Porn discovered at Austrian seminary

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Porn discovered at Austrian seminary
19
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 9:45pm

I wonder if the Vatican will do anything as more and more evidence from around the world is found...

 


Porn discovered at Austrian seminary

Roman Catholic diocese scandalized by cache of photos


The Associated Press

Updated: 6:24 p.m. ET July 12, 2004


VIENNA, Austria - A vast cache of child pornography and photos of young priests having sex has been discovered at a Roman Catholic seminary, officials said Monday, leading politicians and church leaders to demand a criminal probe and the resignation of the bishop in charge.


Bishop Kurt Krenn, who oversees the diocese, refused to step down, however, dismissing the images as a “childish prank.”


Leaders of the Catholic diocese of St. Poelten where the seminary is located, about 50 miles west of Vienna, spent much of the day in an emergency meeting.


The seminary’s director, the Rev. Ulrich Kuechl, resigned along with his deputy, Wolfgang Rothe, the diocese said after the meeting. It did not elaborate.


As many as 40,000 photos and an undisclosed number of films, including child pornography, were found a year ago on computers at the seminary, the respected news magazine Profil reported.


It published several images purportedly showing young priests and their instructors kissing and fondling each other, and said others showed them engaging in orgies and sex games. The child porn came mostly from Web sites based in Poland, the magazine said.


‘Perverse situations’
Hannes Jarolim, a spokesman for the opposition Socialist Party, urged the Interior Ministry on Monday to launch a criminal investigation. Public prosecutor Walter Nemec said police were examining the material, which he said showed seminarians “in perverse situations together with their superiors.”


The Austrian Bishops Conference issued a statement pledging a full and swift internal investigation.


“Anything that has to do with the practice of homosexuality or pornography has no place at a seminary for priests,” it said.


Krenn, a conservative churchman, told Austrian television he had seen photos of seminary leaders in sexual situations with students, but he described the images as part of an elaborate prank that “had nothing to do with homosexuality.”


Harsh reaction for bishop
His nonchalance drew swift and scathing reaction across the overwhelmingly Catholic nation.


“Collecting child pornography cannot be dismissed as a prank,” said Thomas Huber, a Green Party politician.


In the mid-1990s, Austria was stung by allegations that Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, who died last year, had molested students at an all-male Catholic boarding school two decades earlier. The affair had prompted Groer to step down.


A group of St. Poelten Diocese officials planned to ask the Vatican to remove Krenn as bishop, Austrian radio reported Monday. Martin Walchhofer, who supervises the alpine country’s seminaries, said Krenn ultimately was responsible and “must answer before the church and before God for all of this.”


Asked whether he intended to resign, Krenn said bluntly: “No.”


The Vatican said it had no comment.


Krenn, 68, issued a statement calling the accusations groundless while conceding that he “may have made some wrong personnel decisions” at the seminary. Rothe, the former deputy seminary chief, was a legal adviser to the bishop.


© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 6:57pm

Sure, throw in hypocracy.


iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Wed, 07-14-2004 - 8:49am
"I guess what I'm trying to say is that the problem is the Catholic church. "

That's true, they have allowed homosexuality to run rampant in their schools, semenaries, churches, etc. This is just a ntaural outcome of their actions.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Wed, 07-14-2004 - 10:27am

No, "homosexuality" is not the problem.


iVillage Member
Registered: 07-01-2004
Thu, 07-15-2004 - 1:49pm
>"The Catholic clergy & nuns aren't allowed to marry. That, in and of itself, is going to cause problems."<

I always thought this a kind of cruel rule, if you will. Especially when it is natural to have a sexual relationship with a mate. I understand the Catholic church wouldn't want to encourage their clergy and nuns to go out and have sex, but for parishoners, sex within the sanctity of marriage is acceptd. Why not let the people of the church have the same enjoyment of marriage and sex? And in a time when the church will give up a practice such as eating meat on a given day each week to "get with the times" but still would expect their clergy to deny themselves marriage in service to God is just....backwards to me.

I always get a good chuckle out of engaged couples going to Catholic priests in order to be counseled on the responsibilities and trials of marriage too....It's like taking dance lessons from an instructor born without legs....

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Thu, 07-15-2004 - 3:34pm

I always get a good chuckle out of engaged couples going to Catholic priests in order to be counseled on the responsibilities and trials of marriage too....It's like taking dance lessons from an instructor born without legs....


LOL!


iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Fri, 07-16-2004 - 4:56pm
-- I always get a good chuckle out of engaged couples going to Catholic priests in order to be counseled on the responsibilities and trials of marriage too....It's like taking dance lessons from an instructor born without legs....


I agree.

I like what the other churches do, where they allow their Deacons and Pastors to marry.

How can you counsel a married couple on the difficulties of marriage if you have not experienced them yourself?????

The Roman Cathoic Church has been operating in the Dark Ages for too long.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Fri, 07-16-2004 - 4:58pm
Homosexuality is just a small portion.

The Church has allowed the severe child abuse to go on for decades without doing anything about it, and to top it off, the Pope makes up a new executive office in the Vatican for one of the worst offenders, Cardinal Law of Boston, who knew what was going on for years, but did everything he could to hide it.

Well the last laugh may be on the Roman Catholic Church as the Archdiocese (sp?) in Boston is bankrupt and may have to close several of the churches in the area, if not all of them.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 07-16-2004 - 5:08pm
It is atrocious, if this is true.

Porn in any form can deprave the mind. It is all fake.

Erotic sex videos are the real things. If men want to watch sexual acts, it would be best to watch them.

People seem to have the mistaken notion that porn watching is normal for men. That is untrue. There are men who don't watch porn.

The priests who have gotten away with molesting little boys, should be taken out of the church.

Why do they need the little boys to help them anyway, couldn't they do it themselves?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Sat, 08-14-2004 - 8:37am
Update: Austria sentences 'porn' priest.

 


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