A Catholic parish in Vienna to be given to the Serbian Orthodox Church

Vienna, March 4, 2014

In Vienna the Catholic Neulerchenfeld parish will be transferred to the Serbian Orthodox Church, reports the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna. The reason for the transfer is the catastrophic reduction in the number of parishioners.

This Sunday, the last Mass will be celebrated at the former Catholic Neulerchenfeld parish in the 16th district of Vienna. After the Mass a religious procession will proceed to St. Mary's Church (Katholische Kirche Maria Namen) in Hippgasse, where the former parishioners of Neulerchenfeld will worship from then on. Last September, these two communities merged legally (before 1939 there had been one joint community) reports Sedmitza.ru.

The church will be closed for several weeks. The transfer will be legally accomplished after Easter.

The Catholics of the Neulerchenfeld parish have been trying for several years to settle a dispute over the church’s possible transfer to the Orthodox congregation. They wrote letters of protest to the Vatican several times, but received no positive response.

The Serbian Orthodox Church can boast the largest Orthodox community in Austria. Around 100,000 parishioners of the Serbian Church reside in Vienna, but they have only three churches to meet their needs.

3/6/2014

See also
Fraudulent clergy encroaching on property of Serbian Church in Montenegro Fraudulent clergy encroaching on property of Serbian Church in Montenegro Fraudulent clergy encroaching on property of Serbian Church in Montenegro Fraudulent clergy encroaching on property of Serbian Church in Montenegro
On New Year’s Eve, Dedeic again expressed the thought that the Church property on the territory of Montenegro had been supposedly taken away and given to the Serbian Orthodox Church illegally, and expressed his regret for the "humiliating status of the Orthodox Church of Montenegro". Legal status of the Russian Orthodox Church’s diocese of Vienna officially confirmed in Austria Legal status of the Russian Orthodox Church’s diocese of Vienna officially confirmed in Austria Legal status of the Russian Orthodox Church’s diocese of Vienna officially confirmed in Austria Legal status of the Russian Orthodox Church’s diocese of Vienna officially confirmed in Austria
On March 7, 2012, the Federal Bulletin in Austria published an extract from the official document concerning the establishment of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Diocese of Vienna and Austria. Catholic archbishop gives church to Serbs, Austrian parishionners angry Catholic archbishop gives church to Serbs, Austrian parishionners angry Catholic archbishop gives church to Serbs, Austrian parishionners angry Catholic archbishop gives church to Serbs, Austrian parishionners angry
Members of a small parish in Vienna are outraged by Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn’s decision to hand over the church to the city’s Serbian-Orthodox community for free.
Comments
JudeGeorge3/9/2014 12:37 am
Catholics did not attend this church because the number of church going Catholics in Vienna has dropped drasically, due partially to the nature of the post-Vatican II Novus Ordo Mass. In other words, the Catholic Mass is not what it used to be.
Rico Mapster3/7/2014 7:58 am
What a great opportunity to bring some of our Catholic brothers and sisters back to Orthodoxy.
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