AN ESTIMATED 400 Austrian Catholic priests, or almost 10 per cent of the 4,200 in the country, are reported to support an “Appeal to Disobedience” which calls for significant reform of guidelines on celibacy, marriage and other areas of church authority.
The initiative was launched on Trinity Sunday, June 19th, and priests behind it said that “Roman refusal to take up long-needed reforms and the inaction of the bishops not only permits but demands that we follow our conscience and act independently”.
On their website www.pfarrer-initiative.at, they called for the abolition of celibacy; for married clergy to be allowed; for shared Communion with remarried people and other Christians. They have also called for reform of the liturgy and introduction of the term “Priestless Eucharistic Celebration” for a liturgy of the Word with distribution of Communion.
“This is how the Sunday Mass obligation is fulfilled when priests are in short supply,” they said.
The initiative is led by Archbishop of Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schönborn’s former vicar general, Msgr Helmut Schüller.
The cardinal has expressed shock at the initiative and reminded priests that they had freely promised obedience to their bishop at ordination.
He said, “the one who gives up the principle of obedience dissolves unity”, but that he would meet with the priest leaders of the appeal to point out its “inconsistencies,” such as “priestless Eucharist”.
The meeting has yet to take place.
He also suggested that “those who truly in conscience believe that they must disobey the hierarchy, and that ‘Rome’ is on the wrong track [and] gravely contradicts the will of God”, ought to “travel the way no more with the Roman Catholic Church”.
Meanwhile, the results of a poll in Austria by the Oekonsult institute, published this week, found that 71.7 per cent of those polled found the appeal “fair and adequate”, with 64.7 per cent saying they would sign a “call for insurbodination”.
According to 73.8 per cent, pressure from the initiative could help the Austrian Catholic Church argue a case with the Vatican that reforms were unavoidable.
This initiative by Austrian priests shares many aspirations with the newly formed Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland.
