Monday, October 18, 2010

Archdiocese of Vienna: Caritas Director Michael Landau Oppposes Rome

The high ranking Church functionary of the Archdiocese of Vienna ignores Church teachings regarding the priesthood for women -- a few weeks ago, Landau was still on call as the Austrian Bishops conference's new Secretary.

Vienna, (kath.net) The Viennese head of Caritas Michael Landau had set himself against Rome in an interview with Austrian Television regarding celibacy and the ordination of women. Landau said regarding celibacy: "That was introduced at some point in the history of the Church, and can also at the same time be abolished in the same manner." The high ranking Church functionary of the Archdiocese of Vienna would like these things "much more open and more clearly" than they were discussed in the past. Also Landau can imagine the ordination of women to the priesthood. He believes that this would be at least "substantially changed" in the Church, if the Church opened the consecrated offices to women. Especially explosive on the question: Landau was a few weeks ago still on call as the new Secretary of the Austrian Bishops Conference. Kath.net came by this information by Episcopal circles. Also, according to the daily "Die Presse" Cardinal Christoph von Schönborn had even proposed Laundau as a possible Bishop.

Pope John Paul II has already clearly explained in "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis", that the Church will never allow "womans' ordination". It says in the document: "Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church's judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force.

Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful."

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You can e-mail Father Michael Landau, here: office@caritas-wien.at

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