Austrian seminary in porn scandal closed

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Austrian seminary rocked by porn scandal closed

August 12, 2004
The Vatican on Thursday shut down a seminary in Austria where investigators found thousands of pictures of students and instructors kissing and fondling.
Authorities reported finding about 40,000 photos and a large number of videos on computers at the seminary in the diocese of St. Poelten, about 80 kilometres west of Vienna. Some of the material included child pornography.

When some of the pictures appeared in Austrian media, Pope John Paul II responded to the public uproar by sending in Bishop Klaus Kueng three weeks ago as an "apostolic visitor" to contain the scandal.

Kueng told reporters on Thursday that he was closing the seminary immediately to make way for "a new beginning." He has said he would restore credibility to the church.

The evidence of "active homosexual relationships" he found at the seminary was "very painful," said Kueng.

The church ordered local Bishop Kurt Krenn to stop speaking to the media after he tried to play down the scandal by describing the photos of priests kissing and fondling as "childish pranks."

Prosecutors have charged a 27-year-old Polish seminary student with possessing and distributing child pornography, which could bring two years in prison.

Kueng said church leaders hadn't paid enough attention to the procedures for selecting seminary students.

There were 36 students at the seminary at the start of the summer. Two have left. If the others wish to return when it opens again, they will have to undergo a new screening process.

Kueng gave no indication how long the seminary would be shut.

The last time a Pope sent an emissary to Austria was in 1998, when Austrian cardinal Hans Hermann Groer was accused of molesting young boys.

The findings of the investigation were never made public, but Groer gave up all his church duties and left the country.
[link to www.cbc.ca]

Seminary shut over porn scandal
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