Filling the Newshole
It finally includes the close which was so dear to my heart
In contrast to his predecessor’s emphasis on the figure of the pope at the expense of local bishops, "Benedict is more of a ‘constitutional conservative’ type," said David Gibson, author of The Coming Catholic Church and a forthcoming biography of the pope.
The foresight of that "constitutional conservatism" was seen in a 1985 intervention made by then-Cardinal Ratzinger, reported in April by John Allen, Rome correspondent of the National Catholic Reporter.
When informed of John Paul’s intent to nominate the archconservative Austrian cleric Kurt Krenn as archbishop of Vienna, "Ratzinger actually blocked Krenn’s appointment," according to Allen, "[knowing] that Krenn would be a disaster in a highprofile forum such as Vienna."
Krenn resigned in disgrace last year from his rural Austrian diocese after scandalous disclosures of sexual misconduct by priests and seminarians under his watch. American Catholics will be looking to Benedict to exercise similar savvy as he begins to flesh out his vision for the future of the Catholic Church in the United States.
Mmm-hmm.
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posted by Rocco Palmo at 16:38
7 Comments:
Krenn was an "arch-conservative"??? And how did he come by that label? It looks that Ratzinger helped to get the better man there to Vienna, namely Schoenborn, who is one of the best out there today. I would be interested to know what led you to the analysis that Ratzinger blocked an arch-conservative. From the little I know, it only looks as though he blocked a bad bishop from a major see.
Actually, I think JPII appointed Groer rather than Krenn, who turned out to be even more disasterous as he was exposed as a serial sexual harrasser of novices and seminarians when he was a Benedictine abbot.
Krenn, theologically, was extremely conservative and hidebound which wasn't his real problem. His real problem was that he was reportedly a lunatic, a dysfunctional alcoholic, an incompetent, and had a habit of making outrageous inflammatory (even defamatory) statements in the press. He made his total and complete detestation of homosexuality and homosexuals, clear, but somehow never realized that the seminarians and clergy that he recruited for his diocese were most flamboyant "Daughter of Trent" gay clergy. In short, Krenn lived in a world existing only in his own mind (Krennland?) a nostalgic fairytale land divorced from the time and place of any era, and was completely clueless to anything and everything in The Real World.
But, he was an enemy of liberal trends, was patronized by the Habsburg family, and was a champion of the memory of now Blessed Charles of Austria, the last emperor - a cause that was near and dear to Charles's namesake, Karol Wojtyla.
If you can read German, here is a link to Bishop's Krenn's webpage. To put it delicately, the picture of the Bishop's face must not be missed as it is quite striking in its own way.
http://www.stjosef.at/bischof.k.krenn/
I'm actually a great admirer of the Habsburg dynasty, including Blessed Charles. Re Krenn, the family had bad judgment and I think it allowed him to rise to a level beyond his competence.
That's all.
Speaking of conservative, St. Poelten was a REFUGE for conservatives within the European seminary system, many Americans too.
One would do well to pay close attention to Lichtenstein now that it remains the last of "conservative" shelters. Please do not be surprised when it turns up MAJOR skeletons.
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Henry must be referring to the apostolic visitation of OLAM and EWTN a few years ago which Mother Angelica cut off by removing EWTN from her and the monastery's control to a lay board that was completely independent of any oversight from the Holy See or any bishops. Of course, if a theologian tried to avoid a canonical mandate or if a seminary tried for foil an apostolic visitation in this way, the parties involved would be traitors to the Church, right???
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