Patriarch Kirill was heavily criticized for morally justifying Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
I agree with the Austrian metropolitan, who clearly condemned it. But I don’t know the inner workings of the Russian Orthodox Church.
How do you rate Chancellor Nehammer’s visit to Vladimir Putin?
I have mixed feelings too. You just have to use the communication channels that you have. When the pope walked into the Russian embassy in the Vatican, that means something. Which head of state does that? So that means keeping the conversation channel open, but what are your expectations when you go in? On the one hand it’s a big sign, but on the other hand: you couldn’t expect anything from it.
In the bishops’ conference you are the departmental bishop for education. How do you explain current events to a generation that only knows war from history books – the same generation that had to deal with the pandemic and distance learning?
You would have to ask the teachers. I have every respect for the teachers. But when I hear how full the youth psychiatric clinics are at the moment, I do ask myself questions. At the same time, I know from conversations with the 95-year-old Vicar General of the diocese what this is doing to him now. He said he couldn’t sleep for three days because all of a sudden his war experiences came up again. At the same time, for me, this is also an appeal to society: be forgiving with one another, in relationships, in society, approach one another!
Keyword Corona: The bishops’ conference has spoken out in favor of compulsory vaccination after a difficult struggle and much criticism from within its own ranks…
No, we don’t have that. We have said that it is up to the state to legislate on compulsory vaccination for the public good as a last resort. If the state thinks that nothing else helps more than compulsory vaccination, then it can do that. But that is not consent on our part.
How do you see the government’s zigzag course in dealing with the pandemic?
I agree with Cardinal Christoph Schönborn: the virus and not the government make the zigzag. And secondly: I don’t want to be responsible for knowing what I take from the scientific findings in order to make a decision. That was the case with us too. We have repeatedly been accused of subservient to the state with our measures. But sorry, are we citizens or not? Does the virus stop in front of the church door or not?
One would assume that people turn to faith more in times of crisis. But according to surveys, 70 percent of Austrians now see the church losing importance, compared to only 35 percent in 1986.
A lot has happened in the world since then. We don’t need to debate that there is a loss of trust, that’s clear. But those are different things, I ask myself critically: is what we are starting from actually what we want at the time? We, that is, representatives of the church, open our mouths and everyone jumps? Is that really the ideal?