A Center of Catholic resistance: the great "Minoritenkirche" in Vienna now belongs to the SSPX -- by Roberto de Mattei

A center of Catholic resistance:

the Minoritenkirche in Vienna

The SSPX (Society of Saint Pius X) has announced that it has become the owner of the Minoritenkirche, in Vienna's inner city. The Society will be able to take possession of this church, officially named Italienische Nationalkirche Maria Schnee (Italian National Church of Mary of the Snows) on June 3, 2022, the anniversary of its donation to the Italian congregation by Emperor Joseph II on June 3, 1784.

The significance of this news does not escape a Catholic historian. The Minoritenkirche is not only one of the most beautiful and oldest churches in Vienna, but, between 1780 and 1815, it represented the heart of Catholic resistance against revolutionary ideas. At that time, Jansenism, Gallicanism, the Enlightenment, different and heterogeneous forces, but united by their hatred of the Church of Rome, intertwined their efforts, in the shadow of the Masonic lodges, to destroy the Christian religious and social order. Father Nikolaus Albert von Diessbach (1732-1798), a former Swiss officer who had belonged to the Society of Jesus before its suppression (1773), between 1779 and 1780 founded in Turin, under the name of Amicizia Cristiana, an organization that aimed to resist this subversive project by fighting it with its own weapons: the dissemination of books and the secrecy that surrounded the members of the association (see Roberto de Mattei, La Biblioteca delle "Amicizie" : repertorio critico della cultura cattolica  1770-1830, Bibliopolis 2005). 

Cardinal Schonborn and Medjugorje: the Umpteenth Chapter (UPDATED)

In a repeat of last year's scandal, a 'seer' of Medjugorje has been invited once more to the Stephansdom of Vienna to give his 'testimony'. The whole-evening event (which will be live-streamed on the Internet) will culminate in a live 'apparition' followed by a Mass celebrated by Christoph Cardinal Schonborn. This event is in line with Schonborn's repeated gestures of support for this strange phenomenon, which is supposedly under investigation by the "Ruini Commission".

A Message from the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna

The Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, the man ultimately responsible for this, and this, and this (and this - and also this; and this, too), has a message for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX) today (EarthTimes - see also Kreuz.net and ORF.at):

Vienna - The Vatican is set to tell a rebel ultra- traditional Catholic group that the Church's core values and its relations with Judaism are not negotiable, Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn said in an interview published on Saturday. Earlier this year, the Catholic leadership in Rome drew criticism from within and outside the Church for lifting excommunication orders against bishops of the controversial Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), including British-born Richard Williamson who has denied the scale of the Nazi mass murder of Jews.

In the coming days, a recently restructured church commission would meet the renegades, the cardinal and Vienna archbishop told the Passauer Neue Presse.

Rome would not give the group a "free pass," and Pope Benedict XVI was striving to "get a group of Catholics which has parted from the Church back into the boat," said Schoenborn, who is a member of several Vatican bodies.

The non-negotiable positions to be set out to the Pius Society include the Church's positions towards the Jewish faith, other non- Christian religions as well as Christian faiths, and towards religious freedom as a fundamental human right, according to Schoenborn.

In June, the pope placed the commission under the authority of the Holy See's main disciplinary watchdog body, after it had drawn criticism for its handling of the SSPX.

SSPX members are currently barred from official roles within the church unless they agree to fully abide with its teachings.

Such teachings include the so-called Second Vatican Council reforms of the 1960s, which sought to modernize the Church.

The Cardinal of Vienna: a man who is tough when it counts.

Full Statement of the Cardinal of ViennaDiocesan Leadership Confirms Election Results in Stützenhofen

[For background, see previous post: The crisis of the Church is a crisis of Bishops - The Vienna Chronicles: another priest thrown under the bus. Thanks to our reader-translator, who added his own relevant note in the end.]

Press statement of Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn on the parish council elections in Stützenhofen.

I thank the many candidates for the parish council elections. By their candidacy they showed their concern for the Church and the Faith. Thus they witness to the vitality of the Church. In their diversity they reflect the diversity of the life and faith journeys of today. Thus there are many parish councilors whose lifestyle  does not in every way conform to the ideals of the Church. In view of the life-witness that each of them gives taken as a whole, and their commitment to the attempt to live a life of faith, the Church rejoices in their efforts. She does not thereby call the validity of her ideals into question.

In the small community of Stützenhofen, which I hold in great esteem, there is lively participation in Church life even in the younger generation. A sign of this is the high turnout the parish council elections. The formal errors which have come to light in that election do not call the results of the election itself (in which the youngest candidate, Florian Stangl, received the most votes) into question.

I was able to have a personal conversation with Herr Stangl, and was deeply impressed by his faithful disposition, his humility, and the way in which he lives his commitment to service. I can therefore understand why the inhabitants of Stützenhofen voted so decidedly for his participation in the parish council.

Today in the bishop’s council [Bischofsrat] we discussed the complex Stützenhofen case, and unanimously decided on the following decisions:

1. The diocesan leadership does not challenge the validity of the election and its results.

2. The bishop’s council mandates a revision of the rules for parish council elections in order to clarify the pre-requisites for candidacy in the context of continuing deliberation about the nature and purpose of parish councils.

Translator's note: candidates for parish councils in the Archdiocese of Vienna can be nominated by any Catholic before the election. The nominations are supposed to enclose a signed statement by the candidates in which they affirm that they fulfill the conditions for the office (including crucially the condition that they adhere to the faith and discipline of the Church - “sich zur Glaubenslehre und Ordnung der Kirche bekennen”). At the election voters mark as many names on the candidate list as there are places to be taken in the council; the candidates with the most votes are elected. In Stützenhofen the candidates neglected to sign statements affirming that they fulfilled the conditions for election. Herr Stangl, the candidate with the most votes, lives in a civil-partnership with his homosexual lover. An initial statement of the Archdiocese said that “in principle” persons who live in such unions are not allowed to serve on parish councils, but that the Archdiocese was examining the particularities of the case in question. In an interview Herr Stangl said “I feel committed to the teachings of the Church. But the demand to live chastely seems kind of unrealistic to me (Forderungen nach Keuschheit zu stellen, ist aber relativ fern von der Lebensrealität). How many people really live chastely?”

As we had said in 2009: "The Cardinal of Vienna: a man who is tough when it counts."

Two Farewells in the Austrian Church

In recent days the Church in Austria has bade farewell to two of its bishops. On January 13th, the Very Reverend Bishop Andreas Laun, O.S.F.S., formerly auxiliary bishop of Salzburg, was laid to rest in that city. On January 18th a Mass was celebrated in Vienna to bid farewell to His Eminence Christoph Cardinal Schönborn. Cardinal Schönborn is still among the living, and celebrated his farewell Mass himself. His resignation had not yet been accepted on January 18th, but it was expected that his resignation would be accepted today, January 22nd, his 80th birthday (as has now indeed come to pass). The two farewells contrasted in a number of ways.

The crisis of the Church is a crisis of Bishops The Vienna Chronicles: another priest thrown under the bus

[Updated] The Cardinal of Vienna, like the battery bunny, just keeps going, and going, and going...

From Die Presse:

Archdiocese confirms homosexual parish council member

The 26-year-old who lives in a registered homosexual partnership, may now belong to a parish council in the Weinviertel [region].

The Archdiocese of Vienna confirmed on Friday the election of a 26-year-old homosexual council member in the Stützenhofen municipality of the Weinviertel [region, north of Vienna]. The case had triggered a heated debate. Florian Stangl, who lives in a registered partnership, had been elected in mid-March, and, although chosen by a large majority of the population,had been rejected by the local priest because of his way of life. The diocese has specifically approved the first such case. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn also met Stangl and his partner.

From the Archdiocesan website:

Press Statement by Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn on the problems of the parish council elections in Stützenhofen

I thank all the people who have put forth their candidacy in the parish council elections, they are the church and faith is a big concern [for them]. They witness the vitality of the Church. In their diversity, they reflect the diversity of today's way of life and faith. ...

In the personal conversation I had with Mr. Stangl, I was impressed with his pious atitude, his humility and his firm willingness to serve. ... [Update: Read full statement here.]

Father Gerhard Swierzek, who had blocked the young man's presence in the Council, also asked Stangl not to receive Holy Communion (Catholic Culture, which mentioned that the Archdiocese had backed the priest - not at that time, and certainly not now... Perhaps because the sin is not "manifest"?...)(Tip: Secretum meum mihi)

June: time for the "Vienna Western Mass"

UPDATE June 17, 2011: THE "WESTERN MASS" FOR THIS YEAR HAS BEEN CANCELLED! (Sources: Kreuz.net and www.stop-western-mass.com)

Originally posted on June 14, 2011 at 09:48 AM (GMT):

This seems like a lost cause - as everything related to the Cardinal of Vienna -, but, since we were sent it, we cannot deny our support:

Please help us to defeat a sacrilegious Western Mass.

This annual event will be celebrated on coming June 26th, by the rector of Vienna cathedral, Fr Anton Faber, for the fourth time.

Most of the participants at this Mass are sitting at beer benches. While Fr Faber offers the sacrifice of Calvary, they are smoking, drinking and eating. From the beer benches they proceed to receive Holy Communion.

This video shows you the Western Mass of last year: http://en.gloria.tv/?media=164417

This year, Gloria.tv Austria has contacted the archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, through both, his spokesman and his secretary. We have urged the Cardinal to stop these liturgical abuses and to replace the Western Mass with a prayer service with no distribution of Holy Communion.

Help us, to make this appeal known. Here the appeal’s website: www.stop-western-mass.com.

Emails can be written directly to cardinal Schönborn: [email protected]

Mondays: Pray for the Souls in Purgatory

Below, please find the sixty-second posting of enrolled souls of the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society.

Mondays in the Church have traditionally been set aside for the souls in Purgatory. Here's an extra prayer you can add to your routine for them:

Monday Prayer for the Faithful Departed

O Lord God omnipotent, I beseech Thee by the Precious Blood which Thy divine Son Jesus shed in His cruel scourging, deliver the souls in purgatory, and among them all, especially that soul which is nearest to its entrance into Thy glory, that it may soon begin to praise and bless Thee for ever. Amen.

How to enroll souls: please email me at [email protected] and submit as follows: "Name, State, Country." If you want to enroll entire families, simply write in the email: "The Jones family, Ohio, USA". Individual names are preferred. Be greedy -- send in as many as you wish and forward this posting to friends as well.

Please consider forwarding this Society to your family and friends, announcing from the pulpit during Holy Mass or listing in your church bulletin. We need to spread the word and relieve more suffering souls.

Please pray for the enrolled souls and the 17 holy priests saying Traditional Masses for the Society:

CDF demands explanation from Cardinal of Vienna

Austrian daily Der Standard reports that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has asked the Cardinal of Vienna to explain himself regarding his decision to reverse the prior decision of Father Gerhard Swierzek, parish priest in Stützenhofen, who had blocked the presence of a young man living in a registered homosexual "union" as a member of the local Parish Council (see the first and second posts on the matter):

Der Standard has learned from well-informed Vatican sources that the Archbishop of Vienna was invited by letter to explain his position [on this matter]. In case of non-response, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will call up the Cardinal in his next visit to Rome.

Right. As a member of the full Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith himself, the Cardinal must be extremely fearful...

[Tip: Secretum meum mihi]

Solemn High Mass for the Feast of St. Stephen of Hungary in Vienna

Una Voce Austria arranged a Solemn High Mass for the Feast of King St. Stephen of Hungary at the Karlskirche in Vienna. The celebrant was the Rev. Fr. Marc Hausmann, a priest of the diocese of St. Pölten and professor of metaphysics at the Pontifical University Urbaniana in Rome.

The Pope and the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna or... Stop plotting the next conclave: this Pope is very much alive

1. Original Italian text.

2. Vatican Information Service translation:

The Holy See Press Office released the following communique early this afternoon:

"(1) The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Christoph Schonborn O.P., archbishop of Vienna and president of the Austrian Episcopal Conference. The cardinal had asked to meet the Supreme Pontiff personally in order to report on the current situation of the Church in Austria. In particular, Cardinal Schonborn wished to clarify the exact meaning of his recent declarations concerning some aspects of current ecclesiastical discipline, and certain of his judgements regarding positions adopted by the Secretariat of State - and in particular by the then Secretary of State of Pope John Paul II - concerning the late Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, archbishop of Vienna from 1986 to 1995.

"(2) Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. were subsequently invited to join the meeting.

"In the second part of the audience certain widespread misunderstandings were clarified and resolved, misunderstandings deriving partly from certain statements of Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, who expressed his displeasure at the interpretations given to his words.

"In particular:

"(a) It must be reiterated that, in the Church, when accusations are made against a cardinal, competency falls exclusively to the Pope; other parties may have a consultative function, while always maintaining due respect for persons.

"(b) The word 'chiacchiericcio' (gossip) was erroneously interpreted as disrespectful to the victims of sexual abuse, towards whom Cardinal Angelo Sodano nourishes the same feelings of compassion, and of condemnation of evil, as expressed on various occasions by the Holy Father. That word, pronounced during his Easter address to Pope Benedict XVI, was taken literally from the pontifical homily of Palm Sunday and referred to the "courage that does not let itself be intimidated by the gossip of prevalent opinions".

"(3) The Holy Father, recalling with great affection his own pastoral trip to Austria, via Cardinal Christoph Schonborn sends his greetings and encouragement to the Church in Austria, and to her pastors, entrusting the journey to renewed ecclesial communion to the celestial protection of the Blessed Virgin, so venerated at Mariazell".

Burke in Vienna on Synod's midterm relatio: "saddest possible document"

Schönborn profanates Vienna Cathedral once more

Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna has once again made a mockery of St. Stephen's Cathedral.

This past weekend, this happened in the venerable consecrated building, a "rock concert" in honor of "World AIDS Day" (apologies for the utter lack of modesty):

Abraham a Sancta Clara Against the Turks

On the eve of the Turkish siege of Vienna in 1683, the great Augustinian preacher Abraham a Sancta Clara preached a sermon entitled “Arise, Arise, Christians!” urging Austrian Catholics to prepare for the coming battle.

Abraham a Sancta Clara, born Johann Ulrich Megerle in Kreenheinstetten near Meßkirch, Swabia, in 1644, as the eigth of ten children, was one of the most colorful and brilliant preachers of the Baroque era. His sermons are full of drastic and amusing images and word play, often he would break into rhyming verse in the middle of a sermon. His sermons are also quite long. According to the custom of the time they were generally preached outside of Mass, and could last over an hour.

In 1677 Abraham a Sancta Clara was appointed preacher to the imperial court of Vienna. But during the Turkish war itself he was stationed in Graz in Southern Austria. “Arise, Arise, Christians” was published as a pamphlet and distributed in Vienna before the Turks arrived.

We present some extracts below in a Rorate translation.

You Report: Pontifical Mass in Vienna

Reader N.S. sends us the report from Vienna:

One of the grandest baroque churches in Vienna, Austria, is definitely St. Charles' (Karlskirche), which is dedicated to the memory of St. Charles Borromeo, the sixteenth-century cardinal-archbishop of Milan and reformer of the Church in similarly turbulent times If the current crisis is to be overcome, all natural and supernatural means will have to be employed. Which better saint can we thus have recourse to than Saint Charles, who with great zeal and piety helped to restore the Church?

We are happy to report that on November 4, 2013 (Borromeo's feastday), H.E. Bishop Vitus Huonder of Chur/Coire, Switzerland, celebrated a Pontifical Mass in his honor. Thanks are due to the celebrant (in particular for making the 700 km/ 430 mi car ride) and to the local Una Voce that organized everything so well.

Additional images here.

Guest article — The Council’s Constitution on the Liturgy: Reform or revolution?

Rorate is happy to make available an English translation of a lecture given in Vienna by Wolfram Schrems on April 2, 2017, at the launch of the German edition of Peter Kwasniewski's Resurgent in the Midst of Crisis. Schrems is a theologian, philosopher, catechist and pro-life activist and a signatory of the Filial Correction. The text below is a thoroughly revised version of the original presentation (a video of which may be found here). The author would like to thank Mr. Stuart Chessman of the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny for the translation into English.

The Council’s Constitution on the Liturgy: Reform or Revolution? 

Wolfram Schrems

Vienna, April 2, 2017

Reverend Fathers, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Dearest Friends,

Contemporary "Art": Defilement of a Sacred Building with the Blessing of a Cardinal (guest-post)

“Corporeity and Sexuality”

A peculiar art exhibit in one of Vienna’s great churches:

Some thoughts from the point of view of art history and art theology

Tibor I. Szabó [First English version]

Built following a failed assassination attempt on the Emperor Francis Joseph in 1853, Vienna’s Votive Church (Votivkirche) is one of the preeminent monuments of the Austrian Capital. From 25 April to 15 June 2014, a bizarre exhibit was held there, under the auspices of Viennese Archbishop Christoph Card. Schönborn. The homepage of the Votive Church had the following information to offer on the matter:

“This exhibit puts art at the center of a critical dialogue between religious and non-religious perspectives on human sexuality, the body, desire, and relationships. The artworks do not take up religious themes. Yet by exhibiting them in a church, they can take on a religious dimension, to be found not so much in the objects themselves, as in the context of the overall experience. The concept behind this exhibit is based on the premise that churches are more than a mere backdrop for liturgical functions. […] The exhibit aims to create a basis for dialogue between contemporary art and the so-called ‘theology of the body’. […] That is why each installation is carefully integrated into the church’s architecture and its religious significance has been respected, both in whole and in part. Visitors profit from contemplating, and engaging critically with, the experience the exhibit creates, from comparing their own experiences with those inspired by this dialogue, as well as from ensuing impressions.”¹

Some thoughts on the experience

De Mattei: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold”

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

December 19, 2018

In December 1918, Europe celebrated the first Christmas of peace after four years of non-stop bloodshed. The world that was born, however, was no longer that of yesterday.

On November 3rd, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire had signed the armistice of Villa Giusti with the Allied Armed Forces in Padua. On November 7^th,  the German Chancellor received an ultimatum from the German Socialists, who imposed the abdication of Kaiser William II for Friday November 8^th.  The Grand Duke of Baden, notified the Sovereign, who was at his General Quarters in Spa, that he could no longer rely on the army and that a civil war was looming. Right up until the morning of November 8^th, the Sovereign manifested his intention of reestablishing order and taming the Revolution at the head of his troops. But during the night between the 8^th and 9^th everything collapsed. The Emperor’s military and civil advisors, gathered together in Spa, insisted that the Kaiser abdicate and leave for Holland.  On November 9^th  he announced his abdication as Emperor of Germany, not as King of Prussia, and entrusted the Command of the Army to Field Marshal von Hindenburg, appointing him to negotiate the armistice.  That same day the Emperor left Germany, never to return. 

Sermon for Our Lady of the Rosary - "The forgetting of history is a dangerous thing."

Sermon for the Solemnity of Our Lady of the Rosary

Fr. Richard G. Cipolla 

 

Today we celebrate the external solemnity of the feast of our Lady of the Rosary, whose actual feast day is October 7.  We celebrate this feast with joy in honor of that prayer that lies at the very heart of Catholic piety.  But this feast has a history, and for Catholics history is very important because of the Incarnation, that God entered human history at a certain time in the person of Jesus Christ.  The original title of this feast was Our Lady of Victory.  This feast commemorated the victory of the Catholic fleet over the Ottoman Empire at the naval battle of Lepanto in 1571.  The goal of the Ottoman Empire, the powerful Muslim Empire, was to conquer Europe and destroy Christianity.  

The Pope at that time was the severe and deeply faithful Dominican Pope Pius V. It was he who organized the Catholic opposition to the Ottoman attack.  Remember that the Protestant Reformation had already occurred, and the nations which had become Protestant were not interested in supporting an offensive against the Muslim aggression. So the Pope cobbled up a naval fleet made up of Catholic countries and cities who had remained faithful to the Catholic Church.  

Islamic Jihadists' main target has always been Rome

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

July 1, 2015

The first Islamic decapitation on western European soil since the times of the Battle of Vienna (1683) took place on June 26,2015, while the “champion” of the West, Barack Obama, was triumphantly celebrating the legalization of homosexual “marriages” imposed on all the States of the Union by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Exactly twenty years before, on June 21, 1995, the Islamic Mosque in Rome was officially inaugurated – the biggest in Europe, presented as a centre for ecumenical dialogue and religious peace. The only voice of protest heard in Italy at that time was the one of the Lepanto Cultural Centre, which promoted a Rosary of reparation in the church of St. Luigi Gonzaga, right next to the mosque, defining the construction of the Islamic centre in the heart of Rome as “a symbolic act of unspeakable gravity. Rome is the centre of the Catholic Faith: Islam at its very roots, denies the fundamental truths of our faith and intends to implant its dominion on the ruins that was once western Christian Civilization.”