When the Arab Spring erupted in Tunisia and Egypt six months ago, it almost coincided with a theologians’ revolt in the German-speaking countries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. There have been further reports of groups of Catholic priests organizing for reform, or making statements of protest against church actions, in other contexts, too. In Ireland, there is an outspoken group of priests pushing for church reform in the wake of the Irish sexual abuse crisis; in Spain, another group of priests protested publicly against the high cost of the papal visit to Madrid; in Germany, a conservative group signed a letter of protest against the proposed publication of church records on German sexual abuse - and in Austria, a “Priests’ Initiative” of about 3oo priests called on their colleagues to actively disobey the ecclesiastical authorities.

After Pope Benedict’s visit to Spain, this group has been in the news again, with the pertinent observation that Benedict’s appeal for “more honesty“ made to the world’s youth in Madrid does not square with the Church’s own internal practice.

Initiative supporters are demanding that parishes openly expose all things forbidden by the Church hierarchy, thus putting a stop to hypocrisy and allowing authenticity of belief and community life to emerge. The appeal for “more honesty“ made to the world’s youth by Pope Benedict XVI in Madrid last week left a sour taste in many mouths in Austria, where some say that honesty is a quality the Church hierarchy has more of a tendency to punish than reward.

-Worldcrunch

It also does not square with the obvious and acute shortage of priests in many parts of the world, or with the well-known desire by many bishops to open up ordination to married men, and possibly even to women. Yet the church authorities are obdurate, which in practice is simply encouraging hypocrisy.

Particularly affected are some 700 members of an association called “Priesterohne Amt” – loosely, priests without a job – who have a wife and children that they stand by, but wish in vain to practice their ministry. Priests who break ties with loved ones, on the other hand, are allowed to continue working.

-Worldcrunch

The reflexive response by the oligarchs, as always, is to simply insist on obedience and to threaten excommunication. This week, Libyan freedom fighters are on the verge of finally extinguishing the long dictatorship of Muamar Gaddafi, in another illustration that it is no longer possible to resist a popular movement for reform simply by clamping down on dissent. One after another, the tyrants of the Arab world have been forced to seek accommodation with the reformists - or been overthrown. When will the tyrants of the Vatican learn the obvious lesson?

In Maryland this week, Catholics for Marriage Equality issued a press release stating that Bishop is “out of step with Catholic opinion”. We know from abundant research evidence that this statement applies equally to Catholics in other parts of the world, on many more matters than just marriage equality. In Austria, a poll on responses to the Priests’ Initiative found strong public support.

A drive for reform by Austrian priests, urging the ordination of women and an end to celibacy, is meeting with widespread support, according to a new survey published Monday.

A total 71.7 percent of Austrians found the initiative “fair and adequate,” with 64.7 percent saying they would even sign a “call for insurbodination” launched in June, according to the Oekonsult polling institute.

The so-called “Priests’ Initiative,” signed by at least 200 clergymen, wants women and married individuals to be allowed to be ordained as priests, an end to the celibacy rule and the right for laymen to preach.

Members of other Christian faiths and anyone who has divorced and remarried should also have the right to communion, it says.

- AFP.

Although Austrian Catholics did not necessarily agree with each of the specific demands, they did sympathise strongly with their right to speak up and voice their opinion.

That for me, is the real tragedy of the Vatican intransigence - not just the odd belief that only celibate heterosexual men are suitable for priestly ministry (unless they serve in the Eastern rite, or have previously served in another denomination) - but their absolute refusal even to discuss it. This is why the leaders of the Initiative believe that only open rebellion (just as in the Arab countries), only outright rebellion will do.

According to initiative founder Schüller, only openly disobedient priests and joint pressure from priests and laity alike can force the hierarchy to budge. Although the problems have been out there for decades, he says, the Church keeps putting off doing anything about them. Cardinal Schönborn stated that the critics would have to “give some thought to their path in the Church” or face unavoidable consequences. On the other hand, Anton Zulehner, a priest who is one of the most respected pastoral theologians in Austria, believes that this time the Church is not going to get away with diversionary tactics.

I suspect that he is right.

(The original source for this is in German at Sueddeutsche Zeitung. I saw an English summary of it on the net last week, but struggled with the German of the full text. I have now found an excellent English translation at Worldcrunch, a new global-news site that translates stories of note in foreign languages into English. This should become an excellent resource for those of us who would like more than a narrow, Anglo perspective on trends in the modern world).

Read the original article in German

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