The proposal of the Ecumenical Council of the Churches for a preamble to the new Austrian Constitution was presented in Vienna on Friday 28 January. The text drafted by the Austrian Churches makes explicit reference to the “cultural, religious and humanistic traditions of Austria, in recognition of the limits of human power and freedom of conscience, in responsibility before God, man and the creation…”. The text, drafted by the “ecumenical group of experts” of the constituent assembly and already approved by the leaders of various Churches, was described to the Council by Christine Gleixner, chairperson of the Council of Churches in Austria and member of the constituent assembly. In an interview with the Austrian Catholic agency Kathpress, Gleixner stressed that “the necessary institutional separation between Church and State must not lead to the exclusion of religious activities from the public arena. A State that renounces its neutrality to the detriment of religion, due to the old liberal fear of contact with the religious dimension, is not neutral but partisan and prejudiced against religion”.
