Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen honored Cardinal Christoph Schönborn as a bridge builder in religion, society and politics. In his speech at the end of the thanksgiving service on Saturday in St. Stephen’s Cathedral with and for the Archbishop of Vienna, the head of state described the almost 80-year-old cardinal as “Pontifex Austriacus”, triggering spontaneous applause. Van der Bellen literally: “You are a man of listening, a man of dialogue, a man of peace.”
Schönborn’s 30-year work as Archbishop of Vienna was an “impressive period of time,” said the Federal President, emphasizing the good relationship between state and church. “Whenever necessary, you stood on the side of the weak, the excluded, the disadvantaged. Not always to the delight of the powerful,” said Van der Bellen.
Crises and initiatives
“Your taking office was certainly not an easy one,” said the head of state, recalling the year 1995 and the “Groer affair,” which put a heavy burden on the church and society at the time. In 1996, as Archbishop of Vienna, Schönborn did “pioneering work within the church worldwide” with the establishment of an “ombudsman’s office of the Archdiocese of Vienna for victims of sexual abuse in the church” and later in 2010 as the initiator of the Independent Victim Protection Commission with Waltraud Klasnic at its head. Van der Bellen sums up: “Overall, through your work, you ultimately led the nave from rough waters to calmer seas.”
The Federal President expressly mentioned Schönborn’s initiatives in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue and recalled the visit of the Vienna Cardinal to Iran in 2001 or the general assembly of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference under Schönborn’s chairmanship in Israel in 2007.
“The pastoral highlights of your time as cardinal were certainly the two papal visits: John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI in 2007,” said the Federal President, who continued: “You set a European accent in 2004 with the Central European Catholic Day in Mariazell.” He expressed his joy at the final overcoming of the “Iron Curtain” and the successful unification of Europe through the EU’s eastward expansion. This political message was underlined by the presence of the then EU Commission President Romano Prodi and the presence of presidents of participating countries.
Charity and faith
Cardinal Schönborn has always stood up for people who are on the margins. “According to the values of the Gospel: compassion, charity, care for the poor, care for those in need,” said the Federal President, who recalled that the Archbishop of Vienna himself had taken in refugees and had repeatedly supported asylum seekers. “And in 2017 you remembered the AIDS victims in a service here in the cathedral and made a passionate plea against the stigmatization of people with HIV/AIDS.”
“Whenever you listen to you, you can feel that you are a man of faith,” confessed the Federal President and said: “As a great communicator, you happily pass on your faith.” In addition, as a theologian, the cardinal is an internationally highly respected intellectual.
(Free press photos from the Archdiocese of Vienna from the thanksgiving service at: https://www.picdrop.com/erzdioezesewien/LD6uZcWcaz)
(Further reports and background information in the Kathpress topic package at: https://www.kathpress.at/schoenborn-80)
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