2024-03-04 17:57:37
Bishops Freistetter and Schwarz were unable to attend the spring general assembly due to illness – the last bishops’ conference was a guest in Carinthia in 2012
Klagenfurt (KAP) – The spring general meeting of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference began on Monday followingnoon in the Carinthian monastery of St. Georgen am Längensee. The bishops meet under the chairmanship of Archbishop Franz Lackner until Thursday. Military Bishop Werner Freistetter and St. Pölten Bishop Alois Schwarz are not taking part this time due to illness. Archbishop Lackner announced this in an interview with ORF and Kathpress before the start of the conference. Bishop Schwarz is currently in the cardiology department at the Vienna General Hospital, said Lackner.
When asked, Lackner named the global synodal process, the upcoming European elections, the wars in Ukraine and the Holy Land as well as the various current structural processes in the Austrian dioceses as the central topics of the bishops’ deliberations.
Synodal process
Lackner said the synodal process was going “very well” in Austria. We are now in the final spurt towards the second bishops’ meeting in Rome in October. Referring to Pope Francis, the archbishop once once more emphasized that the synodal process is a “spiritual process” in which listening to one another and the Holy Spirit is the focus and not the assertion of one’s own interests. “We are a global church, we want to listen to each other,” said Lackner literally. He hopes for “a credible church where people can find the meaning of life.” The Church in Austria is committed to this process with all its strength and heart, confirmed the chairman of the bishops’ conference.
Lackner also referred to Pope Francis with regard to the Holy Land. The bishops in Austria would join the Pope, who never tires of calling for a ceasefire.
Steps of reconciliation
When asked regarding the turbulence a few years ago surrounding the move of Bishop Alois Schwarz from the Diocese of Gurk to the Diocese of St. Pölten and the subsequent apostolic visitation in Carinthia, Archbishop Lackner said that there had now been small steps towards reconciliation. For example, the events in Carinthia were also discussed during the ad limina visit of the Austrian bishops in December 2022, Lackner reported. With Josef Marketz there is now a “great new bishop” who is also contributing very constructively to the bishops’ conference.
Bishop Marketz also said in the ORF and Kathpress interview that the situation had calmed down, although there were still people who reported personal injuries to him. But not everything can be solved, said the bishop. In any case, as the host bishop, he is very pleased that the bishops’ conference is once once more meeting in Carinthia following a long time and is looking forward to the festive mass on Tuesday in the “Marianum Tanzenberg”, at which Cardinal Christoph Schönborn will also preach.
Valuable exchange
Marketz said he found the exchange between the bishops very valuable. Even though each bishop is responsible for his own diocese, the experiences of his fellow ministers are also helpful for their own area. Ultimately, the challenges in the Austrian dioceses are very similar. There are also some regional peculiarities, such as bilingualism in Carinthia.
The general assembly of bishops began on Monday followingnoon with a prayer in the St. Georgen collegiate church. The Apostolic Nuncio to Austria, Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana, will meet with the bishops on Tuesday followingnoon. The liturgical highlight is a celebratory mass on Tuesday, March 5th, at 6 p.m., in the seminar church in the “Marianum Tanzenberg”, to which all believers are invited.
The Bishops’ Conference has already been a guest at St. Georgen Abbey on Längensee, 21 years ago in April 2003. The last time a general meeting of the Bishops’ Conference took place in Carinthia was in March 2012 in the Tainach/Tinje educational center.
The results of the general assembly of the Bishops’ Conference will be announced by its deputy chairman, Linz Diocesan Bishop Manfred Scheuer, at a press conference in Vienna on Friday, March 8, at 10 a.m. in the “Club Stephansplatz 4” (1010 Vienna, Stephansplatz 4).
((ende)) GPU/PWU
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