Following FPÖ chairman Herbert Kickl’s call to suspend church contributions due to rising prices, the Old Catholic Church has now turned the tables. She advises the FPÖ to suspend their membership fees themselves. In this way both Austrians and non-Austrians could be supported, said the old Catholic Vicar General Martin Eisenbraun.
On Sunday, Kickl had asked Cardinal Christoph Schönborn (Roman Catholic Church), Bishop of the Evangelical Church Michael Chalupka and also the head of the Old Catholic Church, Bishop Heinz Lederleitner, to suspend payment of church fees indefinitely. “Such an act of Christian charity would be a sign of greater solidarity and a little help in dire need,” the FPÖ leader said.
rejection from all sides
The Archdiocese of Vienna then referred for years to the practice of the Catholic Church, which takes the individual situation into account when calculating the church contribution. Nothing will change. This has now also been reinforced by the Old Catholic Church, which advised the FPÖ to suspend its own membership fees and “ensure that Austrians and non-Austrians are supported from party funds”.
The Evangelical Church, for its part, said Kickl’s report was “unnecessary” and “shows complete ignorance about the use of church funds.” This would make the church’s offerings possible only in the diaconal, social area.
At the end of 2021, the Roman Catholic Church in Austria had about 4.8 million members. More than 272,000 people are Protestant, the Old Catholic Church has more than 14,000 members. Depending on the church, the church contribution is between one and 1.5 percent of gross income per year. Certain groups of people, such as parents on parental leave and the unemployed, are exempt from the contribution.
Source: Krone
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