Catholic World News News Feature
Austria media: New bishop for St. Polten diocese October 05, 2004
Austrian media reported on Monday that Pope John Paul had chosen a new bishop for the scandal-hit Diocese of St. Polten. Austrian TV broadcaster ORF cited unnamed Vatican officials as saying that the Pope would appoint Bishop Klaus Kueng to replace retired Bishop Kurt Krenn.
Keung, currently bishop of Feldkirch, was appointed by the Holy Father in July as a special investigator after local police arrested a Polish seminarian at the St. Polten seminary on charges of storing and disseminating child pornography on a computer at the school. Other photos found in the course of the investigation showing seminarians and priests kissing and groping were later obtained by a magazine and published.
When Bishop Krenn dismissed the depicted activities as "boyish pranks" outrage erupted in Austria and Rome finally appointed an Bishop Keung as an independent investigator. Keung ordered the seminary shut down pending the results of his investigation. More controversy erupted in September when news reports circulated that Krenn had been asked by the Vatican to resign, which he then dismissed as lies, and then abruptly announced his resignation last week.
While officials in St. Polten were not available to confirm the report, Kueng's secretary Bernhard Augustin appeared to confirm the ORF report, telling the Austrian press agency APA: "I cannot refute that."
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