The owner of a forest in Styria wants to ban priests from passing through his estate as they pilgrim to a world-famous church.
Josef Rothwangl erected signs which warn hikers that his forest was a "children protection area," it was reported today (Weds).
Josef Rothwangl erected signs which warn hikers that his forest was a "children protection area," it was reported today (Weds).
He explained
the information should ensure parish priests do not pick the route
leading through his estate on their way to Mariazell. The town’s
basilica is Austria’s most important pilgrimage site. Tens of thousands
of people from all over the world visit the church every year.
Rothwangl said the restrictions at his woodland would only come into effect when clergymen plan to walk through it with a group of children. He said groups including parents of hiking kids were allowed to enter.
The forestry estate owner said his initiative should make aware of the high number of sexual and physical abuse cases at Catholic boarding schools and other clerical institutions. Hundreds of victims have come forward in the past two years to report what had happened to them since the end of World War Two (WWII).
Viennese Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn established a committee to deal with requests for financial compensation last year.
Rothwangl said the restrictions at his woodland would only come into effect when clergymen plan to walk through it with a group of children. He said groups including parents of hiking kids were allowed to enter.
The forestry estate owner said his initiative should make aware of the high number of sexual and physical abuse cases at Catholic boarding schools and other clerical institutions. Hundreds of victims have come forward in the past two years to report what had happened to them since the end of World War Two (WWII).
Viennese Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn established a committee to deal with requests for financial compensation last year.
The panel – which is still examining the
hundreds of notifications by victims – is headed by former Styrian
People’s Party (ÖVP) Waltraud Klasnic – to the fury of independent
victims rights groups.
They have claimed Klasnic is unlikely to act
unbiased due to her long-term links to the Austrian Roman Catholic
Church.
Rothwangl has acted as spokesman for one of the critical associations.
Rothwangl has acted as spokesman for one of the critical associations.
The woodland owner said he is a victim of abuse by
clergymen himself.
Juridical experts expressed doubts whether there was a
legal basis for his disputed attempt to ban priests from hiking through
his forest.