Latest developments:
- The Austrian "Staatsschutz" (sic) is investigating the case after the obscenity in the Linz cathedral was decapitated on Monday. It is a department of the Ministry of the Interior and an intelligence agency of the police - the highest criminal police authority of the country.
- The person who came up with the obscenity, Esther Strauss, is a self-proclaimed 'witch'. On her website she says she uses rituals to make contact with the deceased. She describes how she desecrated her grandfather's grave by taking earth from the grave, pouring it into a black-painted bed and sleeping on it. She also posted naked photos of herself on her website.
- The obscenity in the Linz cathedral will be repaired, but not put back on display, said the bishop's vicar of Linz, Johann Hintermaier, in a letter written to complainers.
- The statue belongs to Strauss, not to the diocese. Rev. Hintermaier assured that "no church tax money" had been used to produce the abomination. But the diocese has various other budgets from which money can be drawn.
- On Monday, Croats from all over the region gathered in Linz Cathedral for a Eucharist to atone for the blasphemy. A Croatian priest came from Germany. He said that the just wrath of God would come down on the city of Linz if atonement was not made. The diocese of Linz was informed about the Eucharist of Reconciliation.
- Comments from non-Catholic and atheist readers on the websites of Austrian newspapers are mainly critical of the Diocese of Linz. One comment reads: "Why does Der Standard [a newspaper] only show the statue from the side or from behind? If this is all so normal, they could surely show a frontal picture".
- On 13 July, a penitential rosary will be held on the cathedral square in Linz. The invitation is also addressed to the Austrian bishops, the cathedral chapter and the leaders of the diocese of Linz.
- The following pictures are from 5 July and show the torso of the obscenity, which is only visible from a distance behind two closed glass doors. It will remain there until 16 July.
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