Austrian Woman Who Insulted Pope Fined

VIENNA, Austria – An Austrian woman who shouted insulting remarks about Pope John Paul II outside Vienna’s main cathedral was fined $325 after a court convicted her Monday of disturbing the peace.

The 46-year-old Viennese woman, whose name was not released by authorities, repeatedly and loudly denounced the pope and other Roman Catholic leaders as “child molesters” while standing in front of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in 2003.

On Monday, a Vienna court convicted her of disturbing the peace and being a public nuisance. The popular square outside the downtown cathedral was packed with visitors when she stood on the steps with a megaphone to ridicule John Paul and accuse the church of trying to cover up the sexual abuse of children.

Although freedom of speech and expression are enshrined in the Austrian constitution, prosecutors charged the woman under statutes in place to preserve public order.

Overwhelmingly Catholic Austria was stung by a sex scandal last year involving the discovery of up to 40,000 lurid images, including child pornography, on computers at a seminary west of Vienna. The local bishop resigned over the affair, and a Vatican emissary ordered the seminary shut down.