Schönborn was able to explain that there was a distinction between the refugees in 2015 and the Ukrainians today. In principle, all refugees are human beings and should be regarded as such, but the situation in 2015 was different. “You can’t compare that with the current situation. Back then, a lot of young men came, now it’s mothers with children. It’s a different situation,” says Schönborn. In addition, in 2015 the mood changed over time. He hopes that this time the wave of refugees will not be so great that the mood will change.
Schönborn strongly condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine. “It’s unbelievable. It’s a war of aggression.” He wonders why the free world didn’t react more strongly after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. It is tragic that weapons have to be delivered to stop the aggression. Whether there is another way, he could not judge. “But I welcome any initiative that goes in the direction of peace.” In any case, he sees a great imbalance and injustice. Ukraine is in a state of self-defense and must defend itself and the West must support it.
This also applies to neutral Austria. Neutrality does not mean moral neutrality. “There can be no neutrality towards need.” As long as Russia is not ready for peace negotiations, Ukraine must defend itself. “That is legitimate and Ukraine needs the solidarity of the western world.” Russian aggression cannot be tolerated.
Schönborn has no understanding for the Russian Orthodox Church’s support for President Vladimir Putin. This symbiosis should not exist. However, he emphasized that the Austrian church wanted to maintain a basis for discussion with the Russian church and was trying to enter into dialogue. So far, however, this has not been successful. It is to be welcomed that the Pope has also sought dialogue with the head of the Russian Church. Moscow’s Orthodox Patriarch Cyril I is a close ally of Putin.
Schönborn was very upset about the “constant nagging” of the Austrians about the Corona measures and the corresponding government management. It is not the government that is zigzagging, but the virus. The Austrians should be aware of “how well they are doing”. It is quite normal that there are different political opinions on how to deal with the pandemic. It’s like that all over the world. Nobody knows the absolute truth.
When asked about how the church deals with homosexuality and queer culture, Schönborn pointed out that in 2017, together with activist Gery Keszler, he organized a cross-denominational memorial service in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna on World AIDS Day for the first time. At that time, the approximately 36 million AIDS deaths were commemorated. Due to the time, Schönborn only briefly addressed the female priesthood and celibacy as other “hot topics” in the church reform debate. The ordination of women is a question that is deeply rooted in the history of the church, which is posed for the world church as a whole and where “something has started to move”. Just the day before, together with the vicar general of the Catholic Eastern Churches in Austria, the married priest Yuryi Kolasa, he blessed ten ambulances that will be transferred to Ukraine in the coming days.