‘Pachamama’ snatcher to lead protest against LGBT concert

VIENNA, Austria, November 29, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) ― A group of Catholics headed by the young Austrian who threw "Pachamama" idols in the Tiber river will pray the rosary outside Vienna’s Catholic cathedral tomorrow in reparation for a pro-LBGT concert that will be held within.

Alexander Tschugguel, one of the founders of the St. Boniface Institute, has announced that the group will hold a rosary tomorrow night outside St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna.

"On Saturday, November 30th, that is, tomorrow, we will gather at 22:15 in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral to pray a rosary for all the people who are attending an event unacceptable to us Catholics inside the Cathedral,” Tschugguel wrote on Facebook this afternoon.

"'Believe Together' is part of a series of events organized by Gery Keszler and his association ‘LIFE +’,” he continued.

“Among other things, Thomas Neuwirth [aka drag queen ‘Conchita Wurst’] will perform under his new pseudonym ‘WURST’ and sing in the cathedral itself.”

READ: Vienna Cardinal Schönborn to host ‘blasphemous’ pro-LGBT benefit concert in Cathedral again

Tschugguel told LifeSiteNews that he isn’t worried about being attacked by the audience or being charged with trespassing as the group will be outside the cathedral in the Stephansplatz (cathedral square). Anyone entering the Cathedral on Saturday evening will have to buy a ticket, which also rankles the St. Boniface Institute: they are opposed to people having to pay to visit the Cathedral.

The young married layman said that St. Stephan’s Cathedral is very important to him personally.

“When I go into the city and I pass the Cathedral, I often go inside and pray there because there is a wonderful Hungarian pilgrimage picture [the Máriapócs icon] on the right-hand side,” he said.

“On the right side there is also a chapel where you can go at any time for Adoration, and a confession area which is always filled with priests, very good priests, to hear confessions.”

Tschugguel explained that the Cathedral is a “wonderful place to pray” also because tourists are kept to a small area, leaving the rest of the building free for those who appreciate it for its sacred role.

“It is terrible and a shame that things like this event ‘Believe Together’ can happen in our cathedral, and we will pray for the people who go inside to see and join this happening, “ he said.

The St. Boniface Institute will be live streaming the rosary.

This will be Tschugguel’s second public action against the desecration of Catholic churches by profane events permitted by Catholic clergy. In October, idols representing the Andean goddess Pachamama were used in ceremonies before and during the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region in Rome. Tschugguel visited Rome and saw the idols enshrined in the Carmelite Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina. He later returned with a friend to remove the profane statuettes and cast them into the Tiber.

Reaction to Tschugguel’s action was mixed, with some pundits accusing him of racism and others, including such prelates as Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, Bishop José Luis Azcona Hermoso, Bishop Marian Eleganti, and Bishop Athanasius Schneider, offering him high praise. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò called Tschugguel “a hero.”

Tomorrow’s event in St. Stephen’s Cathedral is the third time Vienna’s Cardinal Archbishop has allowed the pro-LGBT “LIFE+” association to use the church as a venue for the World AIDS Day charity concert that will take place on Saturday, Nov. 30.

The event last year, which Cardinal Schönborn attended, featured a shirtless actor known for playing homosexual roles standing on the altar rail, loud rock and electronic music, and actors dressed as demons.

A young Austrian man who spoke to LifeSiteNews under condition of anonymity said that although raising funds for HIV prevention is good and worthy of being supported by the Church, organizing an event with people opposed to Catholicism sends a bad message.

“Organizing an event with people who openly oppose the Church's moral teachings on nearly everything (contraception, family, sex, homosexuality, etc.) and furthermore hosting such an event in one of the most important churches in the German-speaking world sends the wrong signals to the faithful,” he wrote via social media.

“It waters down the doctrine of faith and weakens the position of our Church on such matters. It says, 'It is not totally bad what you are doing'.”

This year, Austria’s infamous drag queen “Conchita Wurst,” is one of a number of performers scheduled to appear at the “Believe Together” fundraiser in Vienna’s 14th-century mother church. The cathedral show, titled “The Yearning for the Angels…,” will be the main event among 15 being held across Vienna on November 30 to raise money for AIDS relief projects.

The organizer of the event, homosexual activist Gery Keszler, thanked the cardinal when he announced the show.

“The Yearning for the Angels…” is being co-sponsored by the Knights of Malta of Austria.

Contact information for respectful communications:

Cardinal Schönborn's secretary Dr. Hubert Philipp Weber
Email: ebs@edw.or.at