Austrian bishop plagued by porn scandal says he has resigned

By Catholic News Service

SANKT POLTEN, Austria -- An Austrian bishop plagued by a porn scandal at a diocesan seminary told a German newspaper that he has resigned.

Vatican sources speaking to NCR Rome Correspondent John L. Allen Jr. confirmed the resignation Oct. 1, but said that no official announcement was likely before Tuesday, Oct. 5. For more on this read Allen's The Word from Rome for Oct. 1.

Bishop Kurt Krenn of Sankt Polten told the Austrian Der Standard newspaper that he had resigned. The interview was published Sept. 30. Bishop Krenn, 68, said he stepped down voluntarily, not under pressure from the Vatican. "The pope does not force anybody to resign. He asks at the most that someone go," the bishop told Der Standard.

Read More NCR publisher Thomas Fox addressed the Austrian scandel in an online column July 26: When a pope is not a pontiff

The scandal came to light in mid-July after an Austrian magazine published pictures of priests and students kissing and fondling each other. Austrian authorities said the images had been found along with more than 40,000 photos and videos -- including child pornography -- on seminary computers.

Shortly after, Pope John Paul II named Austrian Bishop Klaus Kung of Feldkirch to conduct an apostolic visitation of the Diocese of Sankt Polten, particularly the seminary. In August, Bishop Kung announced the closing of the seminary for "serious erroneous trends" among seminarians, citing in particular the practice of viewing and downloading pornography from the Internet and the development of "active homosexual relations" among members of the seminary community.

Without directly criticizing Bishop Krenn, Bishop Kung said, "Over the past years, too little attention was paid to the necessary criteria" for accepting candidates for the priesthood.

On Aug. 13, a student at the seminary pleaded guilty to downloading child pornography from the Internet and was given a six-month suspended sentence.

In July, after the photos were initially published, the seminary rector and vice rector resigned. Bishop Krenn initially downplayed the seriousness of the photos, saying they were part of a boyish prank during a Christmas party.

Bishop Egon Kapellari of Graz-Seckau said he withhold comment until the Vatican formally announced Bishop Krenn's resignation.

"Bishop Krenn told the newspaper he had expected to be asked by the Holy Father to place his diocese in other hands," said Bishop Kapellari.

"This is not, however, legally valid, since Rome has not formally confirmed its acceptance. In these circumstances, it would be correct under the church's order for other bishops to show restraint," Bishop Kapellari told Austria's ORF-Steiermark TV news Sept. 30.

Dolores Bauer, co-chair of Austria's Council of Lay Catholics, said she hoped the church would "learn a lesson" from the crisis.

"People are fed up with the way the church is damaged by figures like this -- we are chasing them out," she told Catholic News Service.

"Although we can be satisfied that this crisis is now over, the only real chance of changing things in Sankt Polten is to think how to rebuild the confidence of local Catholics," Bauer said.

The Austrian We Are Church group, which seeks changes in the Catholic Church, said in a statement that it was "relieved" by Bishop Krenn's decision to resign and that his resignation was "an important and inevitable first step for renewal in the diocese."

National Catholic Reporter, October 1, 2004