In the last number of the magazine of the archdiocese of Vienna, “Thema Kirche”, Cardinal Franz König, former archbishop of the Austrian capital, and Bishop emeritus Helmut Krätzl look back at their careers in the Church. König, a bishop for half a century, recalls among other things the experience of taking part in Vatican Council II. Stressing that the episcopal ministry derives its origin from the mandate given by Jesus to the apostles, he declares: “The practical experience in the care of souls is very important for a bishop”. The episcopal service is in fact a “priestly and pastoral service”, to which is added in particular “the care of parish communities and their pastors”. In this regard König notes: “I have always made a particular effort to support the multiplicity of priestly life, without jeopardizing the unity of the diocesan community”. Bishop Krätzl, a priest for over 50 years and a bishop for 25, recalls that he began his own service in a Church “very proud and sure of itself”, but one that has become in more recent decades “far more modest, often almost mortified”, nonetheless a Church that finds a “new, more profound sense of joy” in itself.
