The Catholic Church in Austria shrank by almost 2% last year, according to statistics released Wednesday.
The Austrian bishops’ conference said Sept. 18 that the number of Catholics fell from 4,733,085 in 2022 to 4,638,842 in 2023, a decline of 94,243, or 1.99%.
In 2023, 85,163 people formally left the Church in Austria, down from 90,975 the year before, but more than in 2021 and 2020, when 72,222 and 58,727 people left respectively.
The bishops’ conference said the decline in Catholic numbers was due to an unfavorable ratio between baptisms and deaths, as well as “church exits.”
There were 39,488 baptisms and 50,900 church funerals in 2023 in the Central European country with a total population of around 9 million.
The bishops’ conference suggested that a drop in the number of baptisms last year was linked to a decline in the number of births in Austria. In 2023, 77,605 children were born, 6.1% fewer than in 2022.
The Archdiocese of Vienna’s spokesman Michael Prüller said that after the “turbulent period of the pandemic,” the figures were returning to their previous downward trajectory.
“The Church will look different in 20 years’ time than it did 20 years ago. We will also no longer have the same resources,” he commented.
“Our income has long been increasing only nominally, but is falling in value — for example, our total income will have risen by only 3.9% in 2023, which is just half the inflation rate. So there are many things we can no longer afford, or will soon no longer be able to afford.”
“But there is a good side to this, because the pressure to save money is forcing us to focus on our core tasks and explore new avenues as a creative minority.”
As in neighboring Germany, Catholics in Austria must pay a church tax, known locally as the Kirchenbeitrag (church contribution). It amounts to about 1.1% of annual taxable income.
From 2025, Catholics will be able to earmark 50% of their church contribution to specific areas, such as youth work or the environment.
Austria’s nine dioceses received 511 million euros from the church contribution in 2023, representing 73% of their income. That marked an increase from 2022, when the church contribution amounted to 500 million euros.
The dioceses had a total income of around 696 million euros in 2023, but total expenses of 730 million euros.
To formally leave the Church in Austria, a Catholic must submit a withdrawal declaration to a competent authority in person or in writing, along with official documents such as a baptismal certificate, and pay an administrative fee.
They no longer pay the church contribution, and are also considered to have lost access to the sacraments, the right to a church burial, and the ability to serve as a baptismal or confirmation sponsor.
Last year, 4,575 people were readmitted or newly admitted to the Church in Austria, down from 4,771 the year before. There were 208 adult baptisms in 2023, a decrease from 226 in 2022.
First communions dipped from 46,728 in 2022 to 45,132 in 2023. There were 38,122 confirmations in 2023, down from 41,204 in 2022.
In 2023, 8,228 couples married in Catholic churches, compared to 9,503 in 2022.
The number of priests working in Austria in 2023 was 3,320, a drop from 3,403 in 2022, while 153 diocesan priests from Austria were serving abroad.
The number of male religious fell from 359 in 2022 to 340 in 2023, while female religious declined from 2,828 in 2022 to 2,721 in 2023.
The Church in Austria will be represented at next month’s session of the synod on synodality by bishops’ conference president Archbishop Franz Lackner, the Bishop of Salzburg.
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the 79-year-old Archbishop of Vienna, will also be present as a member of the Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops.
