Austria's Religious Landscape: A Comprehensive Overview

Austria is a country with a rich religious history and diversity. While it maintains strong ties to the Catholic faith, with around 55% of the population identifying as Roman Catholic as of 2021, the country also guarantees freedom of religion as a statutorily protected right. This has led to a diverse religious landscape, with the number of Catholics declining and other religions gaining popularity. Austria's religious landscape is also influenced by its history, including its time as part of the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as events like World War II and immigration, which have all contributed to the country's current religious makeup.

Religious freedom in Austria

Religion in Austria is predominantly Christianity, with 68.2% of the country identifying as Christian according to a 2021 national survey. Of these, 80.9% are Catholic, 7.2% are Orthodox Christians, 5.6% are Protestant, and 6.2% are other Christians. However, the country also maintains strong ties to the Catholic faith due to its historical roots. In recent years, there has been a decline in Christianity and a proliferation of other religions, particularly in the capital state of Vienna.

Austria has a strong legal foundation for freedom of religion, with the right being statutorily guaranteed in the country. The Austrian Constitution enshrines freedom of religion, providing for a diverse religious landscape. The legal foundation for freedom of religion was created over a period of about two centuries, starting with the Patents of Tolerance of 1781/82. Additionally, Article 14 of the Basic Law on the General Rights of Nationals of 1867 guarantees freedom of conscience and creed for all residents. This article, combined with the Law regarding Inter-confessional Relationships of 1868, ensures that individuals have the right to join or leave any church or religious community of their choice or abstain from joining any at all.

Austria actively promotes freedom of religion and the protection of religious minorities at both the bilateral and multilateral levels. The Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration, and Foreign Affairs established an interreligious dialogue platform, bringing together representatives of all 16 legally acknowledged religious communities in Austria. Additionally, the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue (KAICIID), based in Vienna, provides another important dialogue platform with a focus on combating discrimination and stereotyping based on religion or belief.

Austria regularly addresses the issue of freedom of religion with countries facing religious conflicts or tensions, as well as with partner countries, to discuss potential joint initiatives at the international level. The country has also raised the issue at the United Nations Human Rights Council during its membership term from 2011 to 2014. Austria has supported the mandates of the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and the UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues, contributing to increased protection for religious minorities.

Austria's legal system is religiously neutral, and the state remains independent and autonomous from any specific church or religious community. The tasks and objectives of the state are exclusively worldly and non-spiritual. The country recognizes the importance of religious freedom as a basic right, with expressions of this right including freedom of creed, freedom of public worship, freedom of confession, and freedom of conscience.

Austrian law allows individuals over the age of fourteen to choose their religion freely. Until the age of ten, parents have the exclusive right to decide their child's religious affiliation, with the child being consulted between the ages of ten and twelve. From twelve to fourteen, a change of confession cannot be imposed on the child against their will, and they gain the right to choose their religion upon turning fourteen.

All citizens of Austria are equal before the law and enjoy the same civil and political rights, regardless of their religious confession. The free exercise of religion and freedom of religion and conscience are guaranteed for everyone, regardless of whether a church or religious community is legally recognized or not. All religious communities in Austria enjoy special protection under the law, with offenses such as denigration of religious doctrines and disturbance of religious events being prosecuted. Additionally, facilities and property dedicated to religious services are protected under criminal law.

Catholicism in Austria

Catholicism is the predominant religion in Austria, with 80.9% of Austrian Christians identifying as Catholic according to a 2021 national survey. The Catholic Church in Austria is governed by the Austrian Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is made up of the archbishops of Vienna and Salzburg, the bishops, and the abbot of the territorial abbey of Wettingen-Mehrerau. Each bishop is independent in their diocese and answerable only to the Pope. The current president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops is Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.

Austria has a long history of Catholicism, having been the centre of the Habsburg monarchy from 1273 to 1918, which championed Roman Catholicism. The Catholic Church was treated like a state religion in the lead-up to World War II, but after the war, a stricter secularism was imposed, and religious influence on politics declined. Despite this, strong Catholic sentiment still influences Austrian society and lawmaking. For example, gay marriage in Austria was only approved in 2019.

The Catholic Church in Austria has seen a decline in recent decades, with the number of Catholics decreasing from 89% in 1961 to 52% in 2022. This is primarily due to secularisation and migration. In 2021, only around 3.1% of the total Austrian population attended church on Sundays. Despite the decline, Catholicism remains the largest religion in Austria, with 50.6% of the population identifying as Catholic in 2023.

Austrian Christians are obliged to pay a mandatory membership fee, called "Kirchenbeitrag", to their church. This payment is calculated based on income and is typically around 1%. This may be a contributing factor to the decline in Catholicism, as younger Austrians may choose to leave the church to avoid this religious tax.

Islam in Austria

Islam is the largest minority religion in Austria, with 7.9% of the total population practising it as of 2016, according to the Austrian Academy of Sciences. This number rose to 8.3% in 2021. The majority of Muslims in Austria belong to the Sunni denomination and have a Turkish or Bosniak background. Most Muslims came to Austria during the 1960s as migrant workers from Turkey and Yugoslavia, though there are also communities of Arab and Afghan origin.

The first evidence of Muslims in Austria dates back to nomadic tribes from Asia that entered the region in 895, according to historian Smail Balić. Following the Ottoman conquest of the Medieval kingdom of Hungary in the 16th century, more Muslims moved into the territory that makes up modern-day Austria. Muslims were expelled after the Habsburg Empire took control of the region once again in the late 17th century but a few were allowed to remain after the signing of the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718. The Recognition Act in 1874 gave Christian and non-Christian communities, including Muslims, a legal framework to be recognised as religious societies. The largest number of Muslims came under Austrian control after the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878.

In 1904, Bosnian Muslim students in Vienna established the first Muslim association in Austria, the Islamite Academic Association "Zvijezda". In 1907, some of its members split off and established the Association of Progressive Islamite Academic Youth "Svijest". After the Annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 1908, "Svijest" organised an action committee for gaining recognition of Islam in Austria. Austria recognised Muslims as a religious society and regulated their religious freedoms with the so-called Islam Law in 1912.

In 2013, Austria granted the status of a recognised religious community to Alevism. In February 2015, a new Islam Law was passed by the Austrian parliament, making it illegal for mosques to receive foreign funding and for imams to be paid from abroad. The law also gave Muslims additional rights, such as the rights to halal food and pastoral care in the military.

In October 2017, the Austrian government passed a law banning face coverings. Many activists and experts labelled the law Islamophobic, arguing that it discriminated against Muslim women who wore religious face veils. In 2018, chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced that Austria would close seven mosques and deport 40 imams paid for by Turkey, in a bid to thwart political Islam. In the same year, Austria banned headscarves for children in kindergarten.

Judaism in Austria

Judaism has been present in Austria since the beginning of the 10th century. At its peak, over 200,000 Austrians identified as Jewish, and there were more than 90 synagogues and temples throughout the country. However, few sects have faced as much uncertainty as the Jews in Austria. During and after World War II, Austria's flourishing Jewish community was largely decimated. Some two-thirds fled to other countries, leaving only a few hundred Jews in Austria.

After the war, around 2,000 Jews returned to Austria, and the country re-established the Jewish Religious Association of Vienna. Today, there are nearly 10,000 Jews living in Austria, with most of the population in Vienna, Graz, and Salzburg. However, only one of Vienna's original synagogues has survived entirely. While it may be considered a minority religion in Austria, many Soviet and Iranian Jews have sought sanctuary in Vienna in recent years.

The history of the Jews in Austria began after the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation. There have been Jews in Austria since the 3rd century CE. In 2008, a team of archaeologists discovered a third-century CE amulet in the form of a gold scroll with the words of the Jewish prayer Shema Yisrael (Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one) inscribed on it in the grave of a Jewish infant in Halbturn. It is considered the earliest surviving evidence of a Jewish presence in what is now Austria.

In 1238, Vienna's Jews were granted a Charter of Privileges by Emperor Frederick II. Under its terms, he put them under his protection as so-called "chamber serfs." Then, in 1244, the "Charter of the Jews" was issued by Duke Frederick II. This set out terms for their protection and also settled legal questions such as judicial affairs and money lending. In subsequent centuries, there were several more such "Charters of the Jews," for example, under Maria Theresa in 1753 and 1764.

By the 14th century, a fixed Jewish tax was imposed, followed by persecution and massacres. In 1420, all Austrian Jews were arrested; 270 were burned at the stake, while the others were expelled and their property confiscated. The Vienna Gesera in 1421 brought the Jewish community in the Middle Ages to a bloody end. Jews were allowed to settle in the cities of Styria and Carinthia by King Friedrich III (1440–1493), but in 1496, Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian I (1459–1519) banished them from both cities at the request of local guilds.

Despite the 1669 Edict of Expulsion, several privileged Hofjuden, or court Jews, were allowed to live in Austria. In 1757, about 454 Jews, all members of 12 prominent families, lived in Vienna. By 1781, when Emperor Joseph II issued an "Edict of Tolerance," more than 1,500,000 Jews lived within the borders of the Habsburg Empire. After Joseph II's death, Austrian Jews again suffered a period of discrimination, interrupted by the short-lived "Pillersdorf constitution," which gave full equality to all religions practiced in the Empire.

It was not until the Enlightenment era that normal Jewish life could be re-established in Vienna when the Edict of Tolerance granted civil rights to Jews in 1782. However, it took almost another century before Jews were recognized as equal citizens in 1867. Then the Jewish community grew very quickly: in 1860, it numbered 6,200, but was already up to 40,200 by 1870 and 147,000 by around 1900.

During the first part of the 19th century, Austrian Jewry enjoyed a stealthy existence of sorts. In 1824, Rabbi Isak Noa Mannheimer was brought to Vienna as a preacher to the city's growing Jewish population. Four years later, when Rabbi Lazar Horowitz was invited to serve as Chief Rabbi of Vienna, he received the official title of Ritualienaufseher, or "Rituals Supervisor." The Vienna Synagogue was consecrated in 1826, and that same year, Salomon Sulzer was appointed Head Cantor of the Synagogue. In 1849, Emperor Franz Joseph formally sanctioned an autonomous Jewish religious community, and the Jews of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were accorded full civil rights in 1867.

The Jewish Community (Kultusgemeinde) was established as a result of a Habsburg statute of 1890, which granted Austrian Jews religious autonomy. In January 1938, there were approximately 190,000 Jews living in Austria, most of whom were members of the Kultusgemeinde. One-third of these were no longer alive in May 1945.

The pre-1938 Austrian Jewish community was strong not only in numbers but also in breadth and spirit. Before 1938, there were 34 Jewish communities in Austria. For example, in Vienna alone, besides the 22 synagogues and over 50 prayer houses, there was a Jewish museum, Jewish libraries, schools, hospitals, orphanages, sports clubs, Yiddish theaters, kosher kitchens, Zionist organizations, political associations, newspapers, and journals, and many charitable foundations. Altogether, there were an estimated 440 synagogues, prayer houses, organizations, clubs, and associations. One of the largest groups was the Jewish World War I Veterans' Association.

As a minority, Jews made up 3% of the Austrian population but 10% of the Viennese population. In Vienna, they were disproportionately highly represented in the professions, especially in textiles and the arts and academia. Significant contributions to the health and welfare of the Austrian Jewish community in the years between 1933 and 1937 also came from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in the area of aid for rehabilitation, reconstruction, and refugees.

The Austrian Jewish community of 1938—Vienna alone counted more than 200,000—was reduced to around 4,500 during World War II, with about 65,000 Jewish Austrians killed in the Holocaust and 130,000 emigrating. The large majority of the current Jewish population are post-war immigrants, particularly from Eastern Europe and Central Asia (including Bukharan Jews).

Religious demographics of Austria

Austria is a secular country that upholds freedom of religion as a statutorily guaranteed right. Its constitution enshrines freedom of religion, and the country's laws prohibit religious discrimination. While Austria maintains strong ties to the Catholic faith, the social landscape is evolving, and the country is becoming increasingly diverse in terms of religious demographics.

Christianity is the predominant religion in Austria, with 68.2% of the population identifying as Christians in the 2021 national survey. Among Christians, the majority are Catholics (80.9%), followed by Orthodox Christians (7.2%), Protestants (5.6%), and other Christians (6.2%). The influence of the Catholic Church in Austria can be traced back to its history as the centre of the Habsburg monarchy, which championed Roman Catholicism. However, the country has seen a decline in Catholicism over the past decades, with the percentage of Catholics decreasing from 73.8% in 2001 to 55.2% in 2021.

The second-largest religious group in Austria is Muslims, who make up 8.3% of the population as of 2021. The Muslim community in Austria has been present for over a century and has grown significantly due to immigration, particularly from Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, and the Balkans. The Islamic Religious Community was officially recognised in the 1912 Act of Recognition, and Muslims generally have the same religious rights as Christians.

Other religious groups in Austria include Orthodox Christians (4.9%), Jews (0.1%), and followers of other religions (1.2%). Additionally, a significant proportion of the population declared no religious affiliation in the 2021 census (22.4%).

Austria recognises a wide range of religions, including all the major world religions as well as smaller religious communities. There are 16 legally recognised religious societies in the country, including the Catholic Church, various Protestant and Orthodox churches, the Jewish religious community, the Islamic Religious Community, and Buddhist, Methodist, and Mormon communities, among others.

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