Religion in Austria

Religion in Austria (2015-2016)[1][2][3]

  Roman Catholicism (59.9%)
  Islam (7%)
  Eastern Orthodox (6%)
  Protestantism (3.4%)
  Buddhism (0.2%)
  Judaism (0.1%)
  Other or none (23.4%)

Christianity is the predominant religion in Austria. At the 2001 census, 73.6% of the country's population was Roman Catholic.[4] As of 2015, the number of Catholics has dropped to 59.9% of the population.[1][2] There is a much smaller group of Evangelicals, totaling about 4.7% of the population in 2001, 3.5% in 2015.[5] Since the 2001 census, these two historically dominant religious groups in Austria recorded losses in the number of adherents. The Roman Catholic Church reported a drop of ~13%, the Evangelical Churches of ~1%.

In contrast, due to immigration[6] the number of Muslims in Austria has increased sharply in recent years, with 4.2% of the population calling themselves Muslim in 2001, up to around 5% to 6.2% in 2010,[7][8] and to 7% in 2015-2016.[3] Orthodox churches have also grown to represent up to 6% of the population.[3] Both the communities are represented by recent immigrants, especially from Turkey and the Balkans. There are also minor communities of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jews, and other religions in Austria.[9][10]

History

Main denominations in Austria[11][12]
Year Population Catholics Percentage Evangelicals[13] Percentage
1951 6,933,905 6,170,084 89.0 %429,4936.2%
1961 7,073,807 6,295,075 89.0 %438,6636.2%
1971 7,491,526 6,548,316 87.4 %447,0706,0%
1981 7,555,338 6,372,645 84.3 %423,1625,6%
1991 7,795,786 6,081,454 78.0 %338,7095.0%
2001 8,032,926 5,915,421 73.6 %376,1504.7%
2005 8,250,000 5,662,782 68.5 % - –
2008 8,350,000 5,579,493 66.8 %328,3463.9%
2009 8,376,761[14] 5,533,517 66.0 %325,314[15]3.9%
2010 8,387,742[14] 5,452,734[16] 65.0 %323,863[5]3.9%
2011 8,430,558[14] 5,403,722[16] 64.1 %319,752[5]3.8%
2012 8,451,860[14] 5,359,151[16] 63.4 % 313,289[17] 3.7%
2013 8,507,786[14] 5,310,000[16] 62.4 %
2014 8,579,747[14] 5,265,757[16] 61.4 %
2015 8,690,000[14] 5,211,000[16] 59.9 % 3.5%

Austria was greatly affected by the Protestant Reformation, to a point where a significant part of the population became Protestant. Lutheranism was the most successful Protestant confession; that was the case among other German-speaking populations across the Holy Roman Empire. Calvinism did not receive that much support. The prominent position of the Habsburgs in the Counter-Reformation, however, saw Protestantism all but wiped out, restoring Roman Catholicism as the dominant religion once more. The significant Jewish population (around 200,000 in 1938), mainly residing in Vienna, was reduced to just a couple of thousand through mass emigration in 1938 (more than 2/3 of the Jewish population emigrated from 1938 until 1941), and the following Holocaust during the Nazi period. Immigration in more recent years, primarily from Turkey and the former Yugoslavia, has led to an increased number of Muslims and Serbian Orthodox Christians.[10] As in other European countries, there has been a growth of Pagan movements in Austria in recent years.

Changes in church adherence and attendance

Since the second half of the 20th century, the number of churchgoers and people identifying as Catholics and Protestants has dropped (cf. tables).

According to the 2010 Eurobarometer Poll,[18] based on a limited sample:

Religions

Letzehof Buddhist Monastery at Feldkirch, in Vorarlberg.
St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.
The Lutheran Christuskirche (Church of Christ) in Salzburg.
A mosque in Telfs.
The Temple of Apollo at Hundstalsee, built by local artists in honour of the Greek god Apollo.

Buddhism

Main article: Buddhism in Austria

Buddhism is a legally recognized religion in Austria and it is followed by thousands of people. Although still small in absolute numbers (10,402 at the 2001 census), Buddhism enjoys widespread acceptance in Austria. A majority of Buddhists in the country are Austrian nationals (some of them naturalized after immigration from Asia, predominantly from China and Vietnam), while a considerable number of them are foreign nationals.

As in most European countries, different branches and schools of Buddhism are represented by groups of varying sizes. Vienna not only has the largest number of foreign residents, but is also the place with the longest tradition of Buddhism in the country. Most of Austria's Buddhist temples and centres of practice can be found there; some with a specific Chinese, Vietnamese, Tibetan or Japanese appearance. The latest development has been the establishment of a "Buddhist cemetery" around a stupa-like building for funeral ceremonies at the Vienna Central Cemetery.

Christianity

Roman Catholicism

Roman Catholicism is the largest religion in Austria, representing 60% of the population as of 2015 (cf. table). The Catholic Church's governing body in Austria is the Austrian Conference of Catholic Bishops, made up of the hierarchy of the two archbishops (Wien, Salzburg), the bishops and the abbot of territorial abbey of Wettingen-Mehrerau. Nevertheless, each bishop is independent in his own diocese, answerable only to the Pope. The current president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops is Cardinal Christoph Schönborn. Schönborn belongs to the Central European noble family of Schönborn. Although Austria has no primate, the archbishop of Salzburg is titled Primus Germaniae (Primate of Germany).

Main article: Call to Disobedience

The organization Call to Disobedience (Aufruf zum Ungehorsam in German) is an Austrian movement mainly composed of dissident Catholic priests which started in 2006. The movement claims the support of the majority of Austrian Catholic priests and favors ordination of women, married and non-celibate priesthood, allowing Holy Communion to remarried divorcees and non-Catholics in contrast to teachings of the Catholic Magisterium.

Orthodox Christianity

Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches grew over the last decades due to the coming of South Slavic immigrants from the Balkans to Austria. The largest group of Eastern Orthodox in Austria are Serbs. The churches have about 500.000 members or 6% of the total population.[3]

Protestantism

Lutheranism

The Lutheran Evangelische Kirche Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses has about 300.000 (3.4%) members.[5]

Calvinism

The Reformed Church in Austria, a Calvinist body, has roughly 13,590 members.

Islam

Main article: Islam in Austria

Due to immigration, especially from the Balkans and Turkey, the number of Muslims in Austria has grown exponentially over the latest decades, with Muslims accounting for ~7% of the total population as of 2010, up from 4.2% in 2001.[8][3]

Hinduism

Main article: Hinduism in Austria

Hinduism is a minority religion in Austria, and according to the 2001 census, it was the religion of 3629 people. Since 1998, the 'Hindu Community in Austria' (HRÖ), the official representative of Hindus in Austria, has been able to call itself an 'Official registered confessional community', yet does not enjoy full legal recognition from the state.[19]

Paganism

Austria has seen a growth of Pagan movements in recent years, especially Druidic (Druidentum), but also Germanic Heathen (Heidentum), Wiccan and Witchcraft (Hexentum) groups. As of 2010 Austrian motorway authorities have been hiring Druids for geomantic works intended to reduce the number of accidents on the worst stretches of Austrian speedways.[20][21]

Celtic Neopaganism and Neo-Druids are particularly popular in Austria, by virtue of Austria being the location of the proto-Celtic Hallstatt culture. The Keltendorf in Diex, Kärnten combines archaeological reconstruction with "European geomancy". The Europäische Keltische Gemeinschaft has been active since 1998.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Kirchenaustritte gingen 2012 um elf Prozent zurück" [Leaving church increased by eleven percent in 2012]. derStandard.at (in German). 8 January 2013. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013.
  2. 1 2 Official statistics of the Catholic Church in Austria, accessed 13. January 2016
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 WZ-Recherche 2016. Published in article: "Staat und Religion". Wiener Zeitung, January 2016.
  4. ↑ "Religion in Austria on CIA World Factbook". Retrieved December 13, 2006.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Zahlen und Fakten" [Numbers and Facts]. Evangelical Church in Austria. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Muslime in Österreich
  7. ↑ "How many Muslims live in Austria?". euro-islam.info. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  8. 1 2 Mathias Vogl; Alexander Janda, eds. (2010). "Islam in Österreich" [Islam in Austria] (PDF). Österreichischer Integrationsfonds (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "Religion in Austria on CIA World Factbook". Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  10. 1 2 "Religion in Austria on Sacred Destinations". Archived from the original on 2006-05-23. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  11. ↑ "Bevölkerung nach dem Religionsbekenntnis und Bundesländern 1951 bis 2001" [Population by religious denomination and Federal State from 1951 to 2001] (PDF) (in German). Statistical Office of Austria. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "Katholische Kirche Österreich: Statistik" [Catholic Church Austria: Statistics] (in German). Katholisch.at. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Statistical Data 2001–2008" (in German). Evang.at. 31 December 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Austrian Population 4. Quarter 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  15. ↑ "Bischof Bünker: "Jeder Austritt ist einer zu viel."" [Bishop Bünker: "Every exit is one too many."] (in German). Evang.at. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 kathweb Kirchenstatistik, abgerufen am 10. Jänner 2012
  17. ↑ "Zahlen & Fakten".
  18. ↑ "Special Eurobarometer 73.1: Biotechnology Report" (PDF). European Commission. October 2010. p. 383. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2010.
  19. ↑ "HRÖ - Our History". Hroe.at. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  20. ↑ Druids cut death toll with divine intervention. The Telegraph.
  21. ↑ Motorway druids tackle road accidents. Austrian Times.

Further reading

External links

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