AUSTRIA: RECORD DECLINE IN CATHOLIC CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 000151 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV KIRF VN AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIA: RECORD DECLINE IN CATHOLIC CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IN 2009 REF: 09 VIENNA 1026 VIENNA 00000151 001.3 OF 002 ¶1. Summary: A record number of Austrian Catholics chose to leave the Church formally in 2009, cancelling their annual contributions. The departures are widely attributed to a number of controversies that wracked the Church during the year, especially the abortive Vatican appointment of an ultraconservative priest as auxiliary bishop in Linz. Church leaders see the declining membership as part of a broader trend away from religious faith, while some reform-minded Catholics assert that the Church has lost touch with the population. End summary. Contribution Numbers Sharply Decline -------------- ¶2. Figures released on January 13 showed a record decline in official membership in the Austrian Catholic Church, following a year wracked by controversy. In total, 53,216 Catholics chose to withdraw from the Church in 2009, an increase of 30 percent over the previous year's decline. Withdrawal is also a significant financial blow, as the Church loses the automatic financial contribution registered members make via the state tax office. The number of withdrawals was also the highest ever one-year decline, outpacing previous highs in 1995 and 2004. The decline was an exclusively Catholic phenomenon; the Protestant Church, by comparison, experienced a decrease of only 3.5 percent, attributable to deaths outpacing births. In total, one million Austrian Catholics have left the Church in the past 30 years. ¶3. Outside observers attribute the Church's losses to a number of controversies that took place during the year. The most damaging of these was likely the Vatican appointment of ultraconservative priest Gerhard Wagner as auxiliary bishop in the Upper Austrian city of Linz (reftel). Wagner, whose views include the belief that Hurricane Katrina was divine retribution against New Orleans, withdrew his nomination after local Church lay leaders and some clergy opposed his appointment. Church membership in Linz declined by 43 percent in 2009, the highest rate for any diocese. At least some of the outflow is believed to be among Wagner's supporters who were angry that his appointment was blocked. ¶4. The Austrian Church also clashed with the Vatican when Cardinal Schoenborn publicly criticized the Pope's decision in January 2009 to rescind the excommunication of Holocaust-denier Bishop Richard Williamson. Then, in March, an Austrian priest admitted to a 25-year relationship with a widow, sparking a debate about whether priests should be allowed to marry (one poll indicated that 90 percent of Austrians believe they should). Schoenborn and other Austrian Church leaders traveled to the Vatican at the Pope's invitation in June 2009 to discuss these matters. Church: Austrians Increasingly Estranged from Religion -------------- -------------- ¶5. Church spokesperson Erich Leitenberger acknowledged to us that the controversies had taken a toll, but also blamed negative media coverage for contributing to the outflow. Cardinal Schoenborn, speaking publicly in October 2009, said Austrians continued to distance themselves from religious faith and predicted that Catholic Church membership in Austria would continue to drop below the current level of 67 percent of the population. Schoenborn rejected the argument that objections to the contribution system, in which Catholics (and Protestants) automatically pay a contribution to the national Church at tax time unless they opt out, is hastening the departure of Austrians from the Church. The Cardinal argued that the Church receives less in contributions than it pays back to the government in the form of taxes. Critics: Church Unresponsive to Members' Needs -------------- - ¶6. Hans Hurka, writing for the lay group "We Are the Church," saw the situation differently. Hurka called the departures a protest against the "authoritarian hierarchy" of the Church, and called for Catholics dedicated to reform to divert their membership fees to his organization, which calls for allowing women to be priests, ending the clerical/lay hierarchy, abolishing the celibacy requirement for priests, and consulting with members on important issues such as the naming of bishops. Luitgard Derschmidt, president of the national lay organization "Catholic Aktion," attributed the decline to a Church too absorbed in its own quarrels to understand the "concrete living situation" of its members. Comment: Resigned to Decline -------------- ¶7. The Catholic Church continues to hold an important place in Austrian society, not least via the formal powers granted it in public life. The declining number of contributing members does, however, reflect the fact that Austrian Catholics feel increasingly alienated from the Church. Catholic leaders so far do not appear to VIENNA 00000151 002.3 OF 002 have any serious ideas for addressing the decline. EACHO