Salzburg's Archbishop: Christ was Not High Priest, But "A Layman"?
(Vienna)
On the occasion of the re-division of the diocesan boundaries in Tirol
50 years ago, the ORF invited the bishops of the old county of Tyrol to
"talk." 50 years before 1964, the Catholic Church drew
boundaries as a consequence of the the end of World War to divide
the former Austrian crown land at the Inn and Etsch valleys. Archbishop Lackner made Jesus a layman in the question of the shortage of priests.
In 1964, the diocesan borders were adapted to the new international
boundaries and administrative units. From the remaining portion of the
Diocese of Brixen in Austria was the new diocese of Innsbruck. The old
Diocese of Brixen was extended from the so-called German share of the
diocese of Trent and renamed the Diocese of Bozen-Brixen. The reduced
diocese of Trent was elevated to an archdiocese. The Bishopric of Trent
and the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone [Bozen-Brixen] have been subject
since 1921 directly to the Pope. Trent has no suffragan dioceses and
Bolzano-Bressanone belongs to a Metropolitan Province. The new diocese
of Innsbruck, however, is suffragan of Salzburg, as was the Diocese of
Brixen since 798.
Bishop Discussion: 50 years of Diocesan Separation in Tirol
In the ORF regional studios in Tirol, the archbishops Franz Lackner
(Salzburg) and Luigi Bressan (Trent) and Bishops Ivo Muser
(Bolzano-Bressanone) and Manfred Scheuer (Innsbruck), met to look back
at the past 50 years and attempt an outlook for the future.
"We are in a situation of massive radical change and transition and
there arises the question: who puts his life, even his profession in the
service of God and man? (...) We need pastors, priests, religious,
religion teachers, pastoral assistance," said the Bishop Manfred
Scheuer of Innsbruck, reigning since 2003 and pleaded for an "option
for the youth."
"The gospel is and remains unrivaled back then and now," said the
Bishop of Brixen, Ivo Muser, reigning in his diocese since 2001. "Faith
should not be imposed but must be made alive visible."
"Everyone is called to be Church and participate in the pastoral care"
said Bishop Muser to Orf again: "For all the importance of the priestly
ministry, it is important that we do not just fix pastoral care on the
priest alone. We are all called to be Church, to do our part. Each with
their own skills, each with their own skills and potential."
A topic of conversation was the shortage of priests. The responses of
the bishops remained superficial and concentrated to emphasize the role
of the laity. With the devaluation of the priesthood and appreciation of
the laity, the new Archbishop of Salzburg went the furthest.
The new archbishop of Salzburg, the Franciscan Franz Lackner, reigning since January 12, 2014, said,
"The Future of the Church" will include fewer priests, but that "the
laity can take on important and responsible positions in the
Church." These tasks should not belittle you, Lackner said. "We have
forgotten that Jesus was a layman."
The statement of the Archbishop is on the website of
the Archdiocese of Salzburg was taken and distributed without
supplementing and amending. Even Martin Luther was clear that Jesus
Christ is the true High Priest who knew him as it was known in the Old
Testament for the Temple of Jerusalem. More recent Protestant splits
like the New Apostolic Church, emphasize the position of Christ as High
Priest. However, the Catholic Archbishop of Salzburg and Primas
Germaniae holds Jesus Christ for a layman?
An archbishop who presents Jesus as a layman? Son of God, who is under
the priesthood? Jesus Christ is not just a high priest par excellence,
who gave the Eucharist and the priesthood? Is Jesus not as God
incarnate, from whom all ordination offices pass through the setting up
of Peter and his primacy? No succession, which ranges from Christ to
Peter to every bishop since then, until the last priest? What would
this succession be if Jesus Christ had been merely a "layman"?
Salzburg, like all old diocese, selects three candidates from its chapter for new archbishop to be chosen by the Holy See.
Lackner: "We have Forgotten that Jesus was a Layman."
Lackner is more more likely a laymen. He is probably doubting his Novus Ordo ordination and consecration.
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