It is not often that a cardinal gives a speech that sends shockwaves through the Catholic Church. But that was what happened when Cardinal Christoph Schönborn gave a recent lecture at the University of Vienna on the abuse crisis.
The cardinal is one of the most influential Catholic figures. An outstanding theologian, he is renowned for helping to draft the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He has worked as a trusted collaborator alongside both Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Now aged 74, the cardinal is preparing to step down as Archbishop of Vienna when he reaches the mandatory retirement age in January. He underwent prostate cancer treatment in May and perhaps this experience, along with his imminent departure from Vienna, has left him free to speak his mind.
His 50-minute address was astonishingly candid. His overall conclusion was that clerical abuse is a “massive reality” in the Church. This verdict is based on decades of listening to abuse victims in Vienna archdiocese, which he took over in 1995 from Cardinal Hans Hermann Gröer, who was himself an abuser.
When the cardinal speaks of a “massive reality”, he is not necessarily implying that abuse is present on a vast scale throughout the worldwide Church. It is more likely that he means that abuse is a dispiriting fact that every Catholic must reckon with.
The cardinal’s address shed new light on a curious episode in 2010 in which he was obliged to make a public apology to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the powerful former Vatican secretary of state. Cardinal Sodano had given a speech that Easter in which he appeared to dismiss media reports of clerical abuse as “idle gossip”. Cardinal Schönborn accused Cardinal Sodano of obstructing an inquiry into abuse allegations against Cardinal Gröer. Benedict XVI then summoned Cardinal Schönborn to a meeting and Cardinal Sodano joined them. Afterwards, the Vatican issued a peculiarly worded communiqué, in which the Austrian cardinal appeared to retract his criticisms.
According to a thorough report on the cardinal’s Vienna lecture in the Tablet, Cardinal Schönborn revealed that Sodano had “literally said – to my face – ‘Victims? That is what you say!’” (The 92-year-old Cardinal Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals since 2005, had not responded to the comments as we went to press.)
Disregarding the convention that bishops refrain from public criticism of the Roman Curia, Cardinal Schönborn said that “certain people in the Vatican lied”, putting the Church’s interests before those of the victims.
The cardinal also took issue with his mentor Benedict XVI’s recent essay, in which the Pope Emeritus argued that the radical ideologies of 1968 contributed significantly to the abuse crisis. “Benedict XVI attempted a diagnosis which I do not wish to
criticise but merely want to correct by citing a few figures,” he said. According to Cardinal Schönborn, 60 per cent of cases in Austria occurred between 1940 and 1969, 27 per cent between 1970 and 1979, and 0.9 per cent since 2000.
Why was the pre-conciliar Church in Austria riddled with abuse? According to the cardinal, it was because it was a “closed system”. “In closed systems abuse occurs far more frequently than in open ones,” he suggested.
This brings us to the cardinal’s reflections on the new religious communities that sprang up after the Council. He has long been regarded as a champion of these groups, but in the lecture he said that many had a deep flaw: charismatic founders with almost unchecked power over their followers. He cited Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ; Fr Marie-Dominique Philippe, founder of the Community of St John; and Gérard Croissant, founder of the Community of the Beatitudes, as “guru personalities” who were later revealed to have led double lives.
Many, including the cardinal, had thought that these new communities were a promising source of renewal in the Church. Rome, he implied, gave them freedom to flourish, but failed to provide proper oversight.
The cardinal attempted to end his address on a hopeful note. “Every crisis,” he said, “creates opportunities for purification and that can only come through the truth.” He has done the Church a great service by sharing his soberingly honest reflections.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.