Three years since its introduction, the “ecumenical Sozialwort” is more relevant than ever: the positive nature of the event was underlined during a ceremony held in the Austrian Parliament on 30 November. “Sozialwort continues to be a means of guiding social endeavour”, said the Right Rev. Maximilian Aichern, retired bishop of Linz, promoter of the event that has seen the participation of fourteen Christian Churches in the drafting of a common document on social commitment in Austria. According to Bishop Herwig Sturm, chairman of the Ecumenical Council of the Austrian Churches (ÖRKO), the actuality of Sozialwort derives from the fact that “issues such as social assistance, education, human rights and employment, were already discussed in the document with reference to the future”. The director of the evangelical charity Diakonie, Michael Chalupka, pointed out how indispensable Sozialwort is for the current discussion on the themes of assistance and minimum guaranteed assistance. Its aim, he added, is “to place on the agenda issues that would otherwise not be tackled with the necessary urgency”. Lastly, Orthodox Metropolitan Michael Staikos called Sozialwort “a sign of ecumenism in practice”. It shows, he said, that religion and the Church are not “private affairs but factors that form the person and that must therefore be supported by the State”.
