disagree with Church teaching, they dissent from the Truths of the Faith, they refuse to be obedient to the Magesterium of the Church; so rather than a "statement of disobedience" surely this is a statement declaring themselves no longer Catholic. One would assume that Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna would take swift action to nip this outrageous dissent in the bud, particularly as it is being done in a high-profile and flamboyantly public way,  deliberately causing scandal.

Sadly not - whilst Cardinal Schönborn professes to be "shocked", rather than immediately putting anyone signing up to this initiative on probation (and, frankly, surely he's able to sack them on the spot for a stunt like this) he is going to "meet with the initiative’s leaders and point out its 'inconsistencies', such as 'priestless Eucharist'" . Good grief -- point out its inconsistencies? I would have thought that signing up to this sort of thing would get a seminarian dismissed from his studies, never mind priests and deacons who continue to be allowed to lead souls into perdition by preaching this heresy.

Mundabor, Fr Z and EF Pastor Emeritus have wise words on the subject of the "call to disobedience" and what ought to be done as soon as possible.

But first, please, please PLEASE send an email protesting the fact that these priests and deacons are allowed to continue their ministry, openly preaching heresy, promoting disrespect for and encouraging disobedience to the Church,  and leading souls astray. That this situation is allowed to continue is a major scandal. The 2011 Vienna Western Mass was stopped by a petition and public outrage,  please God that this scandal may be ended as soon as possible as well. 


Please email:
Congregation for the Clergy: clero@cclergy.va
Papal Nuncio in Austria: nuntius@nuntiatur.at
Holy Father: benedictxvi@vatican.va