A dramatic step toward reform

National Catholic Reporter, Nov 6, 1998 by John L. Jr. Allen

Dialogue for Austria brings disparate elements together to voice `desires of the heart of the church'

Catholics gathered here in a special national assembly voted in overwhelming numbers for what amounts to a sea change in their church. Though their focus was on Austria, the decisions made over these four days, Oct. 23-26 -- and the process by which they were reached -- are likely to reverberate around the world.

Majorities surpassing three-quarters of the 260 or so delegates -- drawn from all walks of life and all regions of the country -- endorsed ordination for married men, freedom for couples to choose which method of birth control is right for them and allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the sacraments.

They also supported acceptance of premarital living arrangements and a more positive view of sex generally, the right of parish councils to make final decisions without a priest's blessing, a greater local role in selecting bishops and an end to the condemnation of homosexuality. They voted for ordaining women as deacons but did not address the question of female priests.

According to observers in Salzburg, the Dialogue for Austria was apparently the first time anywhere in the world that a bishops' conference has convened a national assembly of Catholics to debate church policies and then put those policies to a vote -- though similar events have taken place in some European dioceses. While the results carry no canonical force, they were widely interpreted in the Austrian press as dramatic evidence of the depth and breadth of support for reform.

Equally significant, many observers said, is that all factions of the Austrian church -- from the far right Neocatechumenate movement to We Are Church, the leading progressive reform group -- were official participants in the dialogue.

Delegates in Salzburg also adopted an aggressive social justice platform, calling for a strengthened safety net for all Austrians, legal protection of Sunday as a national day of rest from work, recognition of a "human right to work" and more compassionate policies for refugees and immigrants.

The results fell short of a complete endorsement of the 1995 petition drive demanding change in the church, the "Kirchenvolks-begehren" or "people's movement in the church," which garnered a half-million signatures. A stronger statement on optional celibacy, more in keeping with the petition, made it out of committee only as a minority report and thus did not come up for a vote.

There was no vote for admitting women to the priesthood. A statement that discussion on the subject should continue was endorsed by one of the working groups but did not come up for a floor Vote. Spokespersons for We Are Church vowed in its final news conference to continue to press the issue.

Still, 11 of the 12 subpoints in the 1995 petition were endorsed in some form by the assembly. We Are Church members were clearly buoyed by the outcome. "I do not want to claim this as a success for us alone," said Thomas Plankensteiner, the chief spokesperson for the group, in his concluding address to the delegates. "It is a success for the entire church.

"What has become clear is that we are not talking here about the demands of a radical fringe, but the desires of the heart of the church." The loudest ovation of the weekend washed over Plankensteiner as he finished.

"This is no longer our petition," Plankensteiner later said to the press. "It is now Austria's petition, and I hope it will become our bishops' petition. Some are already in our favor."

Many Austrians on the pastoral front lines were also clearly elated. One pastor sought out NCR to say through a translator, "I have already been doing many of these things, you know. But now I won't have to do it with my head down."

Despite such claims, much remains unresolved in the wake of these four days. First and foremost is what the Austrian bishops will do with the enormous mandate for change that has been dropped in their laps. On that point, fissures were clear the last day of the conference, with progressive bishops underscoring the call for change, and conservatives claiming that no action can be taken that Contradicts the magisterium.

Bishops to visit Rome

The next flash point is likely to be the Austrian bishops' ad limina visit to Rome beginning Nov. 16. The bishops agreed in advance of the Dialogue for Austria to take the results with them, but some asserted from the floor that they could not carry a message that ran contrary to the pope's teaching.

Also unclear is the question of whether the Dialogue for Austria was a one-shot affair or whether it will be repeated on some sort of regular basis, similar to a synod. More than three-quarters of the delegates here voted for another assembly in three years, but the bishops were noncommittal.

In what many people suggested was the understatement of the weekend, on Friday, the opening day of the conference, the Austrian nuncio read a letter to the delegates from Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state, who said the pope was looking on the Dialogue for Austria "with great interest."