Pope Leo appoints priest who expressed support for ‘women’s ordination’ as archbishop of Vienna

[Stone]

Leo XIV Appoints Vienna Archbishop Who Called [for] Disobedience. And: "Why Should Women Not Kiss the Altar?"

gloria.tv | October 17, 2025

Rev Josef Grünwidl, 62, is the next Archbishop of Vienna, multiple Austrian outlets report today. He is expected to be officially announced by Pope Leo XIV within the next few days. He was a member of the notorious 'Priests' Initiative' that luanched in 2011 a "Call to Disobedience" to Church laws.

Pictured is Grünwidl at an outdoor school Eucharist in 2023.


Early life and ministry

Josef Grünwidl was born on 31 January 1963 in Hollabrunn, Lower Austria. Originally dreaming of becoming a musician, he studied organ before discerning a vocation to the priesthood. He was ordained a priest on 29 June 1988 in St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, by Cardinal Franz König.

From 1995 to 1998, he served as personal secretary to Archbishop Christoph Schönborn.


The 'Invasion of Doves'

For Pentecost in 2019, Rev Grünwidl created an installation in the parish church of Perchtoldsdorf that resembled something a child might create.

He filled the large Gothic church with over a thousand white paper doves suspended from the ceiling, describing it as "a sign that the Spirit cannot be domesticated".


Recent Roles

In 2023, Cardinal Schönborn appointed him Episcopal Vicar for the Southern Vicariate of the Archdiocese of Vienna.

Following Schönborn's resignation in January 2025, Pope Francis appointed Grünwidl as Apostolic Administrator.

He has often remarked that he prefers being a parish priest to being an archbishop.


Calling for Disobedience to Church Law

As the parish priest of Kirchberg am Wechsel, Josef Grünwidl joined the anti-Catholic 'Pfarrerinitiative' (Priests' Initiative). In 2011, the initiative launched a 'Call to Disobedience'. They declared to disobey Church law by allowing women to preach and lead liturgies. Furthermore, they announced to hand Holy Communion to adulterers.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn reprimanded Grünwidl for his involvement with the initiative.


Wants of Married Priests

In several interviews in 2025, Rev Grünwidl has criticised celibacy. "The celibate way of life will always have its place in the Church, but it should be voluntary, not obligatory. That would be my approach to this issue."

During an interview on 19 April, he expressed agreement with the then newly appointed Auxiliary Bishop Johannes Freitag of Graz [whose secretary lives in a homosexual 'marriage']. "I do not see why it should be necessary to live celibately in order to be a priest," Grünwidl said. Orthodox and Protestant communities demonstrate that it is entirely possible to carry out pastoral ministry with a family.

On 6 October, he reiterated: "Celibacy should not be a prerequisite for the priesthood but rather a freely chosen spiritual way of life."


He also Favors Female Ordination

Regarding the ordination of women, Grünwidl has said that "the discussion about the female diaconate must not be suppressed".

He has also expressed sympathy for proposals to include women in the College of Cardinals.

In his homily at St Stephen’s Cathedral on 26 September for, Grünwidl concluded by reading a poem by Andreas Knapp to highlight the question of women’s roles in the Church.

If a woman has given birth to the eternal Word of God,
Why should she not proclaim that Word from the pulpit?
If a woman kissed the feet of Jesus,
Why should women not be able to kiss the altar?
If a woman went before the disciples as an apostle,
why should they not also be called to follow in the apostolic ministry?


Music, Nature and 'Hours in a Chapel'

Grünwidl said that music and experiences of nature are "a way to God" for him. He added, "The number of pilgrimages I make or the number of hours I spend in a chapel does not show whether I am a spiritual person."


Support from the Wrong Side

Anti-Catholic Viennese theologians Rev. Paul Zulehner (85) and Regina Polak applauded the expected appointment of Grünwidl today.

In 2016, Grünwidl's praiser Polak wrote: 'The idea of God becoming human is heretical — a belief that differs from what is attested in the Bible. Neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament mentions God becoming human."