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 let ...

bishops of

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 in 1849. Its members include the archbishops 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= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

, all diocesan and auxiliary bishops, as well as the abbot of immediate Wettingen-Mehrerau Abbey. 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 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 freed ...

. 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 (CCEE) and of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community. 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 radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswir ...

''Kathpress''. The current chairman of the Bishop's Conference is Franz Lackner, 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 ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

, in particular the ''

Christus Dominus ''Christus Dominus'' (''Christ the Lord''; abbreviation "CD") is the 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 promulgated by Pope Pa ...

'' 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 Edi ...

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 R ...

and the First Austrian Republic.

Active Members

Conference Leadership

* Franz Lackner 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 ...

(Chairman) * Manfred Scheuer, Bishop of Linz (Deputy Chairman)

Members

* Cardinal

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, bi ...

* Alois Schwarz, Bishop of Sankt Pölten * 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 Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg in the Duchy of Carinthia. Initially performing the functions of a mere archiep ...

* Benno Elbs, Bishop of Feldkirch * Wilhelm Krautwaschl, Bishop of Graz-Seckau * Aegidius Zsifkovics, Bishop of Eisenstadt * 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 Wettingen-Mehrerau Abbey

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 ...

(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, (1985–1989), Archbishop of Salzburg * Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, O.S.B. (1989–1995), Archbishop of Vienna * Bishop Johann Weber (1995–1998), Bishop of Graz–Seckau * Cardinal

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