Austrian bishops’ conference president Archbishop Franz Lackner announced Thursday that in future the post of general secretary would be open to lay men and women.
Speaking at a Nov. 12 press conference in Salzburg, Lackner said Austria’s bishops had agreed to revise the conference’s statutes, which currently require the general secretary to be a priest or bishop. The revision will require Vatican approval.
The bishops faced pressure to make the change after longtime general secretary Fr. Peter Schipka announced Sept. 14 that he was stepping down to serve as a professor of education.
The Austrian Catholic Women’s Movement, the country’s largest Catholic women’s organization, called Sept. 15 for the statutes of the Austrian bishops’ conference to be amended so the office can also be held by a lay person.
The bishops elected Fr. Simon Weyringer as Schipka’s successor at their Nov. 9-12 plenary meeting in Salzburg, in accordance with the current statutes.
Weyringer is chairman of the priests’ council and a member of the synodal team in the Archdiocese of Salzburg, which is led by Lackner. The 46-year-old teaches biblical studies at the University of Salzburg and Hochschule Heiligenkreuz.
Speaking at the press conference, Weyringer said he would retain his current posts, but likely in reduced form because of the additional workload from serving as general secretary.