NEW YORK
Jersey Journal
By Rev. Alexander Santora/For the Jersey Journal
on July 25, 2013
Walking through Manhattan’s Washington Square Park on a hot July evening has the feel of an urban circus. Adults and children cool off in the fountain’s sprays, musicians entertain, and food vendors do a brisk business.
As I am about to exit, I notice the New York University Catholic Center’s modern looking building on the left but I’m headed to the historic Judson Memorial Church to hear an Austrian Catholic priest, Rev. Helmut Schuller, kick off a 15-city U.S. tour. I am not sure why the sponsors selected Judson instead of any Catholic setting; the Archbishops of Boston and Philadephia did ban Schuller from any Catholic property. That only boosted attendance on July 16 and required additional chairs to seat the 400 plus audience.
Schuller is a mild-mannered 60-year-old, who is every bit involved in the life of the Vienna, Austria Archdiocese. He was their Vicar General, the second highest position in the chancery, and still pastors the same parish he did when he had that job. He serves on their priests’ council and writes a weekly column for their archdiocesan newspaper.
So why all the hubbub?
Schuller organized 400 priests out of some 2,500 in the entire country to issue calls for reform back in 2006. The Austrian Priests’ Initiative addressed the “increasing shortage of priests forcing many Austrian parishes to close.”
But it also advocated for reform in the celebration of the sacraments, welcoming remarried Catholics to communion, ordination of women and married men and homosexual unions – none of which is approved by the universal church.
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