Statement by Beda Weber to the Newspaper Readers in Tyrol

Evening edition of the Tiroler Bote on 11 Oct.

Latest news.

To the newspaper readers in Tyrol.

An issue of the Innsbrucker Zeitung has just reached me with a gossip article about the sermon in Waidbruck, whose frivolity and mendacity I cannot leave unanswered. The assertions that the reporter outright seeks to attribute to me are completely distorted and untrue, not only in their phrasing but also in their historical account. The words: “Do not redeem your tithes!” never crossed my lips, even though I would have been as entitled to say them as others to claim the contrary. There was not a single syllable mentioning the Minister of Finance in Vienna, and indeed I hear of his alleged Jewishness today through the Innsbrucker Zeitung for the first time. If the reporter cites the judgment of the peasants on the Eisack in his favor, I pity the poor man in his pleasant self-delusion, which to disturb would be more than cruel. If in my speech to the people I warned against bad newspapers, emissaries, and disturbers of the public peace, I merely fulfilled my duty as a priest and deputy. Any further insinuation of sowing discord between the people and the government, both of which I am equally bound to respect, I indignantly throw back upon the scandal sheets and their informants, who make a trade of it.

Frankfurt am Main, 1 Oct. 1348. Beda Weber.