Seminary’s computers filled with child porn

VIENNA, Austria – Austria’s Roman Catholic Church is scrambling to contain a widening sex scandal after it emerged that police had seized what one magazine described as tens of thousands of pornographic photographs from a local seminary.

The photos, found on seminary computers, allegedly depict child pornography and seminary priests engaged in sexual acts with students.

Local media have published photos showing the seminary director and his deputy kissing and fondling seminarians. Both men have since resigned.

The church has announced an internal investigation into alleged sexual misconduct at the seminary, which is in the diocese of St. Poelten, west of Vienna.

Outrage over the scandal continued to build in this largely Roman Catholic country as Bishop Kurt Krenn, chief of the St. Poelten diocese, dismissed the published photos of seminarians and instructors kissing and caressing as “boys’ foolishness.”

Krenn addressed the issue again briefly Tuesday night during an appearance on a religious television program devoted to a discussion of chastity. Limiting his remarks to the kissing shown in the published photos, he said it involved innocent signs of affection at a Christmas party and “had nothing to do with homosexuality.”

Krenn’s earlier comment outraged Catholic officials and opposition politicians, who called for his resignation.

Rudi Leo, a spokesman for the opposition Green Party, called Krenn’s statement an “unbelievable provocation” and said the photos were “just the tip of the iceberg.”

Austrian news magazine Profil, which brought the allegations to light, claimed that about 40,000 pornographic photos as well as numerous videos were found on seminary computers. The report also asserts that the seminary was the scene of all-night drinking parties, at which the priests viewed child pornography and shouted Nazi slogans.

Max Gruber of the Lower Austrian public prosecutor’s office confirmed the police had seized computers from the seminary and are investigating alleged possession of child pornography.

So far, the allegations of sexual relations between the priests and seminarians involve adults and are considered an internal church matter, Gruber said.

The Austrian Roman Catholic Church is a powerful social and political force in the country. Although membership has declined, nearly three-quarters of Austrians identify themselves as Catholic.

Michael Fleischhacker, deputy editor and columnist at Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse, said the scandal has isolated the once-powerful Krenn.

There is a growing consensus in the Austrian Church, he said, “that something has to be done, and that means Krenn has to go.”