What was anticipated is now official: the Pope has appointed Mons. Josef Grünwidl as the new metropolitan archbishop of Vienna, as announced by the Holy See Bulletin today, October 17, 2025. Rome thus confirms the choice of a progressive profile who, before his appointment, had publicly stated that celibacy “should not be a condition for the priesthood” and who has shown himself favorable to granting a broader role to women within ecclesial life.
A consolidated career in Vienna
Grünwidl, born in 1963 in Hollabrunn and ordained a priest in 1988, has spent his entire ministerial life within the Viennese archdiocese. He has been a parish vicar, youth pastoral assistant, personal secretary to the archbishop, parish priest in various localities, and president of the presbyteral council. In January 2025, he was appointed apostolic administrator following the departure of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, whom he now officially succeeds.
Continuity with Schönborn's line
Grünwidl's appointment confirms the progressive line that has marked the archdiocese during Schönborn's long governance. It is not only a generational handover but the consolidation of a theological and pastoral direction that relativizes central points of tradition. Grünwidl himself, in a recent interview, assured that celibacy should not be an indispensable condition for the priesthood, a stance that directly clashes with the current discipline of the Latin Church.
Likewise, he has expressed himself in favor of giving women a broader role in the life of the Church, a discourse that in Austria is presented as inevitable but that in many sectors is perceived as a Trojan horse to introduce women's priesthood or, at least, to weaken the clear doctrine on the sacrament of Holy Orders.
Therefore, it is not a mere administrative adjustment. The choice of Grünwidl is a political and ecclesial signal: Rome confirms the progressive direction of one of Europe's most emblematic dioceses.
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