CNA Staff, Jun 16, 2020 / 06:00 am
Austria's bishops elected a new president Tuesday, ending Cardinal Christoph Schönborn's 22-year term at the helm of the country's bishops' conference.
In a vote June 16, the bishops chose Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg as their new leader. The 63-year-old Franciscan succeeds Schönborn, who turned 75 in January.
They also elected Bishop Manfred Scheuer of Linz as vice-president of the conference. The 64-year-old will take over the role from Lackner, who served in the position for five years.
Lackner was elected vice-president of the Austrian bishops' conference in 2015. He chaired the bishops' liturgical commission, which garnered attention for commissioning a recent book that argues the blessing of homosexual unions could be "celebrated" in Catholic churches, an act that would run contrary to Catholic teaching on marriage, sexuality, and the family.