Dissenting Priest Accuses Schönborn of Showing Disobedience Too

By Andrea Tornielli
Vatican Insider
April 13, 2012

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The Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn

Peter Paul Kaspar, chaplain of the Academy and the artists of Linz, one of the leaders of the "Pfarrer Initiative" has written an open letter to the Cardinal of Vienna

Peter Paul Kaspar, chaplain of the Academy and the artists of Linz and one of the leaders of the "Pfarrer Initiative" has written an open letter to the Cardinal of Vienna Cristoph Schönborn, referring to the case of the young gay man who was elected to the pastoral council of Stützenhofen. He presented this case as an example of "disobedience", or rather of obedience to his own conscience rather than to "Roman law".

Readers will recall that during the Chrism mass on Holy Thursday morning, Benedict XVI unexpectedly spoke about the "Appeal to Disobedience" signed by 400 Austrian parish priests. Those who signed the appeal are asking for drastic reforms, including the abolition of priestly celibacy and the ordination of women. In response to this, the Pope said that disobedience is not the right path towards the reformation of the Church, because it risks transforming it "according to our wishes and ideas."

The Pope's words were welcomed in a positive manner by the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Cristoph Schönborn, but were also appreciated by the leader of the "Pfarrer Initiative". Although the latter he said did not agree with the Pope's decision to declare the ordination of women priests impossible, he saw the reference to it in the homily as a move towards dialogue.

Now, Fr. Kaspar has sent an open letter to Schönborn, after the cardinal criticised dissident priests for launching an "Appeal of Disobedience" during Pentecost 2011. "The fact that you have asked us to reconsider the title of the appeal, instead of discussing its content, says a lot about your understanding of authority: you speak of the obedience we owe God, to his teaching and to our conscience rather than looking at yourself and your own role."

In his letter to the Archbishop of Vienna, Fr. Kaspar spoke of the case of young Florian Stangl. "You asked for a meeting with a gay parish priest, elected to the pastoral council by a significant majority, because he is in a registered partnership with another man. And you supported the parish's decision."

"There is a possibility - Fr. Kaspar continued - of you being accused in a Canonical Roman court. You obviously had the opportunity to think things over and decided to continue supporting his "disobedience". The fact that you exposed the obedient priest (who had initially invalidated Stangl's appointment, stating that he could not be elected, Ed.) to public ridicule is still to some extent a sin."

"In any case - the dissident priest concluded – we consider your decision to be a positive example of the fact that a bishop in service obeys his own conscience even if the Church or Roman law establishes something different. We judge your "disobedience" to be a gesture of gratifying responsibility – in the literal sense – for a "conscientious" official."

In the open letter, the leader of the "Pfarrer Initiative" refers to the possibility of a canonical proceeding being opened against the cardinal but no such action has actually been considered by the Vatican. In the next few weeks, Rome may, however, send a letter requesting clarifications on the reasons motivating Schönborn's decision.