Bischofskonferenz Sebastian Kurz 2014 (15716466865)

The Austrian Bishops' Conference (german: Österreichische Bischofskonferenz) is the official assembly of the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. It is the supreme authority of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria, established as a formal body under

public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that are of direct ...

in 1849. Its members include the

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

s of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

, all

diocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

and auxiliary bishops, as well as the abbot of immediate

Wettingen-Mehrerau Abbey Wettingen-Mehrerau Abbey is a Cistercian territorial abbey and cathedral located at Mehrerau on the outskirts of Bregenz in Vorarlberg, Austria. Wettingen-Mehrerau Abbey is directly subordinate to the Holy See and thus forms no part of the Cath ...

. The

Episcopal Conference An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...

represents the Catholic Church towards the

Austrian Federal Government The Government of Austria (german: Bundesregierung der Republik Österreich) is the executive cabinet of the Republic of Austria. It consists of the chancellor, who is the head of government, the vice chancellor and the ministers. Appointm ...

in all matters of legal relationships between

church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...

and

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

. It is also the supreme ecclesiastical authority in Austria concerning Catholic

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. The assembly is a member of the

Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe The Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe ( la, Consilium Conferentiarum Episcoporum Europae;,CCEE) is a conference of the presidents of the 33 Roman Catholic episcopal conferences of Europe, the Archbishop of Luxembourg, the Archbishop ...

(CCEE) and of the

Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union, formerly the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community, ( la, Commissio Episcopatuum Communitatis Europaeae; COMECE) is the association of Catholic Church e ...

. It also runs the official Catholic

news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and News broadcasting, television Broadcasting, broadcasters. A news agency may ...

''Kathpress''. The current chairman of the Bishop's Conference is

Franz Lackner Franz Lackner (born 14 July 1956) is an Austrian prelate who has been Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg, Archbishop of Salzburg since 2013. In June 2020 he was elected the president of the Episcopal Conference of Austria, Austrian Bishops' C ...

, the Archbishop of Salzburg.

Legal bases

The Conference functions in accordance with the Documents of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

, in particular the ''

Christus Dominus ''Christus Dominus'' (''Christ the Lord''; abbreviation "CD") is the Second Vatican Council, Second Vatican Council's "Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops". The document was approved by a vote of 2,319 to 2 of the assembled bishops and was ...

'' Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops (37/38), the

1983 Code of Canon Law The 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' (abbreviated 1983 CIC from its Latin title ''Codex Iuris Canonici''), also called the Johanno-Pauline Code, is the "fundamental body of ecclesiastical laws for the Latin Church". It is the second and current comp ...

(Cann. 447–459), and its own constitutions. Its legal position as a formal corporation under public law and representative body of a state-recognised religious community was confirmed by a 1933

concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Ed ...

between the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

and the

First Austrian Republic The First Austrian Republic (german: Erste Österreichische Republik), officially the Republic of Austria, was created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919—the settlement after the end of World War I w ...

Active Members

Conference Leadership

O.F.M.,

Archbishop of Salzburg The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg ( la, Archidioecesis Salisburgensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria. The archdiocese is one of two Austrian archdioceses, serving alongside the Archdiocese of ...

(Chairman) * Manfred Scheuer,

Bishop of Linz The Diocese of Linz ( la, Dioecesis Linciensis) is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria. History Early history In the early Middle Ages the greater part of the territory of the present Diocese of Linz was subject to the bishops of ...

(Deputy Chairman)

Members

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Christoph Schönborn Christoph Maria Michael Hugo Damian Peter Adalbert Graf von Schönborn, O.P. (; born 22 January 1945) is a Bohemian-born Austrian Dominican friar and theologian, who is a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He serves as the Archbishop of Vienna and ...

O.P.,

Archbishop of Vienna The Archbishop of Vienna is the prelate of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna who is concurrently the metropolitan bishop of its ecclesiastical province which includes the dioceses of Eisenstadt, Linz and St. Pölten. From 1469 to 1513, bish ...

* Alois Schwarz,

Bishop of Sankt Pölten A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

* Werner Freistetter, Military Ordinary of Austria * Josef Marketz,

Bishop of Gurk The Bishop of Gurk is the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk, which was established in 1072 as the first suffragan bishop by Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg, Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg in the Duchy of Carinthia. Initially perfo ...

* Benno Elbs, Bishop of Feldkirch * Wilhelm Krautwaschl, Bishop of Graz-Seckau * Aegidius Zsifkovics,

Bishop of Eisenstadt The Roman Catholic Diocese of Eisenstadt ( la, Dioecesis Sideropolitanus) is a diocese located in the city of Eisenstadt in the Ecclesiastical province of Vienna in Austria. The episcopal seat is in Eisenstadt Cathedral. History * May 18, 1922: ...

* Hermann Glettler, Bishop of Innsbruck * Franz Scharl, Auxiliary Bishop of Vienna * Stephan Turnovszky, Auxiliary Bishop of Vienna * Hansjörg Hofer, Auxiliary Bishop of Salzburg * Anton Leichtfried, Auxiliary Bishop of Sankt Pölten * Vinzenz Wohlwend, O.Cist., Abbot of

Chairmen

* Cardinal

Theodor Innitzer Theodor Innitzer (25 December 1875 – 9 October 1955) was Archbishop of Vienna and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. Early life Innitzer was born in Neugeschrei (Nové Zvolání), part of the town Weipert (Vejprty) in Bohemia, at that time Au ...

(1933–1955), Archbishop of Vienna * Archbishop Andreas Rohracher (1955–1959), Archbishop of Salzburg * Cardinal

Franz König Franz König (3 August 1905 – 13 March 2004) was an Austrian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of Vienna from 1956 to 1985, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1958. The last surviving cardinal elevated by Pope John ...

(1959–1985), Archbishop of Vienna * Archbishop

Karl Berg Karl Berg (27 December 1908 – 1 September 1997) was an Austrian Catholic cleric and Archbishop of Salzburg from 1973 to 1988. Life Berg was born on 27 December 1908 in the Austrian town of Radstadt. He was ordained into priesthood on 29 Octo ...

, (1985–1989), Archbishop of Salzburg * Cardinal

Hans Hermann Groer Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

, O.S.B. (1989–1995), Archbishop of Vienna * Bishop

Johann Weber Johann Weber (19 June 1828 (or 1823) – 23 April 1878) was a Switzerland, Swiss politician and President of the Swiss Council of States (1869/1870). He was born in Seeberg. External links

* * 1828 births 1878 deaths People from Obe ...

(1995–1998), Bishop of Graz–Seckau * Cardinal

O.P. (1998–2020), Archbishop of Vienna * Archbishop

O.F.M. (2020–present), Archbishop of Salzburg

References

External links

{{Authority control Episcopal conferences, Austria Catholic Church in Austria Christian organizations established in 1933