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Gerald Warner
Gerald Warner is an author, broadcaster, columnist and polemical commentator who writes about politics, religion, history, culture and society in general.

Anti-Papal Austrian bishops resurrect the Josephite heresy

By Gerald Warner Politics Last updated: February 28th, 2009 12 Comments Comment on this article Heresies are like fashions: wait long enough and an old heterodoxy will become modish again. The Catholic bishops of Austria have just resurrected Josephism, 219 years after the death of its instigator, Emperor Joseph II, who seized control of the Church, imposing 6,200 religious laws and even dictating the size of candles.

When the Pope recently selected Father Gerhard Maria Wagner as auxiliary bishop of Linz, shock waves ran through the episcopal ranks. Wagner is a doctrinal and liturgical conservative in shorthand, a Catholic and that is an automatic disqualification for wearing a mitre in trendy Austria.

The temper of the Austrian hierarchy can be gauged from the example of Bishop Reinhold Stecher who, on his retirement a decade ago, published a letter denouncing the then Pope

John Paul II's insistence on clerical celibacy and ban on ordaining priestesses (an infallibly declared doctrine of faith). What made the bishops so nervous about Father Wagner's appointment was the fact that the Austrian hierarchy is on the verge of a generational handover, with four bishops nearing retirement, and the faded 1960s trendies dread being succeeded by younger, more orthodox prelates.

So the screws were put on Father Wagner, who announced his renunciation of the post he had just accepted. He has since made a statement that his resignation was not voluntary. The Austrian Bishops' Conference then issued an egregious pastoral letter that amounted to collective defiance of the Holy See. Regarding episcopal appointments it stated that "before the Holy Father takes the final decision, reliable and thoroughly tested basic information must be provided on which he can rely".

That is barely coded language for a right of veto on appointments as exercised historically by Joseph II. The bishops want to eliminate any candidate with a whiff of orthodoxy about him or horror of horrors a penchant for the Latin Tridentine Mass. The pastoral said: "This can ensure that bishops are appointed who are not 'against' but 'for' a local church." What is that supposed to mean?

So outrageous was the blatant defiance expressed in this pastoral letter and so profound the shock it is beginning to provoke among Catholics around the world for its impertinence towards the Pope that some of the bishops are beginning to backtrack and criticise the proceedings against Father Wagner. Bishop Ludwig Schwarz of Linz has been summoned to Rome and the Linz Priests' Circle has said that forcing Wagner's withdrawal showed how anti-Roman forces and forces from outside the Church are rebelling against the Pope's Godgiven authority.

The bishops' concern to protect the modern liturgy is understandable: of Austria's 5.6 million Catholics, it now attracts a magnificent 13 per cent to Mass on Sundays. The mindset betrayed by the pastoral was schismatic: a return to the Josephite concept of a selfcontained Austrian Church, on the Gallican model. It is difficult to regard the Austrian hierarchy as in full communion with Rome, in the light of its conduct. Austria, like so many other countries, needs a complete change of personnel among its bishops.

12 comments
tatraeagle 03/08/2009 08:56 PM
I concur to Gerald's oppinion. It seems that Austrian priests forgot that obedience is one of the pillars of Catholic teaching. Catholic Church is not and never meant to be a democracy. It is based on belief that Papal authority is directly from Christ and that Bishops are successors of apostles. I wonder how Father Franz Wild is taking his own criticism while he is heading rebellion against the Pope's decision. Bible has it: "Obedience is more than sacrifise!" This is a key point in Catholic Faith, take it away and you end in Protestantism. The Holy Eucharist is the central point of Catholic Faith. Without obedience there is no Holy Eucharist, without Holy Eucharist there is no Holy Mass and without Holy Mass there is no Body of Christ. The benefit of Eucharist increases with profound understanding of obedience. These are the basic principles of Catholic Faith and I am surpriced that Fr. Franz Wild and Austrian priests who promissed obedience to Bishops and the Pope are refusing to accept Holy's Father decision. Breaking a vow is a sign of a weak character - it is a form of adultery. Austrian priest should consult their colleagues in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in this. During communist time it was very difficult to be obedient to Bishops. The communist's government agreed only to the candidates who compromised their faith with Marxism. Yet in long run their obedience to Bishops brought its fruits. Fr. Franz Wild should learn from his colleague Frantishek Wild who survived 16 years of hardship and persecusion in the communist jail and died as a saint in the City of Pezinok near Bratislava. New generation of priests after WWII grew up in western consumption driven society. Spoilt children had everything except discipline and obedience.

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afcote 03/05/2009 10:17 AM

"do not see why being a conservative Christian should be irreconcilable with supporting the ordination of female priests"

Because it is the infallibly declared teaching of the Church, according to the Successor of Peter, who alone can

guide the Church as he holds the keys to heaven.

If you left the Church for the Anglican heresy - a splinter group which has separated itself from the Body of Christ - over a disagreement with an essential Church teaching then you did the right thing, as you were not a Catholic anyway. Catholics obey the Pope, even if they do not agree with him.

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afcote 03/05/2009 10:12 AM

Doesn't Austria have a concordat with Rome which allows it approval of episcopal appointments?

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airborneman 03/01/2009 09:14 PM

St. Athanius, dubbed the Father of Orthodoxy, stated " The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of Bishops."

Jesus Christ established a kingdom not a democracy. I think many Bishops, Priests and Lay Individuals need to decide what they believe. If there are major differences in those things that are significant, then they should leave the Catholic Church and not be hypocrites. Jesus Christ said "count the cost". No one is forced to believe - make your choice with some integrity.

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 frugal_dougal 03/01/2009 12:43 PM

I agree with a lot of what you say, but do not see why being a conservative Christian should be irreconcilable with supporting the ordination of female priests, which is why I left the RC church to join the CofE.

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rusticus 02/28/2009 04:41 PM

Baldyjohn;

Thank you for your very thoughtful and interesting post.

Your last two paragraphs in particular were extremely apposite, and they have given me much food for thought.

Dominus vobiscum.

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baldyjohn

02/28/2009 11:36 AM
A very interesting blog and subject. As a Catholic, that the "Universal Church" in fact varies from one country and culture to another, is not news to me. Indeed this provides any Pope with an unenviable task which leads to accusations of "politics" in his decisions and invariably being "too conservative" in doctrinal matters.

Many years ago I met a number of Bishops who were attending a conference in London, Vatican II was on the horizon. The diversity of approach from African and South American Bishops to those from North America and Europe was quite striking and I had doubts as to just "how Catholic" Dutch and Austrian Bishops were. I must say that our British ones seemed a pretty balanced lot at the time.

The reality of course is that the "Communion of the Catholic Church" is based upon these national and regional variations, it always has been and in part gives it its strength and durability. Although it may look monolithic to outsiders as for example the Communist Soviet Union was, it isn't.

Every now and then something like the "Austrian Situation" arises but in a sense, that is a good thing because it is a timely reminder. If the 'Church' were run only by the wishes of North American and European Catholics without the checks and balances provided by Africa, South America plus the East, it would be torn apart by married, gay, women this and that desired in the "West" and totally unacceptable in emerging economies.

Of course whilst there are many who despise religion in any form, but the Catholic reality is that through the Pope and the Bishops, there is the ability to examine afresh most subjects and, at an appropriate time, introduce gradual change where appropriate. One might wish other religions had such a forum.

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tbw 02/28/2009 05:34 AM

Oh Gerald Warner! What are you doing in Britain? Leave the country of your ancestors and come to Mitteleuropa. Your place is not in the Western world. Your thoughts are so typical for old Central Europe that

only you could restore a world which once broke down. And believe me: once you had restored it, it would break down again. Some houses simply cannot stand. Never. And you're one of those rare architects with the ability to build the sort of house which would break down immediately. There's only one problem: why should young people in Austria and elsewhere have the wish to repeat the mistakes of their grandfathers? Any answers, Gerald? If you cannot forward them, you and Father Wagner won't get the second youth you're longing for. Not in this life! Oh no.

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loz 02/28/2009 04:51 AM

Brilliant article, Gerald. Very worrying signs.

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neloon 02/28/2009 04:10 AM

The papacy has always been more political than passible.

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baronlaurencedequietzapple 02/28/2009 03:30 AM

Await Warner's Ad in the Dully . .

"New race, bipedal optional, required to populate small blue planet . . "

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prodicus 02/28/2009 03:29 AM

Much like England and Wales, then