Secessions from the church: 1/3 more than in 2008
It’s not a secret that Austrians are not so happy and satisfied anymore with the church. This also appears in the numbers of the secessions from the church. In 2009 even one third left the Roman Catholic church more than one year before.
There was a lot of trouble in 2009. Controversial statements of Feldkirchens bishop. He said that it’s possible to heal homosexuality. There was also displeasure in the province of Upper Austria. A football supporter of the club “LASK” was designated to the suffragan bishop of Linz. But only for a short time. He resigned after few weeks after a medial witch hunt.
The happiest Roman Catholics are living in Austrias most southern province of Carinthia. Carinthia has the fewest seccesions from the church. Vienna is located in the middle of the secessions.
Most of the secessions in 2009 were booked in the province of Vorarlberg (+40,3%), followed by Styria (+35,1%) and Salzburg (+34,3%). The fewest in Carinthia (+15,1%), Lower Austria (+18,3%), and Burgenland (+24,5%).
The spokesman of the archdiocese in Vienna declared that every secession is accompanied by a lot of pain for the clerical community. But he also said that “the numbers are still quite steady.”