European Network- Chur​ch​ on the Move

Annual Report from Austria about 2015

Category: Austria

 Date: 2016-04-10


Written by Matthias Jakubec

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

  • March 13-15, 2015: WaC Austria hosts the Council of IMWAC (International Movement “We Are Church”) and a preparation meeting for Council 50 in Vienna.
  • April 13-17, 2015: Martha Heizer from WaC and Helmut Schüller participate in the 2nd international meeting of initiatives of catholic pastors in Limerick, Ireland.
  • April 18, 2015: Annual conference of WaC in Salzburg.
  • June 17, 2015: WaC demonstrates on the occasion of the ending mass of the Austrian bishops conference in Mariazell and asks the bishops they should dare to follow the pope.
  • September 25-26, 2015: 20th anniversary of WaC, “Feier mit Feuer” (Celebration with Fire) in Salzburg.
  • October 2015: Delegates of IMWAC are present in Rome during the ordinary bishops’ synod about the spirituality of the family (October 2‑25, 2015); Martha Heizer is one of them. They perform press conferences and other media work.
  • November 11-17, 2015; Gotlind and Ignaz Hammerer from WaC Austria participate in the rally 50 years “Pact of the Catacombs” in Rome.
  • November 19, 2015: Austrian single member Matthias Jakubec participates as an observer for WaC in the annual conference of the European Network “Church on the Move” in Rome.
  • November 20-22, 2015; Gotlind and Ignaz Hammerer and Matthias Jakubec from WaC Austria participate in the Council 50 assembly in Rome.
  • The book “Aufbruch aus der Erstarrung”, the result of the project about IInd Vatican Council revisited is published. It is written by several lay groups from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other countries and contains comments about and amendments to the documents of Vaticanum II.
  • 4 issues of our news letter “Wir sind Kirche” (We are Church).
  • Several press releases.

Events in the AustrianChurch

  • June 14, 2015: Wilhelm Krautwaschl becomes ordained as the new bishop of Graz-Seckau. He seems to be rather open minded. WaC appreciates his appointment.

Looking Forward to 2015: Activities and Events

  • November 12, 2016: WaC together with other church reform movements will organise a study day about the transmission of the faith to the next generation with the title “Die alte Kirche und die jungen Leute” (“The Old Church and the Young People”) in Vienna.