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Cardinal Christoph Schönborn was bid farewell after almost 30 years as Archbishop of Vienna at a thanksgiving service in St. Stephen’s Cathedral on Saturday. He was honoured by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen as “Pontifex austriacus”. In his sermon, Schönborn appealed to “have a heart for refugees” and emphasized “the good coexistence of religions” in Austria. Schönborn will turn 80 on January 22, when the Pope is expected to finally accept his resignation.
Around 3,000 people attended the service in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, including Van der Bellen, who celebrated his 81st birthday on Saturday, and Federal Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP). The two provincial governors, Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) and Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP) were present as representatives of the two provinces, which are united in the Archdiocese of Vienna. The ceremony was also broadcast live in the Dominican and Jesuit churches and on ORF.
Heart for refugees “is part of humanity”
In his sermon, Schönborn recalled that he himself had come to Austria as a refugee in 1945 as a small child. This then became his home. “I see with gratitude how year after year people—like me back then—find security, work, and often a new life here.” They enrich the country—certainly not without tension—and help shape its future. A look at the demographics of Austria and Europe should make it clear that this will be no different in the future. Living in peace should not be taken for granted. “Having a heart for refugees is part of humanity. It can also become our destiny.”
There was praise for the religious legislation in Austria, which enables religions to live well together. People’s knowledge of other religions disillusioned him, but also their own. “We are approaching widespread religious illiteracy.” Nevertheless, he was confident that religious illiteracy could also be an opportunity for a new search for meaning and a discovery of faith.
Schönborn hopes for “goodwill”
Schönborn concluded by expressing his “greatest wish”: “Mutual goodwill should never be lost, even if we have conflicts with each other.” If it is true that God is “love—then he can only be goodwill.” When people ask where God is in the face of so much hardship, suffering, and hatred? “He is in the goodwill we give each other.”
Despite differing views on some issues, Van der Bellen noted a good relationship between the two separate institutions of church and state. It was not a matter of course that he, as Federal President and a Protestant, was allowed to speak at Schönborn’s farewell service. He recalled the “Groer affair” about abuse in the Catholic Church, which marked the beginning of Schönborn’s term of office.
With the establishment of the Archdiocese of Vienna’s ombudsman’s office for victims of sexual abuse in the Church and later the Independent Victim Protection Commission under Waltraud Klasnic, Schönborn had carried out pioneering work within the Church worldwide and symbolically guided the ship of the Church into calmer waters. In a recent interview, Schönborn said that people with the quality of a handshake are those who seek to talk to each other. Schönborn is precisely such a person, namely a “bridge builder.” “Pontifex Austriacus would be a fitting name.”
“Thank you very much, Your Eminence!”
On the occasion of Schönborn’s farewell, numerous associations and institutions paid tribute to the archbishop—above all, the chairman of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Franz Lackner. “On the threshold of the 21st century, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn has played a decisive role in determining and shaping all the major developments and all the course set by the Church in Austria and also in the world,” it said in a statement to Kathpress. “Thank you, Your Eminence! We all wish you the rich blessings of heaven and all the best for the coming years!” Lackner took over the presidency of the Bishops’ Conference from Schönborn in 2020.
In a press release, Mikl-Leitner called Schönborn a “partner with handshake quality” in the implementation of numerous projects for the preservation of churches and monasteries in Lower Austria, as well as an “outstanding pastor.”
According to Kathpress, Schönborn will commute between the convent of the Sisters of the Lamb in Vienna-Brigittenau and Retz, where there used to be a Dominican convent and where he has an apartment.
- source: APA/picture: kathpress.at
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