Austria, serving unity” “

Msgr. Hugo Unterberger is the parish priest of the church of Sankt Elisabeth, in Vienna’s 4th district. It’s not a very big parish, situated close to the Sudbahnhof in one of the districts, once heavily populated, built in the second half of the nineteenth century, that surround the city centre of Vienna like a ring. The population of the district is declining from year to year due to the high price of apartments, prohibitive for young couples or singles, while offices and the departments of the University are increasing. It’s a living parish to which the laity makes a valuable contribution. Situation of the parish. “The people who officially declare they have left the Church in order to be exempted from payment of the “ Kirchenbeitrag” (“contributions to the Church”, that are paid directly to the Church in Austria) are numerous”, says the parish priest. The exodus has meant that since 2000 the percentage of Catholics has dropped below 50% throughout Vienna and also in our parish. Among the positive factors, on the other hand, there is the high number of volunteers, mainly the elderly and the young, who are active in all sectors: evangelization, preparation for the sacraments, Caritas and liturgy. There’s a shortage of middle-aged people, aged between 40 and 50, active in families and at the workplace. Compared with the statistics for the city as a whole, we have a rather high number of young adults aged around 30, but they are largely invisible, because they tend to leave Vienna on Friday and go straight back to work on Monday morning, until they eventually marry and have children. It’s a phenomenon that, from late April to October, affects our parish like others”. Interreligious dialogue and ecumenism. Some 200,000 immigrants from Eastern Europe arrived in Vienna during the 1990s. “Only 18% of immigrants are Catholics – explains Msgr. Unterberger – . I note a growth of shops, banks and houses owned by Turkish immigrants in the area. There are contacts with them, but more at the level of social clubs, since although I myself have relations with the Imam, there’s no real meeting place in this district and Moslems mainly meet together in small groups in private homes or in former factories. There are also large numbers of Orthodox in Vienna. With them our relations are rather good, also thanks to the personality of the metropolitan Staikos. Meetings mainly take place in the areas of Vienna where they have their churches; in our district there’s only the Bulgarian Orthodox church, with which a meeting was organised last year. Our parish too organises ecumenical meetings: the prayer service for women during Lent and the mixed family club, in which Protestants too participate”. The laity in Sankt Elisabeth. “The laity are very interested in theological formation and show a strong sense of responsibility for the Church – recognises the parish priest –. Some try to receive the canonical mandate, they attend courses in theology; others feel themselves responsible for the Church in general. For over 25 years I have been working without any chaplain or pastoral assistant, because the laity have assumed the task of preparing the faithful for baptism, First Communion and Confirmation and the service for the families of the dead. This also involves the young, even though some conflict exists between family and professional commitments and those of the parish. A strong sense of communion exists, and the Viennese are faithful to the Church but not uncritical. As parish priest, I also feel it is my duty to be the intermediary of the universal Church, and mediate between bishop and parish community: I think that the service of unity is one of the most important obligations of parish priests at the present time. In our parish a process of “rejuvenating” our lay volunteers is taking place; this is a positive aspect, but one that also requires patience because the young are willing to serve but not in a continuous fashion. We have a new parish council, with a group for families organised by young couples that seems to me very promising. I note a great willingness to collaborate in the liturgy: for example with the choir, which forms an integral part of our common liturgy”.