Posted on 07/12/2004 10:26:32 AM PDT by Land of the Irish
Roman Catholic leaders in Austria called an emergency meeting today after officials discovered a vast cache of photos and videos allegedly depicting young priests having sex at a seminary.
About 40,000 photographs and an undisclosed number of films, including child pornography, were downloaded on computers at the seminary in St Poelten, about 50 miles west of Vienna, the respected news magazine Profil reported.
Officials with the local diocese declined to comment but were meeting privately on the scandal, Austrian state television reported.
It said the seminarys director, the Rev Ulrich Kuechl, and his deputy, Wolfgang Rothe, had resigned.
The Austrian Bishops Conference issued a statement today pledging a full and swift investigation.
Anything that has to do with homosexuality or pornography has no place at a seminary for priests, it said.
Church officials discovered the material on a computer at the seminary, Profil said. It published several images purportedly showing young priests and their instructors kissing and fondling each other and engaging in orgies and sex games.
The child porn came mostly from web sites based in Poland, the magazine said.
Bishop Kurt Krenn, a conservative churchman who oversees the St Poelten Diocese, told Austrian television he had seen photos of seminary leaders in sexual situations with students. Krenn, however, dismissed the photos as silly pranks that had nothing to do with homosexuality.
A group of St. Poelten Diocese officials planned to ask the Vatican to remove Krenn as bishop, Austrian radio reported.
Vatican spokesman Ciro Benedettini told the Austria Press Agency that the Holy See had no comment.
Krenn, 68, issued a statement calling the accusations groundless while conceding that he may have made some wrong personnel decisions at the seminary.
For a young twit who spends a lot of bandwidth attacking the Pope, you're mighty sensitive to criticism. Sure that you aren't playing the role of you AND that woman friend who suddenly "vanished" from FR?
Sensitivity is usually a property of the females, you know.
Way back when, women didn't sit with men (unless they were married to or being escorted by them) at secular events either, and generally stayed in a separate gallery. As secular fashions changed, the Church adapted, knowing what was important and what was merely cultural.
I look like Broomhilda in a hat, so I don't miss them. Some people look great, feminine and dignified, but unfortunately, I'm not one of them. And my hair looks so awful when I take off said hat that I want to shave my head and adopt Orthodox Jewish practice.
23 of them were ordained before 1965, the end of the Council. Eleven were ordained in the 20s, 30s, and 40s.
Acting as if abuse sprung, full flower, after Vatican II is nutty.
I note that you also do not understand the concept of "due process." What would you have "the Vatican" say?
Did GWB have a comment the very minute that AbuGhraib broke?
"So, in your opinion the Catholic Church has been a 'sinner' within a 'holy' society?"
No, my point is the evils now plaguing the Church came in with a growing liberal attitude toward the sin of homosexuality, together with a breakdown in clerical discipline. This occurred around the time of John XXIII and accelerated during and after the Council.
Maxie, you're into post-hoc/propter-hoc again. Shows poor mental discipline.
But aren't you SSPX?
"The drop in the number of scandals came, not because of anything JPII did, but because the media had begun exposing the huge number of cases in the 80s."
____________________
Sure, sure.
So, it's the "holy" media versus the "sinful" Pope now?
Well, DUUHHHH!!
Where ELSE would Satan lurk--and who ELSE would he most wish to compromise?
You must think Mel Gibson put that character on the Via Dolorosa because it was cute!
This is ANOTHER in a series of problems at this and many seminaries.
The New Catechism is like his encyclicals--unreadable, full of gobbledegook. On balance, this pope has done more harm than good. In fact, the good has been minimal.
"But aren't you SSPX?"
That's the same sly slander Deacon Sinkspur tried against me. Since the only "SSPX" members are the ordained clergy and a few who are in the Third Order, it is easily translated into an attempt to ask "But aren't you NOT CATHOLIC?", right? If so, it is a sleazy ad hominem attack worthy of a liar, a democrat or a slanderer, not a fellow member of the Mystical Body of Christ. Or did you get promoted to Vicar of Christ and not tell anyone?
And certainly the worst that I recall, if the initial press reports are true.
Oesterreich has been a problem for quite a while, and it's complicated by the very active political situation over there.
I forget the name of the guy, but some former muckety-muck was honored by JPII (minor deal)--and was promptly accused of being a Nazi collaborator.
You likely noticed that the Green Party (same bunch as ours here, but MUCH better entrenched and more populous over there) got its nose into this.
Groelsch had "the problem," and obviously he was not the only one. This will bear some watching as it unfolds.
Broadsword is a "young twit"? What does that make you--an "old twit"?
How many of the sexually disordered in this seminary predate Vatican II? How many of the scandals Michael Rose documented predate V2?
No, that's a question.
Remember, Narses: one can easily become schismatic by becoming "attached" to SSPX.
Maxie can answer for himself, I think.
You do attend Mass at an SSPX chapel, don't you?
"This will bear some watching as it unfolds."
This and HUNDREDS of others, here and abroad. Watching them will be like watching a poor C grade pornfest. Ugh.
July is the Month of the Precious Blood. How many Drops of His Holy Blood are shed for these sins?
You keep mentioning many of the priests were ordained before Vatican II. This proves only that they kept their proclivities under wraps until discipline was relaxed following the Council. Even THEY admit this was in fact the case, when interviewed.
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