VIENNA, August 5 -- More than a year after being accused of sexually abusing a student, the former archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Hans Groer spoke publicly about the accusations for the first time in an interview published Monday by Austrian magazine Profil. He said former student Josef Hartmann's 1995 allegation that Groer had harassed him 20 years ago in an Austrian boarding school -- charges that also appeared in Profil -- had destroyed his life. 'I am no longer living. It was a character assassination,' Goer told Profil. 'You know, there are two types of murder: The first kills one completely and then there is character assassination, which completely destroys a person.' Hartmann's claim was supported by allegations of abuse by four other boys at the school, but none of the claimants pressed formal charges. Groer has never said whether the accusations were true or false. Asked why he refused to defend himself by remaining silent at the time of accusation, he said the forum used for the discussion -- the media -- was inappropriate. 'To seek justice, one does not go to the media...The whole world would have served as my courtroom. I am obligated to God, the people in this land and the church.' Profil's editor-in-chief, Josef Votzi, who wrote the article, said he repeatedly asked Groer to respond to the charges before publication, but received no reply. He also said Hartmann had not been paid for the article and was prepared to testify in court about the accusation.
Hartmann said he originally decided to talk about the 20-year-old incident because he had problems with his marriage and sexuality, which he blamed on the alleged sexual abuse. After the abuse claims were made public, more than 500,000 Austrian churchgoers signed a petition demanding an end to priestly celibacy along with other church reforms. Shortly after the accusations surfaced, Groer declined re-election as head of the Bishops' Conference, giving no particular reason. He subsequently resigned as Archbishop of Vienna. He had been living quietly as a common priest until the church recently appointed him prior of the Maria Roggendorf Benedictine monastery in Gottweig, Austria.
