{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] --> {{Infobox Christian denomination | icon = Emblem of the Papacy SE.svg | icon_width = 25px | icon_alt = | name = Catholic Church in Austria | native_name = {{langx|de-AT|Katholische Kirche in Österreich}} | native_name_lang = de | image = Wien_-_Stephansdom_(3).JPG | imagewidth = 200px | alt = | caption = [[St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna|St. Stephen's Cathedral]], [[Vienna]]. | abbreviation = | type = [[National polity]] | main_classification = [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] | orientation = [[Latin Church|Latin]] | scripture = | theology = | polity = [[Episcopal polity|Episcopal]] | governance = [[Episcopal Conference of Austria]] | structure = | leader_title = [[Pope]] | leader_name = {{incumbent pope}} | leader_title1 = [[Episcopal Conference of Austria|Chairman]] | leader_name1 = [[Franz Lackner]] | leader_title2 = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg|Primas Germaniae]] | leader_name2 = [[Franz Lackner]] | leader_title3 = [[Apostolic Nuncio to Austria|Apostolic Nuncio]] | leader_name3 = [[Pedro López Quintana]] | fellowships_type = | fellowships = | fellowships_type1 = | fellowships1 = | division_type = | division = | division_type1 = | division1 = | division_type2 = | division2 = | division_type3 = | division3 = | associations = | area = [[Austria]] | language = [[Austrian German|German]], [[Ecclesiastical Latin|Latin]] | headquarters = [[Vienna]], Austria | origin_link = | founder = | founded_date = | founded_place = | separated_from = | parent = | merger = | absorbed = | separations = | merged_into = | defunct = | congregations_type = | congregations = | members = <!-- or |number_of_followers = -->4,557,471 (49.6 %) (2024) | ministers_type = | ministers = | missionaries = | churches = | hospitals = | nursing_homes = | aid = | primary_schools = | secondary_schools = | tax_status = | tertiary = | other_names = | publications = | website = [http://www.bischofskonferenz.at/ Episcopal Conference of Austria] | slogan = | logo = | footnotes = }}
{{Catholic Church by country}} [[File:Innsbruck Dom St. Jakob bei Nacht 1.jpg|thumb|250px|Innsbruck Cathedral]] The '''Catholic Church in Austria''' is part of the worldwide [[Catholic Church]] in [[full communion]] with the [[Pope]] in [[Rome]]. The Church's governing body in Austria is the Austrian Conference of Catholic Bishops, made up of the hierarchy of the two archbishops ([[Archbishop of Vienna|Vienna]] and [[Archbishop of Salzburg|Salzburg]]), the bishops and the abbot of [[territorial abbey]] of [[Wettingen-Mehrerau]]. Nevertheless, each bishop is independent in his own diocese, answerable only to the Pope. The current president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops is [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Christoph Schönborn]]. The Austrian church is the largest Christian Confession of [[Austria]], with 4.56 million members (49.6 % of the total Austrian population) in 2024.<ref name="katstat"/>
For more than 50 years, however, the proportion of Catholics has decreased, primarily due to secularization and migration (from 89% in 1961 to under 50% in 2024). The number of Sunday churchgoers in 2023 was around 4.1 percent (as percentage of the total Austrian population that is 378,797 churchgoers out of a total population of 9,158,750).
Although Austria has no [[Primate (bishop)|primate]], the [[archbishop of Salzburg]] is titled ''Primus Germaniae'' ([[Primate of Germany]]).
==Organisation== {| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width=250 align="right" rules="all" style="margin: 1em; background: #ffffff; border: 2px solid #aaa; font-size: 100%;" |- bgcolor=#DDDDDD | colspan=8 align="center" | '''Main Churches in Austria''' <ref>[https://www.statistik.at/statistiken/bevoelkerung-und-soziales/bevoelkerung/bevoelkerungsstand/bevoelkerung-zu-jahres-/-quartalsanfang Austrian Population], retrieved 17 September 2025</ref><ref name="katstat">[http://www.katholisch.at/statistik Catholic Church, Statistical Data 2003 - 2024 in German], retrieved 17 September 2025</ref><ref>[http://evang.at/kirche/zahlen-fakten/ Lutheran Church, Statistical Data 2024 in German], retrieved 17 September 2025</ref> |- bgcolor=#f0f0f0 align="center" ! year ! population ! Catholics ! % ! Protestants ! % |- align="center" | 1951 || 6,933,905 || 6,170,084 || 89.0% || 429,493 || 6.2% |- align="center" | 1961 || 7,073,807 || 6,295,075 || 89.0% || 438,663 || 6.2% |- align="center" | 1971 || 7,491,526 || 6,548,316 || 87.4% || 447,070 || 6,0% |- align="center" | 1981 || 7,555,338 || 6,372,645 || 84.3% || 423,162 || 5,6% |- align="center" | 1991 || 7,795,786 || 6,081,454 || 78.0% || 388,709 || 5.0% |- align="center" | 2001 || 8,032,926 || 5,915,421 || 73.6% || 376,150 || 4.7% |- align="center" | 2011 || 8,408,121 || 5,403,722 || 64.3% || 319,752 || 3.8% |- align="center" | 2021 || 8,979,894 || 4,827,683 || 53.8% || 270,585 || 3.0% |- align="center" | 2022 || 9,104,772 || 4,733,085 || 52.0% || 263,627 || 2.9% |- align="center" | 2023 || 9,158,750 || 4,638,842 || 50.6% || 255,738 || 2.8% |- align="center" | 2024 || 9,197,213 || 4,557,471 || 49.6% || 248,113 || 2.7% |}
===Ecclesiastical structure=== [[Image:Austria dioecesis 20saec.png|200px|thumb|Austrian dioceses since 1968]]
*[[Archdiocese of Vienna]] with the following [[suffragan diocese]]s: **[[Diocese of Eisenstadt]] **[[Diocese of Linz]] **[[Diocese of St. Pölten]] *[[Archdiocese of Salzburg]] with the following suffragans **[[Diocese of Graz-Seckau]] **[[Diocese of Gurk]] **[[Diocese of Feldkirch]] **[[Diocese of Innsbruck]] *[[Territorial Abbey of Wettingen-Mehrerau]] (immediately subject to the [[Holy See]]) *[[Military Ordinariate of Austria]] (immediately subject to the Holy See)
===List of Catholic organisations in Austria=== *[[Caritas Austria]] *[[Katholische Jungschar]] *[[Katholische Jugend]]
==Statistics== 71% of Austrian Catholics support [[same-sex marriage]] and 26% oppose it.<ref>[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/02/how-catholics-around-the-world-see-same-sex-marriage-homosexuality/ How Catholics around the world see same-sex marriage, homosexuality] ''[[Pew Research Center]]''</ref>
==Criticism==
===Call to Disobedience organization=== {{Main|Call to Disobedience}} The organization Call to Disobedience (''Aufruf zum Ungehorsam'' in [[German language|German]]) is an [[Austria]]n movement mainly composed of [[dissident]] Catholic priests which started in 2006. The movement claims that it is "positively received" by the majority of Austrian Catholic priests<ref name=helmut>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131213190511/http://www.catholictippingpoint.org/helmut The Catholic Tipping Point], old page version at archive.org</ref> and favors [[ordination of women]], married and non-celibate priesthood, allowing [[Holy Communion]] to remarried [[divorce]]es and non-Catholics which disagrees with teachings of the Catholic [[Magisterium]]. The group also believes the way the Church is governed needs reform.<ref name=helmut/>
==Notable people== *[[Mozart]] *[[Emerich Coreth]] *[[Leopold III, Margrave of Austria]] *[[Heinrich Maier]], important resistance fighter against Nazi terror *[[Gregor Mendel]] *[[Zacharias Traber]] *[[Franz Wasner]] [[File:Linz-cathedrale.jpg|250px|thumb|Linz Cathedral]]
==See also== *[[Apostolic Nuncio to Austria]] *[[Old Catholic Church of Austria]] *[[Eastern Orthodoxy in Austria]] *[[Religion in Austria]] *[[Freedom of religion in Austria]] *[[Catholic Church by country]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.katholisch.at/ Catholic Church in Austria]
{{Religion in Austria}} {{Catholicism in Europe}}
[[Category:Catholic Church in Austria| ]]