(Kath).
The approval of the Austrian population for gender has continued to decline from a low level in recent years. A survey by the Linz-based opinion research institute IMAS, which was published at the beginning of July, found that 52 percent never use gender-neutral language and only four percent “always”, reports the Kronen Zeitung . 12 percent each use gender “sometimes” and “rarely”.
(English.katholisch).
Not for the faint-hearted: The figure of the Virgin Mary giving birth with her legs spread apart was supposed to open up a new perspective on the incarnation of God – in St Mary’s Cathedral in Linz. She did not survive.
The sculpture of the Virgin Mary giving birth in St Mary’s Cathedral in Linz has been destroyed. As reported by the online portal ooe.orf.at and confirmed by the Diocese of Linz, the head of the sculpture was sawn off on Monday morning. The police have been called in. “Whoever removed the head of the sculpture acted very brutally,” said the artist of the statue, Esther Strauß. This shows “that there are still people who question women’s right to their own bodies. We must take a firm stand against this,” said the artist.
(Kath).
Around a third of Viennese primary school students at public schools are Muslims, according to a survey by the Education Directorate.
Vienna (kath.net) One in three primary school students in Vienna is Muslim. This was the result of a survey by the Education Directorate at public primary schools, reported by OE24. This does not include the approximately ten percent of private schools.
(InfoCatoliaca. Staff).
En plena polémica sobre el acceso de las mujeres al sacramento del orden, el cardenal y arzobispo de Viena, Christoph Schönborn, ha asegurado que la Iglesia no puede y no debe admitir tal cosa.
Sobre la cuestión del acceso de las mujeres al sacramento del orden sagrado, el arzobispo de Viena, cardenal Christoph Schönborn, está «profundamente convencido de que la Iglesia no puede ni debe cambiar esto porque debe mantener intacto el misterio de la mujer». Schönborn se expresó de esa manera en un sermón predicado en la Universidad Católica de Trumau, de la cual también es rector. Según nforma el Tagespost de Würzburg, el purpurado citó la enseñanza de Juan Pablo II sobre la materia y además recordó algo obvio: «Todos nacimos de una mujer. Esto se reflejará siempre en el misterio de la Iglesia». El cardenal austriaco ha abordado el tema tras las recientes intervenciones del cardenal Hollerich, Relator general del Sínodo, y el obispo Bätzing, presidente del episcopado alemán, a favor de la ordenación de mujeres, algo que el propio papa Francisco ha vuelvo a negar de forma tajante.
(CNA. Alexander Folz).
Following Pope Francis’ clear no to female deacons, the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, spoke out against a sacrament of ordination for women in a sermon at the Catholic University ITI in Trumau, Lower Austria, on Saturday, as the Catholic weekly newspaper “Die Tagespost” reports .
Schönborn was “deeply convinced that the Church cannot and must not change this, because it must keep the mystery of women present in its purest form.” All social evidence suggests that the Church’s order of the sacrament of ordination is “the last remnant of a patriarchal system” and is therefore discriminatory.
(Kath).
With regard to the election of the EU Parliament, Austria’s bishops are proving themselves to be convinced Europeans: the diverse challenges facing the world and with it Europe must be solved in solidarity – also on the basis of the foundation of Christian values and the contribution of Christians, as the bishops state in a statement on the EU election. The statement was already adopted at the spring plenary assembly in St. Georgen am Längsee in March. The bishops appeal to all citizens of the EU to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming election, which will take place in Austria on June 9th, “in order to help shape Europe constructively and strengthen democracy”.
In their text on the European election, the bishops recall the origins of the European Union as a peace project and the “deeply Christian visionaries” who were responsible for the impetus for its founding. The EU has so far lived up to its “primary purpose” of creating lasting peace through reconciliation between once hostile nations. At the same time, “Russia’s terrible war of aggression against Ukraine” clearly shows “how important and at the same time endangered” peace is.
The bishops express concern about the Christian faith as a foundation of values ”that is increasingly in danger of being forgotten”. The European Union is based on unconditional respect for the dignity of every individual. “Where Europe loses these foundations, ultimately people are always in danger,” warn the bishops
(Kath).
Next Saturday, June 1st, Siluan Gall will be ordained a priest in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. He belongs to the Greek Catholic Church. It is the first time in the 665-year history of St. Stephen’s Cathedral that a priestly ordination is being celebrated in the Byzantine rite, as the Archdiocese of Vienna announced on Monday. Gall is also the first “Byzantine” to emerge from the Vienna seminary, founded in 1758. He will be ordained by Stepan Sus, Bishop of the Curia of the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Kiev.
Siluan Gall was born in Germany in 1973. As a descendant of Germans expelled from Russia at the end of the Second World War, he was baptized and confirmed in the Protestant church. He began his career as a nurse. He worked for 20 years in various hospitals and a hospice.
On the one hand, Gall felt drawn to Orthodoxy at a young age, whose spirituality and liturgy fascinated him. As a Western European, he also felt at home in the Catholic Church. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church ultimately became his spiritual home. Its liturgy, theology and spirituality follow the Byzantine tradition and at the same time it is in full communion with the Pope.
(Katholisch. Felix Neumann).
The ordination of Angelic Molen as a deacon by the Orthodox Archbishop of Zimbabwe caused waves around the world: for the first time in modern times, a woman was ordained sacramentally like male deacons. The Patriarchate of Alexandria, to which Zimbabwe belongs, felt compelled to clarify , but emphasizes historical continuity. The question of the diaconate of women has been discussed in the Orthodox Church for a long time – there have been considerations about it and the occasional ordination of women for decades. The Viennese Eastern Church scholar David Heith-Stade explains in an interview with katholisch.de what distinguishes the earlier deacon ordinations from Molen’s ordination and what deacons do in Orthodoxy. He sees the consecration as a logical development – no matter how controversial it is discussed.
(Vida Nueva).
La posición de la mujer en la Iglesia, una orientación misionera de la Iglesia y una mayor participación: estos tres temas son prioridades que la Iglesia en Austria ha expresado, de cara a la próxima asamblea del Sínodo –que tendrá lugar en Roma el próximo mes de octubre–, en el informe de Austria publicado ayer, miércoles, y enviado a la Secretaría del Sínodo en el Vaticano.
(Avvenire. Andrea Galli).
La comunità di Heiligenkreuz, situata a 30 km da Vienna, con oltre 100 monaci e un’età media di 49 anni, è diventata un caso. Ora riattiverà anche lo storico monastero di Sabiona, in Alto Adige.
Sembrava una storia giunta al termine quella del monastero di Sabiona, che domina la cittadina di Chiusa, in Valle Isarco, provincia di Bolzano. Il 21 novembre 2021 le ultime due monache benedettine rimaste hanno lasciato la “montagna sacra” del Tirolo meridionale, come viene chiamata da tempo immemore la rupe su cui svetta il complesso religioso, mettendo la parola fine a una presenza durata 335 anni.
(Alexander Folz.CNA).
Am vergangenen Wochenende fand im österreichischen Kloster Stift Heiligenkreuz eine Tagung zum Thema „Schönheit, Anspruch und Krise des Priestertums“ statt. Hochrangige Theologen und Kleriker wie Erzbischof Georg Gänswein und Kurienkardinal Kurt Koch nahmen daran teil, wie „Kathpress“ berichtete.
(kath.net/KAP-ÖBK).
Vorsitzender der Österreichischen Bischofskonferenz bei Osterempfang im Bundeskanzleramt: “Verdanken dem jüdischen Volk zu einem ganz wesentlichen Teil unseren Glauben”