Christianity is the predominant religion in Austria. At the 2001 census, 73.6% of the country's population was Roman Catholic. As of 2016, the number of Catholics has dropped to 58.8% of the population. There is a much smaller group of Evangelicals, totalling about 4.7% of the population in 2001, now 3.4% in 2016. Since 2001, these two historically dominant religious groups in Austria recorded losses in the number of adherents. The Roman Catholic Church reported an absolute drop of 14.8%, the Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed churches of 1.3%. In relative numbers the losses of the smaller Evangelical churches account to 32.5% compared to 21.2% of catholic losses in the same period.
Contents
- History
- Changes in church adherence and attendance
- Buddhism
- Roman Catholicism
- Orthodox Christianity
- Protestantism
- Islam
- Hinduism
- Paganism
- References
In contrast, due to immigration 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, and to 7% in 2015-2016. Orthodox churches have also grown to represent up to 6% of the population. 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.
History
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 and Austria was indeed one of them. Calvinism did not receive that much support. The prominent position of the Habsburgs in the Counter-Reformation, however, saw Protestantism all but wiped out beginning in 1545, 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. As in other European countries, there has been a growth of Pagan movements in Austria in recent years.
In 1910, 93,7% of the Austrian population was Roman Catholic, 3,1%% was Protestant, 2,9% was Jewish, 0,3% was placed in other religious categories.
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, based on a limited sample:
Buddhism
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.
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).
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.
Protestantism
The Protestant Reformation spread from northern Germany to Austria. By the Council of Trent in 1545, almost half of the Austrian population had converted to Lutheranism, while a much smaller minority also endorsed Calvinism. Eastern Austria was more affected by this phenomenon than western Austria. After 1545, Austria was recatholicized in the Counter Reformation. The Habsburgs imposed a strict regime to restore the influence of the Roman Catholic Church among Austrians and their campaign proved successful; the Habsburgs for a long time viewed themselves as the vanguard of Roman Catholicism, while all the other Christian confessions and religions were repressed.
Protestantism reached a peak percentage of 6,2% by 1951 for the first time in Austrian history since the success of the Counter-Reformation. Currently, it claims around 3,5% of the population. Austrian Protestants are overwhelmingly Lutheran (3,4%), with a small Reformed community (0,1%). New arriving Protestant churches are growing in membership, especially Evangelical Protestants and Pentecostals.
Lutheranism
The Lutheran Evangelische Kirche Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses has about 300.000 (3.4%) members.
Calvinism
The Reformed Church in Austria, a Calvinist body, has roughly 13,590 members.
Islam
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.
Hinduism
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.
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.
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.