Fake priest exposed again

Father Axel was adored by the parishioners in Neukirchen an der Enknach. The assistant priest in the Austrian village north of Salzburg married couples, held deeply moving funeral services and baptised babies. He had an uncanny ability to swell dwindling congregations.

It was just a pity Father Axel wasn't actually a vicar. He has been unmasked as Gerhard Vilsmeier, Austria's most notorious fake priest, a man who has no religious training but who has spent the best part of 25 years hoodwinking God-fearing alpine parishes and religious institutions across Austria and Germany into believing he is a qualified Catholic priest.

Vilsmeier, 45, a carpenter from Bavaria who officially left the Catholic Church in 1978, spent three months late last year in Neukirchen an der Enknach.

He claimed first that he was an organist from a nearby parish, then said he was a priest without a parish.

A shortage of vicars meant Neukirchen an der Enknach was only too happy to welcome him. They neglected to check whether he had the necessary permit to preach.

"The man was incredibly musical and extremely well-versed in all things biblical and theological," said a spokesman for the diocese of Linz, trying to explain the embarrassment.

Severin Lederhilger, Bishop in the Linz diocese, has now banned Vilsmeier from carrying out all further priestly duties in the parish.

Vilsmeier's attempts to be accepted into Catholic parishes as a qualified curate began in the mid-1980s.

As a 25-year-old, he gained the trust of the Tyrolean parish of Schwarz.

But when one parishioner watched Vilsmeier "blessing trees in a highly theatrical manner" she became suspicious of his credentials.

Later, on a visit to the Vatican, she asked a priest to check for Father Axel's records. There were none.

When he tried again in Berlin he was exposed and fined 1400 ($3583) for false use of a title.

Vilsmeier told how, as a 4-year-old child, he would wander through his home with a toilet brush in hand, blessing everything in sight.

Police say they won't be charging him this time. "It is a social phenomenon when people believe someone is a priest when they're not, not a criminal case," said a police spokesman.

- INDEPENDENT