The Old Catholic Church of Austria (german: Altkatholische Kirche Österreichs) is the Austrian member church of the

Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches The Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches, most commonly referred to by the short form Union of Utrecht, is a federation of Old Catholic churches, nationally organized from schisms which rejected Roman Catholic doctrines of the First ...

. In 1997, the church began ordaining women. In 2007, the church elected as its head

Bishop 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 ...

John Okoro, a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

former

Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, who became a member of the Old Catholic Church of Austria in 1999. Prior to his election he had been the

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...

. He retired in 2015, and new Bishop Heinz Lederleitner was elected at the Synod meeting in Klagenfurt on 24 October 2015, and consecrated in Vienna on 13 February 2016. Within the Union of Utrecht, the Old Catholic Church of Austria also has delegated jurisdiction over the

Old Catholic Church of Croatia The Old Catholic Church of Croatia or Croatian Old Catholic Church (Croatian language, Croatian: ''Hrvatska starokatolička crkva'') consists of the Croatian parishes in full communion with the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches, Union o ...

, and other regions of former

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

.Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches: Member Churches
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Old Catholic Bishops of Austria

The following bishops have governed the Old Catholic Church in Austria. * Adalbert Schindelaar (1925-1926) * Robert Tüchler (1928-1942) * Stefan Török (1948-1972) * Nikolaus Hummel (1975-1994) *

Bernhard Heitz Bernhard is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), Duke of Saxe-Weimar *Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1901–1984), head of the House of Saxe-Meiningen 194 ...

(1994-2007) * John Okoro (2008-2015) * Heinz Lederleitner (2016-)

References

External links

* Catholicism in Austria Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches Religious organizations established in 1877 Christian denominations established in the 19th century 1877 establishments in Austria-Hungary {{Christianity-stub