Episcopal Conference of Austria
The Austrian Bishops' Conference (German: Österreichische Bischofskonferenz) is the official assembly of the Roman Catholic bishops of Austria. 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 and Salzburg, all diocesan and auxiliary bishops, as well as the abbot of immediate Wettingen-Mehrerau Abbey.
The Episcopal Conference represents the Catholic Church towards the Austrian Federal Government in all matters of legal relationships between church and state and freedom of religion. It is also the supreme ecclesiastical authority in Austria concerning Catholic canon law. 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 Kathpress.
The current chairman of the Bishop's Conference is the Vienna archbishop Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.
Legal bases
The Conference functions in accordance with the Documents of the Second Vatican Council, in particular the Christus Dominus Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops (37/38), the 1983 Code of Canon Law (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 between the Holy See and the First Austrian Republic.
Members
Archbishops
- Cardinal Christoph Schönborn O.P., Archbishop of Vienna (Chairman)
- Franz Lackner O.F.M., Archbishop of Salzburg (Deputy Chairman)
Bishops
- Alois Schwarz, Bishop of Sankt Pölten
- Manfred Scheuer, Bishop of Linz
- Aegidius Zsifkovics, Bishop of Eisenstadt
- Wilhelm Krautwaschl, Bishop of Graz-Seckau
- Benno Elbs, Bishop of Feldkirch
- Hermann Glettler, Bishop of Innsbruck
- Engelbert Guggenberger, Administrator of Gurk-Klagenfurt
- Werner Freistetter, Military Ordinary of Austria
Auxiliary Bishops
- 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
Other
- Vinzenz Wohlwend, O.Cist., Administrator of Wettingen-Mehrerau Abbey
Chairmen
- Bishop Franz Jáchym (1952-1956), Coadjutor Bishop of Vienna
- Cardinal Theodor Innitzer, Archbishop of Vienna
- Cardinal Franz König (1973-1985), 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 Christoph Schönborn O.P. (since 1998), Archbishop of Vienna