Austrian Catholics threaten open dissent and heresy!

Wow!  MST and SVST would love to have this!

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VIENNA (Reuters) - Dissident Austrian Catholics announced lay people will start celebrating Mass when a priest is unavailable, a clear call to disobedience just as the country's bishops hold their autumn conference.

A manifesto adopted by dozens of activists at the weekend said lay people will preach, consecrate and distribute communion in priestless parishes, said Hans Peter Hurka, head of the group We Are Church.  [Favorite motto of these dissident theology schools in the Philippines!]

"Church law bans this. The question is, can Church law overrule the Bible? [Where is this in the Bible?  Where in the Bible does it say that the ordinary man and woman and not the Apostles consecrated bread?] We are of the opinion, based on findings from the Second Vatican Council, that this (ban) is not possible," he said Monday.  [See what kind of trouble we get for those who always use Vatican II as the MOTHER OF ALL COUNCILS?]

The Catholic Church only allows ordained priests to preside at Mass.  [Uhm, read the Bible?]

Hurka said dissidents had long planned the meeting but were happy it came just before a regular four-day session of the Catholic bishops' conference starting Monday.  [Dissidents were happy to spoil anyone's party, especially those of the bishops.]

He said he wanted bishops, led by Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, [Once touted as a papabile, you know, young, bright, eloquent, theologian....anyone else comes to mind?  Right, John Allen? Ha!]  to respond to the paper, the latest in a series of challenges by grass-roots Catholic reformers in Austria.  [Grass roots?  Heard that plenty of times in those dissident theology schools in the Philippines!]

"We basically expect this because the demands for reform are not especially new," he said. The bishops received a copy of the manifesto Saturday, he added.  [Especially if some of the bishops are whispering in the loggia, not openly in the nave, right Fr. A.?]

Bishops planned to discuss proposed initiatives and reforms that have been put forward, according to their website, although the main topic of the session was preparing for parish council elections due in March. [SEE!!!  They are even planning to discuss a thing that is

Schoenborn, a former student and close associate of Pope Benedict, has ruled out sweeping changes demanded by dissident priests led by his former deputy, Rev. Helmut Schueller. [oh.  But what would the bishops do in the face of open dissent?]

Tipped as a possible future pope, [ehhhh...] the cardinal has said he would not lead his diocese into breaking away from the Vatican by letting clergy flout Church rules after a group of priests issued a "Call to Disobedience" to try to press reform.  [but still, nothing was done for those who misbehave]

The group, which claims to represent about 10 percent of the Austrian clergy, has challenged Church teaching on taboo topics such as priestly celibacy and women's ordination.

The dissident priests, who have broad public backing in opinion polls, [like RH?  Ha!] also say they will break Church rules by giving communion to Protestants and remarried divorced Catholics.  [you break the law, there are consequences, right?  But what has our bishops done?]

Reformist Austrian Catholics have for decades challenged the conservative policies of Benedict and his predecessor John Paul, creating protest movements and advocating changes the Vatican refuses to make.

Catholic reform groups in Germany, Ireland and the United States have made similar demands.

A record 87,000 Austrians left the Church in 2010, many in reaction to sexual abuse scandals.  [What?! The preceding sentence is about Church reforms such as the discipline of the sacraments and celibacy and then this?!  See, I told you.  There is no such thing as objectivity.  Like that bull called "Walang kinikilingan..."  Piffle!]

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Ask other Christian denominations like the Anglicans, Orthodox, Lutherans, Presbyterians and even the Iglesia ni Cristo and the Evangelicals. They would not let just any Tom, Dick and Jane lead them in their prayers and offer whatever it is they want to offer.

What would you make of these Austrians now eh?

Sad to think that Austro-Hungarian Empire was once headed by a Catholic Monarch once addressed as Royal Apostolic Majesty.

And now you have this?

See what a wonderful world Modernism paints?