Fasting from use of the car: that’s what the Catholic and Evangelical Churches of Upper Austria and the diocese of Linz are asking of their faithful for Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday. The aim is to help protect the climate and conserve the creation. Participants are asked to register on the website www.autofasten.at. “The meaning of Lent is to focus on what’s important and achieve real freedom. Ever since its origins it has been aimed at enabling us to discover, and cast off, the mistaken attachments in our own life”, explains Michael Rosenberger, spokesman of the diocese of Linz for the environment. To support the initiative, the traffic authority for Upper Austria (Oövv) is making available discounted tickets for public transport for all forty days of abstinence from the car. To increase constancy in renouncing use of the car, a “diary of fasting from the car” is also available. Other than the diocese of Linz, the Evangelical Church of Upper Austria and the Oövv, the project is also being supported by Catholic Action, the regional authorities, the Austrian Alliance for the Climate (Klimabündnis) of Upper Austria and many other agencies and associations. The diocese of Linz is also running an e-mail service for preparation for Easter, described on the website www.dioezese-linz.at/bibel. This year, for the first time, the project is also being extended to the dioceses of Salzburg, Innsbruck and Feldkirch. The e-mails are sent on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and contain the texts for Sunday, ideas for reflection and links with the Sunday pages of the dailies that support the project.
