Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Austria turned 67 in 2012. He is one of the most liberal Cardinals in the Church. He is from Europe, and is from a family of nobility. He is not papabile for several reasons: too young, too European, too liberal. And the election of a Pope who is from a noble family is not the message that the Cardinals would like to send to the world. They do not want to say to the world that the Pope is a monarch or a prince or a lord over them, but rather that he is the Servant of servants.

Moreover, the Cardinal committed grave sins by approving of the election of a practicing homosexual, Florian Stangl, to a parish council, over the objections of the parish priest, Father Gerhard. Stangl was a 26-year-old social worker, openly living with another man in a civil union (termed “a legal registered partnership” under Austrian law).

Cardinal Schönborn, archbishop of the Vienna diocese, met with Florian Stangl and his homosexual lover. They had lunch together. The Cardinal declined to meet with, or talk to Fr. Gerhard. After the lunch with Stangl, the Cardinal approved of his election to the parish council.

There are several grave problems with the Cardinal’s decision:

1. grave scandal to the faithful
2. the harm to the diocese, by in effect setting a precedent that the other priests must follow
3. the implied rejection of Canons 915 and 916 (on who may receive Communion)
4. the harm to the Church as a whole
5. grave doctrinal error

More in my previous post:
Cardinal Schönborn’s grave sin of scandal

In my view, it does not matter how many Cardinals have a favorable opinion of a candidate for Pope. The Holy Spirit will not permit a wolf in sheep’s clothing, like Cardinal Schönborn, to become the Vicar of Christ and the head of the Church on earth.

by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and
translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.