Feldkirch Bishop Elmar Fischer issued an apology for his statement that homosexuality could be cured.The bishop had made the claim during an interview on ORF Radio Vorarlberg.
Fischer said: "It was certainly not my intention to harm anyone. The ability to form relationships in today’s society is of great importance. That in turn requires values anchored in faith. On those grounds, I apologise for my comments yesterday."
During the radio interview, Fischer, a trained psychotherapist, compared homosexuality to alcoholism or an anxiety neurosis. He said there was literature that made that claim, so why not believe it. He added alcoholism, a psychic illness, could also be cured.
The bishop said he didn’t understand why some people maintained homosexuality was an alternative form of sexuality.
Homosexuals, as well as all other people suffering from psychic disorders, should not be excluded from the Roman Catholic Church, Fischer said.
The bishop said he didn’t know Gerhard Maria Wagner, the Linz auxiliary bishop-designate, but had been told he took his priestly responsibilities seriously.
Wagner sought to convey genuine faith and to combat the loss of values in society, Fischer said, and no one should get excited about him before he had become auxiliary bishop.
Wagner has been in the news lately owing to a number of controversial public statements. He has called the Harry Potter book series an invitation to devil worship and implied natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the Southeast Asian tsunami were God's punishments for human sin.
The concern of many Catholics about Wagner’s nomination as auxiliary bishop of Linz hasn’t led to a significant exodus from the Church in Vorarlberg but has done so in Upper Austria.
The number of Roman Catholics leaving the Church there has soared in the last week.
ORF Radio Upper Austria reported 110 Catholics had left the Church in the Linz diocese last week, four times the number who did so in the same week last year, and said an official of the Linz diocese had commented the number had been "unusually high".
The official added many Catholics had sent his office emails in which they said the Wagner’s nomination as auxiliary bishop of the diocese was the reason for their departure from the Church.
Many people had also criticised Pope Benedict XVI for his rehabilitation of bishops in the Pius X Brotherhood in their emails, the official said.
Wagner has been in the news recently for a number of controversial public comments. He has charged the Harry Potter book series constitutes an invitation to devil worship.
He has also implied various natural disasters, such the 2004 tsunami in Southeastern Asia and 2005 Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, were God’s punishments for human sin.
Vienna Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, however, has defended Wagner.
Schönborn said in his column in last Friday's edition of the free Vienna newspaper "Heute" that Wagner had been running his parish in Windischgarsten in Upper Austria in an "outstanding" manner and his parishioners were pleased with him.
Wagner will be ordained auxiliary bishop on 22 March at Linz’ "Mariadom" (Mary’s Cathedral). +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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(Source: AT)