Bishop controversy prompts Austrian Catholics to meet

Vienna, Austria - Vienna's Roman Catholic archdiocese says the country's bishops will meet to discuss widespread objections to the Vatican's decision to promote a conservative pastor who suggested Hurricane Katrina was provoked by sin.

The archdiocese said top church official Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn will convene the special session in the Austrian capital on Monday.

Pope Benedict XVI promoted the Rev. Gerhard Maria Wagner to the post of auxiliary bishop in Linz on Jan. 31, causing an outcry from church groups and priests.

Wagner has questioned whether Katrina was a result of "spiritual pollution" and has characterized Harry Potter novels as Satanism.

The Catholic news agency Kathpress quoted Schoenborn as saying believers should know all is being done to "overcome the crisis."