March 4, 1984
A State Visit Turned Out Well
As first Austrian head of state, President Rudolf Kirchschläger went to the United States for a state visit last week. The reception of the Austrian president was most cordial. Altogether the state visit turned out very well. At the reception in the White House, President Reagan reaffirmed that the United States is aware of its responsibility toward Austria and as signatory power of the Austrian State Treaty would always stand up for Austria’s sovereignty. Austria belongs to the union of free democracies of the West. It is aware of its freedom and role as mediator between the power blocs.
March 16, 1984
Negotiations Resumed
Without much ado, the MBFR negotiations have been resumed at the Hofburg in Vienna. This is at least one, if not a decisive, step toward lessening of tensions between East and West. Dissolving the MBFR Conference in Vienna by the end of last year caused more of a stir than its present resumption. It is after all the 359th session of the Conference in Vienna for a balanced reduction of conventional weapons on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
Innsbruck, March 31, 1984
Karl Rahner (1904-1984)
During last night, Karl Rahner, only weeks upon completion of the 80th year of his life, died of a heart failure in Innsbruck. He was one of the most prominent theologians of the 20th century. He became known worldwide as theologian at the Second Vatican Council. The scholarly work of his lifetime comprises nearly 4,000 titles. Rahner was certainly not undisputed. He had tried to bring the Catholic Church closer to the exigencies of the present time. I remember well Rahner’s sermons and lectures I had heard as a student in Innsbruck. Karl Rahner was difficult to understand, but he was persistently stimulating.
[The former Universitätsplatz (University Square) in front of the Jesuit Church and the Theologische Fakultät (School of Theology) at the Old University in Innsbruck was renamed Karl-Rahner-Platz.]