For Salzburg's Archbishop, Christ was Not High Priest, But "A Layman"?

(Vienna) On the occasion of the re-division of the diocesan boundaries in Tirol 50 years ago, the ORF invited the bishops of the old county of Tyrol to "talk." 50 years before 1964, the Catholic Church drew  boundaries as a consequence of the    the end of World War to  divide  the former Austrian crown land at the Inn and Etsch valleys. Archbishop Lackner made Jesus a layman in the  question of the shortage of priests.

In 1964, the diocesan borders were adapted to the new international boundaries and administrative units. From the remaining portion of the Diocese of Brixen in Austria was the new diocese of Innsbruck. The old Diocese of Brixen was  extended from the so-called German share of the diocese of Trent and renamed the Diocese of Bozen-Brixen. The reduced diocese of Trent was elevated to an archdiocese. The Bishopric of Trent and the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone [Bozen-Brixen] have been subject since 1921 directly to the Pope. Trent has no suffragan dioceses and Bolzano-Bressanone belongs to  a Metropolitan Province. The new diocese of Innsbruck, however, is suffragan of Salzburg, as was the Diocese of Brixen since 798.

Bishop Discussion: 50 years of Diocesan Separation in Tirol

In the ORF regional studios in Tirol, the archbishops Franz Lackner (Salzburg) and Luigi Bressan (Trent) and Bishops Ivo Muser (Bolzano-Bressanone) and Manfred Scheuer (Innsbruck), met to look back at the past 50 years and attempt an outlook for the future.

"We are in a situation of massive radical change and transition and there arises the question: who puts his life, even his profession in the service of God and man? (...) We need pastors, priests, religious, religion teachers, pastoral assistance,"  said the Bishop Manfred Scheuer of Innsbruck, reigning since 2003  and pleaded for an "option for the youth."

"The gospel is and remains unrivaled  back then and now," said the Bishop of Brixen, Ivo Muser, reigning in his diocese since 2001. "Faith should not be imposed but must be made alive visible."

"Everyone is called to be  Church and participate in the pastoral care" said Bishop Muser to Orf again: "For all the importance of the priestly ministry, it is important that we do not just fix pastoral care on the priest alone. We are all called to be Church, to do our part. Each with their own skills, each with their own skills and potential."

Lackner: "We have Forgotten that Jesus was a Layman."

Archbishop Franz Lackner

A topic of conversation was the shortage of priests. The responses of the bishops remained superficial and concentrated to emphasize the role of the laity. With the devaluation of the priesthood and appreciation of the laity, the new Archbishop of Salzburg went the furthest.

The new archbishop of Salzburg, the Franciscan Franz Lackner, reigning since January 12, 2014,  said, "The Future of the Church" will include fewer priests, but that "the laity can take on important and responsible positions in the Church." These tasks should not belittle you, Lackner said. "We have forgotten that Jesus was a layman."

The statement of the Archbishop is on the website of the Archdiocese of Salzburg was taken and distributed without supplementing and amending. Even Martin Luther was clear that Jesus Christ is the true High Priest who knew him as it was known in the Old Testament for the Temple of Jerusalem.  More recent Protestant splits like the New Apostolic Church, emphasize the position of Christ as High Priest. However, the Catholic Archbishop of Salzburg and Primas Germaniae holds Jesus Christ for a layman?

An archbishop who  presents Jesus  as a layman? Son of God, who is under the priesthood? Jesus Christ is not just a high priest par excellence, who gave the Eucharist and the priesthood?  Is Jesus not as God incarnate, from whom all ordination offices pass through the setting up of Peter and his primacy? No succession, which ranges from Christ to Peter to every bishop since then, until the last priest? What would  this succession be  if Jesus Christ had been merely a "layman"?

Salzburg, like all old diocese, selects three candidates from its  chapter for new archbishop to be chosen by the Holy See.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: ORF Tirol / Archdiocese of Vienna (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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