Austrian Chancellor Meets with Patriarch Bartholomew - offers support to the Church

On 27 February 2018,His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew attended the 50th anniversary celebration of the Orthodox Law (Orthodoxoxengesetz) in Vienna,Austria.Enacted on 23 June,1967,it gave legal status to the Church's ecclesiastical and social activities.Under the law,the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Austria,its parishes and dioceses,which are within the Ecumenical Patriarchate,are given the status of public corporations.The Conference of Orthodox Bishops of Austria,chaired by the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Austria,is given legal recognition as well,including the privilege of commenting on legislation.*
The anniversary events began with Vespers at St.George Greek Orthodox Church in Vienna.The commemoration then moved to Holy Trinity Orthodox Church for speeches on the life of the Orthodox Church in Austria.His Eminence Kurt Cardinal Koch of Switzerland,Chairman of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity,brought greetings from His Holiness Pope Francis,who also donated 100,000 euros toward building the first Orthodox Monastery in Austria in honour of the occasion.*
Earlier in the day,Patriarch Bartholomew was received at the Chancellery by His Excellency Sebastian Kurz,Chancellor of Austria.He was accompanied by His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France and His Eminence Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria.They discussed several topics of relevance to Church and society today,including the respect for religious freedom and human rights;the Ecumenical Patriarchate's role and position in Turkey;the position of the Church in Austria;and the possibilities for supporting the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Austria.They also discussed Austria's assumption of the European Union presidency later this year.Chancellor Kurz said Austria was ready to support the important work of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
With some 400,000-450,000 members,the Orthodox Church is the second largest group of Christians in Austria,after the Roman Catholic Church.Besides the Greek Orthodox Metropolis,there are Russian,Serbian,Romainian and Bulgarian Orthodox parishes in the country as well.*
In a tweet,Chancellor Kurz said:
The Orthodox faith community makes a valuable contribution to living together in Austria.Above all,I should like to congratulate you on the 50th anniversary of the Orthodox Law.