An Austrian priest whose views of the Catholic Church, including the priesthood, “diverge very seriously from Catholic belief and practice” has been barred from speaking at any parish or facility of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, according to a July 18 statement by the archdiocese.
Nevertheless, Father Helmut Schuller will speak Friday evening at a conference center on the campus of Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia as part of his national speaking tour.
Father Schuller founded the Austrian Priests’ Initiative in 2006 and the “Call for Disobedience” in 2011 to support changes in Church practice and parish life in particular. His speaking tour, titled “Catholic Tipping Point,” encourages prohibited practices in the Church such as lay preaching and ordination of married men and women.
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In its statement, the Archdiocese emphasized that Chestnut Hill College, which is run by the Sisters of St. Joseph, is not sponsoring the priest’s appearance, nor is it affiliated with the Archdiocese.
But the statement took the college to task for “allowing a campus venue to be used in this manner.” Doing so, it said, “is regrettable and inevitably damages the unity of the local Church.”
It added that Archbishop Charles Chaput’s concerns over Father Schuller’s appearance “have been communicated directly to the leadership of the college and the Sisters of St. Joseph.”
The priest has also been banned from speaking at parishes and institutions of the Archdiocese of Boston.
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“(Father Schuller) encourages prohibited practices in the Church such as lay preaching and ordination of married men and women.”
Gee, what a dangerous radical.
We really need to applaud Father Schuller. Even though he is only saying what so many other Catholics believe, he is very courageous for speaking out on these issues. Other priests have suffered severe consequences when they urged inclusion.
And good for the Sisters at Chestnut Hill College for permitting this important conversation to take place.
Father Schuller is expressing the thoughts of many Catholics by suggesting a means to end a shortage of priests. Does our church supress freedom of speech?
Shame on the Archdiocese for barring discussion of such topics, although controversial. The chance at dialogue/discussion should not be shut down. Adult Catholic are quite capable of forming their own opinions. Thought we catholics had gotten past these behaviors of condemnations. Guess not?
ARE YOU SERIOUS?? The Bishop of any diocese can order a Religious order within his diocese to do or not do something! If they refuse he has the right under Canon law to expell them from the diocese!!!!!! Chestnut Hill college is run by the St. Joe nuns!!! It is far past the time to crack the wip on these nuns and show them that the Church WILL NOT STAND for their radical beliefs!!!! This is EXACTLY what is wrong with the Bishops THEY LACK COURAGE!!!!!!!
In my view, the most serious problem the Catholic Church has is that Catholics no longer obey the Bishops. The current situation at Chestnut Hill College is a perfect example of this disobedience.
As an alumna of CHC, I am deeply disappointed that the administration would permit something like this. These topics have been discussed ad nauseam, and add nothing new or of interest to the conversation. This is certainly not the first time this has been allowed to happen, but I hope it will be the last. The SSJs are better than that!