Austrian Church shrinks by almost 2% in a year
The Austrian bishops’ conference said Sept. 18 that the number of Catholics fell from 4,733,085 in 2022 to 4,638,842 in 2023, a decline of 94,243, or 1.99%.
In 2023, 85,163 people formally left the Church in Austria, down from 90,975 the year before, but more than in 2021 and 2020, when there 72,222 and 58,727 people left respectively.
“The Church will look different in 20 years’ time than it did 20 years ago. We will also no longer have the same resources,” he commented.
“Our income has long been increasing only nominally, but is falling in value — for example, our total income will have risen by only 3.9% in 2023, which is just half the inflation rate. So there are many things we can no longer afford, or will soon no longer be able to afford.”
As in neighboring Germany, Catholics in Austria must pay a church tax, known locally as the Kirchenbeitrag (church contribution). It amounts to about 1.1% of annual taxable income.
The dioceses had a total income of around 696 million euros in 2023, but total expenses of 730 million euros.
To formally leave the Church in Austria, a Catholic must submit a withdrawal declaration to a competent authority in person or in writing, along with official documents such as a baptismal certificate, and pay an administrative fee.
They no longer pay the church contribution, and are also considered to have lost access to the sacraments, the right to a church burial, the ability to serve as a baptismal or confirmation sponsor, and will pretty much burn in Hell.
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/austria...-by-almost
The Austrian bishops’ conference said Sept. 18 that the number of Catholics fell from 4,733,085 in 2022 to 4,638,842 in 2023, a decline of 94,243, or 1.99%.
In 2023, 85,163 people formally left the Church in Austria, down from 90,975 the year before, but more than in 2021 and 2020, when there 72,222 and 58,727 people left respectively.
“The Church will look different in 20 years’ time than it did 20 years ago. We will also no longer have the same resources,” he commented.
“Our income has long been increasing only nominally, but is falling in value — for example, our total income will have risen by only 3.9% in 2023, which is just half the inflation rate. So there are many things we can no longer afford, or will soon no longer be able to afford.”
As in neighboring Germany, Catholics in Austria must pay a church tax, known locally as the Kirchenbeitrag (church contribution). It amounts to about 1.1% of annual taxable income.
The dioceses had a total income of around 696 million euros in 2023, but total expenses of 730 million euros.
To formally leave the Church in Austria, a Catholic must submit a withdrawal declaration to a competent authority in person or in writing, along with official documents such as a baptismal certificate, and pay an administrative fee.
They no longer pay the church contribution, and are also considered to have lost access to the sacraments, the right to a church burial, the ability to serve as a baptismal or confirmation sponsor, and will pretty much burn in Hell.
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/austria...-by-almost
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
