The history of mission is the theme chosen for a conference organized by the Catholic Academy of Vienna and held in the Austrian capital from 23 to 24 February. The aim of the meeting, explained Elisabeth Maier, the Academy’s general secretary, in a briefing to the Austrian Catholic press agency Kathpress, was “the elucidation of the historical foundations of mission thought”. The conference included a dozen or so main speeches aimed at examining the various aspects of the concept of mission, “with the emphasis always placed on practice”, specified Meier, so as to “learn from the past errors, as well as successes, of mission”. The meeting was inaugurated on 23 February in the archbishop’s palace of the Archbishop of Vienna and President of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Cristoph Schönborn, who is also patron of the Academy. The opening address was given by the ecclesiastical historian from Salzburg, Wolfgang Speyer, who spoke on “mission in the apostolic and post-apostolic period”, point of departure for the other interventions focused on the history of mission. At the end of the conference a round table was held, with the participation, among others, of Msgr. Franz Scharl, auxiliary bishop of Vienna, Franz Ferstl of the diocesan committee for mission and development, Gabriele Neuwirth, chairman of the association of Catholic journalists, and Martin Wiesauer of the pastoral office of the archdiocese of Vienna.
