Obituary: Cardinal Franz König (original) (raw)

Every generation produces a handful of outstanding individuals, whose ideas and actions can make a real difference to their age. Cardinal Franz König, who has died aged 98, belonged to that select group. He was not only a remarkable prelate and diplomat, but a great humanitarian, whose liberalism and commitment to ecumenism carried influence far beyond his native Austria. Some said that he was the best pope the world never had.

As primate of Austria from 1956 to 1985, König combined a natural gift for pastoral work with a sharp intellect, deep learning and the determination to use the influence of the Roman Catholic Church to broaden dialogue and open doors, not only to other faiths but also to non-believers. He was the first senior Austrian prelate prepared to establish close contacts with the country's Social Democrats, and he formed a warm friendship with the Jewish, socialist chancellor, Bruno Kreisky.

Outside Austria, he was close to Pope John XXIII during the Second Vatican Council, and an enthusiastic supporter of reforms to bring the Catholic Church into the modern age. By cultivating contacts in eastern Europe, he was among the first to break down east-west barriers, and, having met Cardinal Karol Woytila in Poland, when he was still a little-known priest, König was instrumental in securing his election as Pope John Paul II in 1978. Though he never regretted his backing for Woytila, he did not hide his dismay over the Pope's conservatism on issues of theology.

König was born in the village of Rabenstein an der Pilach, and attended the Benedictine school at the nearby Melk Abbey. Initially uncertain about his vocation, he wanted to study philosophy in London or Rome. Opting for the latter, he went to the Gregoriana, the papal university, where, in addition to philosophy and theology, he became interested in Zoroastrian learning. A gifted linguist, he added Old Persian to a reservoir of languages that eventually included fluent English, French, Italian, German, Russian and Latin.

In 1933, he entered the priesthood, becoming chaplain in his home diocese of St Pölten. But he also continued with his studies, taking social science courses at Lille University in France. He returned home in 1938, the year of the Anschluss, and became a curate in St Pölten's cathedral. Out of tune with Austria's primate, Cardinal Innitzer, who had welcomed Hitler's annexation of Austria, König took considerable risks during the war to make the cathedral a safe haven for young people to learn and discuss issues outside the Nazi curriculum. He only narrowly escaped arrest and deportation to a concentration camp.

At the end of the war, St Pölten was under Soviet occupation, and König spent many nights guarding a group of nuns from the threat of being raped by victorious soldiers. As he recalled, much later: "One night, a Russian officer arrived, pointed at one of the sleeping nuns and said that he wanted her. But I stood up and said 'That is my wife'; the Russian respected that and left."

In those early postwar years, König was well aware that little was being done to denazify Austria's public services, or to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. In later years, he took the lead in calling on his countrymen to assume moral responsibility for their part in the Holocaust, and to take honest stock of the country's history during the Nazi era. But in the immediate aftermath of the war, like the rest of the church in Austria, he kept silent on these issues.

"We were haunted by the Soviet presence," he recalled. "We feared that Austria would remain under Soviet domination. We were short of food and housing, and were preoccupied by the daily chores of simply keeping alive. The church did not understand early enough that it must urge people to search their consciences ... We saw ourselves as victims."

For a while, König went into academia, teaching religious studies at Vienna University before taking up a professorship at Salzburg. But he was already marked out for preferment, and, in 1952, he became Bishop of St Pölten. Four years later, he was named as Innitzer's successor as Archbishop of Vienna and primate of Austria. In 1958, to König's surprise, Pope John decided that the best way to strengthen the new archbishop's authority over the deeply conservative Austrian church establishment was to make him a cardinal - at the age of 53.

König quickly gained the love and respect of Austrians of all persuasions, but especially of his Roman Catholic flock. And he never lost it. "As chaplain in St Pölten, I learned that I have to go to the people, that they must know me before we can have any meaningful talk," he said. "So when I came to Vienna, I had no great political strategy or concept. I simply felt that I wanted contact with people of every persuasion.

"The church had been too close to the [conservative] People's party, and had marked itself out as a determined opponent of the Social Democratic party. I wanted a dialogue with all people, and that included the leading political figures."

König was criticised in some quarters for near heresy after he initiated meetings with Bruno Kreisky, then Austria's foreign minister. But he persevered, and an early result was the long-delayed conclusion of a concordat with the Austrian government in 1960. The two men's good relationship eased many later problems between church and state, not least the tensions over the legalisation of abortion.

König distanced himself from the Vatican, and from the People's party, declaring the issue to be a matter of personal conscience. Though he joined in anti-abortion demonstrations himself, he continued to urge toleration, and advised acceptance after the abortion laws were adopted in 1973.

His duties in Vienna did not prevent König from becoming one of the stars of the Second Vatican Council in 1962, and identifying himself with progressive theology. Already convinced of the need for Rome to come closer to the eastern churches, he was also determined that the church should take a clear stand against anti-semitism, and acknowledge that Jews must not be held responsible for the crucifixion.

During the Vatican Council, Pope John surprised him once again by proposing König as head of the new Secretariat for Non-Believers. König said to the Pope: "That falls outside my experience. What am I supposed to do?" The answer was: "Just begin, and you will soon see what there is to be done."

König realised that his new secretariat must address the issue of atheism, an issue that led directly to the church's attitude to communism. A powerful school in the council wanted to issue a strong condemnation of communism, but he successfully resisted this, a move that began to lay the foundations for the Vatican's opening-up to the communist block.

The Vatican never gave König an official diplomatic role in eastern Europe. Indeed, his many journeys were often undertaken without express authority from Rome - "I would inform them afterwards," he explained. And on those journeys, Poland became a frequent port of call. König had a deep admiration for the Polish primate, Cardinal Wyszynski, and together they discussed how the church could help to create greater freedoms for the peoples under communist control. But they were discreet, and avoided anything that might provoke confrontation with the authorities.

In Hungary, König was a frequent visitor to the US embassy in Budapest, where Cardinal Mindszenty had imprisoned himself in protest against communist rule. It was hard to gain Mindszenty's trust, and still harder to persuade him to accept the Vatican's request that he leave the embassy and Hungary; but in the end, König's advice prevailed, and Mindszenty ended his life quietly in a Polish monastery.

In 1961, König had a car accident in Yugoslavia after attending the funeral of Cardinal Stepinac. Lying in a hospital room, he noticed a framed photograph of President Tito on the wall. König reflected on the Yugoslav leader's war record, and his break with Moscow, and emerged from the hospital determined to build bridges with him. The two men came to know and like each other.

König's work with non- believers extended beyond Europe. He went to India to take part in conferences with Hindus and Parsees; he lectured at El-Azhar University, in Cairo, on the common interests of monotheistic religions vis-à-vis atheism. But his highest priority - and where he felt he could make a real impact - was ecumenism, and the strengthening of links with the Orthodox churches of the east. He founded Pro-Oriente, an organisation that became the vehicle for this work.

König remained primate of Austria until his 80th birthday. After that, he stayed on in Vienna, moving to a comfortable flat in a home maintained by a religious order. His work schedule remained heavy; there was a steady stream of visitors. He accepted countless public engagements, and travelled widely to lecture and attend conferences, never hesitating to back progressive theologians if they asked for support.

I first met him when he was 89, and he always made time for me on my visits to Vienna. On a typical afternoon, he would already have read the Austrian press, the Herald Tribune, a couple of German papers, and have listened to the BBC World Service. He might be telling me about a broadcast he was preparing on violence and the media, or asking about Britain's policies towards the European Union.

After one encounter, I made a note of the subjects he had raised in the course of 90 minutes: Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel's handling of Jörg Haider, anti-semitism in Austria, EU enlargement, his great interest in Zarathustra, fond memories of journeys to Iran and India, an account of Woytila's election as Pope, and a discussion of the likely candidates for his succession; Vienna's recently unveiled Holocaust memorial, the problems of the church in Austria, his relations with Austria's primate, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, and, last but not least, the nature of the soul.

Then he led me out, insisting on coming downstairs to order a taxi, and wait with me in the street until it arrived. Not bad for a 95-year old.

· Franz König, priest and diplomat, born August 3 1905; died March 13 2004