Date: 2015-04-06

Written by Matthias Jakubec

Activities of the Movement "We are Church" (WaC)

• April 05, 2014: annual conference in Salzburg. Dr. Martha Heizer got elected as head of the chair and Gidi Außerhofer and Matthias Jakubec as her deputies.
• May 01–04, 2014: Austrian single member Matthias Jakubec participates as an observer for WaC in the annual conference of the European Network “Church on the Move” at Drongen near Ghent, Belgium.
• June ‑ September 2014: Hans Peter Hurka, former chairman of WaC Austria, challenges Martha Heizer after the promotion of her excommunication by bishop Scheuer in her position as the current chair women.
• September 27, 2014: extraordinary conference in Salzburg. Dr. Martha Heizer gets confirmed by a two third majority in her position as chair women.
• Around October 04, 2014: delegates of the Intetnational Movement ‘We Are Church’ (IMWAC) were present in Rome during the extraordinary bishops’ synod about the spirituality of the family (October 5‑19, 2014); Martha Heizer is one of them. They performed press conferences and other media work.
• Council 50: the project in consequence of the 50^th anniversary of the 2^nd Vatican council is in progress. WaC Austria supports the preparation work of the involved international and national church reform groups as well as the book project “II^nd Vatican Council Revisited”.
• 5 issues of our news letter “Wir sind Kirche” (We are Church).
• Several press releases.

Events in the AustrianChurch

• May 21, 2014: Dr. Manfred Scheuer, Bischop of Innsbruck, officially states the excommunication of Martha and Gert Heizer, who have celebrated Eucharist together with a group of friends but without an ordained priest in their home, which has been filmed by the Austrian TV three years ago.
• October 5‑19, 2014: Austrian bishops participate in the bishops synod in Rome. Critical input has been submitted by WaC and other lay movements in response to the preparation questionnaire published by the bishops in the end of 2013.
• November 15, 2014: Study day of the Austrian church reform movements about dignity and rights of women in the church in St. Pölten.

Looking Forward to 2015: Activities and Events

• March 13‑15: WaC will host the IMWAC meeting in Vienna.
• September 25‑26: “Feier mit Feuer”, celebration of the 20^th anniversary of WaC Austria in Salzburg.
• Autumn 2014: bishops synod in Rome. WaC Austria will participate in the accompanying national and international work.