Pope John Paul II will personally examine a sex and pornography scandal engulfing the Austrian Catholic church
Published:
19 July 2004 y., Monday
Pope John Paul II will personally examine a sex and pornography scandal engulfing the Austrian Catholic church, said the mass-circulation Kronen Zeitung on Sunday.
The newspaper said Vatican officials would submit documents concerning the scandal to the pontiff following his return from holidays in the Aosta Valley and resumption of duties on Monday.
The scandal revolves around some 40 000 pornographic photos and a number of films discovered on computers at a seminary in St. Poelten, west of Vienna. Some of the images, which were first published last week by an Austrian news magazine, depict priests and trainee priests in compromising positions.
Seminary bishop Kurt Krenn has incensed critics with his dismissal of some of the material as "childish pranks at a Christmas celebration" and his steadfast refusal to resign.
The head and deputy head of the seminary have already quit, but 68-year-old Krenn says he will only go if told to by the Pope.
In comments at the weekend he expressed "pity" for Austrian president Heinz Fischer, who had voiced his concerns about the case, saying Fischer did not know enough about the church,
The paper quoted well informed sources as saying the Vatican could not afford to sit out the scandal, having become sensitive to such issues since "disasters" in the American Catholic church.
Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel also commented on Saturday, saying that as a practising Catholic he wanted a quick and complete clarification of the affair.
Šaltinis:
news24.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
A baby girl loses her mother at birth. A few years later, she is “sold” into domestic labor by her own father.
more »
Scarce and unevenly distributed rainfall has made water a key economic and social development issue in Morocco.
more »
Rainfall in August and September 2009 confirmed the fears of serious risk of natural disasters in years to come resulting from rising sea levels, greater erosion of coastal zones, destruction of the mangroves, and devastating floods.
more »
Fifteen years after the groundbreaking Fourth World Conference on Women, which was held in Beijing in 1995, the international community has clear legal norms on the prohibition of discrimination and the active promotion of gender equality and women's empowerment.
more »
Ahead of International Women's Day, the European Commission strengthened and deepened its commitment to equality between women and men with a Women's Charter.
more »
The World Bank Institute has launched an online multiplayer game, EVOKE, designed to empower young people all over the world, but especially in Africa, to start solving urgent social problems like hunger, poverty, disease, conflict, climate change, sustainable energy, lack of health care and education.
more »
One of the crucial questions facing EU asylum policy is the extent to which countries share the demands of asylum seekers.
more »
Youth in three major universities explored what they can do to address climate change, something that experts in a knowledge-sharing forum in Silliman University in Dumaguete City say is already at Filipinos’ doorsteps.
more »
The Parliament needs to connect more with women voters as research shows them to be trapped in a vicious circle, being under-represented in the EP and EU politics in general and, therefore, less interested and less involved than men.
more »
The streets of India became a kaleidoscope of colour, as locals celebrated Holi.
more »