During an apostolic visitation of his St. Pölten diocese, the embattled Bishop Kurt Krenn has been ordered to refrain from public statements, and to obtain approval of the Vatican's investigator, Bishop Klaus Kung, for any significant pastoral decisions, Austrian media reports have disclosed.

The restrictions on Bishop Krenn will remain in place for the length of the apostolic visitation-- which, according to a spokesman for Vienna's Cardinal Christoph Schønborn, is expected to last 6-8 weeks.

Arriving in the St. Pölten diocese this week to begin his visitation, Bishop Kung began by questioning diocesan officials about the scandal in the seminary, where police discovered an enormous collection of pornography and photos of seminary staff in homosexual embraces with students. Bishop Kung, who was assigned by Pope John Paul to conduct the visitation, has said that his goal is simply to clarify the facts surrounding the scandal, and report to Rome.