Austria: 450,000 Orthodox believers live in the country

The number of Orthodox Christians living in Austria today is 400,000 to 450,000, according to a cover story in the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), for the Clean Monday celebration by the Orthodox and the religious customs of the Great Lent.

As pointed out, the exact number of Orthodox believers in Austria is not known, as there are no newer official figures since the last census that had taken place in the country in 2001.

Last October, the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, in an article on the recognition of the autocephalous of the Ukrainian Church by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, referred to figures taken from the Secretariat of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Austria regarding the number of Orthodox believers in the country, ANA -MPA states.

According to these figures, in 2014 the number of Orthodox believers in Austria amounted to 500,000, while the Secretariat of the Metropolis did not preclude that this figure could actually reach 750,000 or even 800,000.

According to the data reported in the broadcast of ORF, 35,000 reportedly belong to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, 40,000 belong to the Patriarchate of Moscow, the Bulgarian and the Romanian Orthodox Churches, while the majority, about 300,000 believers, belong to the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The Orthodox Religious education, in which more than 10,000 primary and secondary school pupils are currently attending in Austria, is taught by 80 teachers, appointed by the Metropolitan of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which is the competent and supreme authority, while there is a coordinator which coordinates and supervises the work of teachers, ANA-MPA says.

Source: Romfea