Austria's bishops to discuss 'crisis' over resistance to bishop's appointment

February 13, 2009

Acknowledging a "crisis" for Catholicism in their country, Austria's Catholic bishops will meet in Vienna on Monday to discuss the popular opposition to the Pope's selection of a conservative priest, Father Gerhard Maria Wagner, to become an auxiliary bishop of the Linz diocese. Some priests have violently objected to the appointment, pointing to Father Wagner's view that a decline in morality amounts to "spiritual pollution" of society.

 

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Further information:

• Bishop controversy prompts Austrian Catholics to meet
• Austria: Priests criticize pope's bishop pick (AP)