ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some overlapping popular narratives that framed public discussion and media coverage. In the summer of 2004 when a considerable quantity of pornography—including child pornography—was found on the main computer of a conservative seminary in St. Polten, a sex scandal rocked the Catholic Church in Austria. The scandal helped to reinforce several homophobic norms in Austrian public culture, even among people who described themselves as more liberal and tolerant of homosexuality in Austrian society. Other commentators linked the theme of “homo-sex in the seminary” directly to the Groer pedophilia/abuse scandal and the endangerment of Austria’s children. The public discussions and debates among Austrians about the scandal at the seminary demonstrate that despite the visibility and legitimacy Austria’s queer community has achieved in the past decade, homophobic constructions of the crisis remained an important default mode of interpretation. Reformers, fundamenta-lists, and conservatives battle periodically in the public media for influence over the national Church in Austria.
