Religious Freedom Summary* (1997)


The Constitution generally provides for freedom of religion of individuals. The status of religious organizations, however, is governed by the 1874 "Law on Recognition" of churches. Officially, 75.3 percent of the populace is Roman Catholic, and there are 11 other recognized religious organizations.

Religious recognition under the 1874 law has wide-ranging implications, e.g., the authority to participate in the state-collected religious taxation program, engage in religious education, and import religious workers to act as ministers, missionaries, or teachers. Although in the past nonrecognized religious groups have had problems obtaining resident permits for foreign religious workers, administrative procedures adopted in 1997 partially have addressed this problem.

Previously, some nonrecognized religious groups were able to organize as legal entities or associations, although this route has not been universally available. Some groups even have done so while applying for recognition as religious communities under the 1874 law. Many such applications for recognition have languished in the Education Ministry, in some cases for years. Following years of bureaucratic delay and an administrative court order instructing the Education Ministry to render a decision, the Ministry denied in July the request for recognition of Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses appealed this decision to the Administrative Court.

In December Parliament passed a new law that allows nonrecognized religious groups to seek official status as confessional communities without many of the benefits available to recognized religions. To apply groups must have 300 members and submit to the Government their written statutes, describing the goals, rights, and obligations of members, membership regulations, officials, and financing. Groups also must submit a written version of their religious doctrine, which must differ from that of any existing religion recognized under the 1874 law or registered under the new law, for a determination that their basic beliefs do not violate public security, public order, health and morals, or the rights and freedoms of citizens. The new law also sets out additional criteria for eventual recognition according to the 1874 law, such as a 20 year observation period (at least 10 of which must be as a group organized as a confessional community under the new law) and membership equaling at least two one-thousandths of the Austrian population. Many religious groups and independent congregations do not meet the 300-member threshold for registration under the new law, and only Jehovah's Witnesses currently meet the higher membership requirement for recognition under the 1874 law.

Proponents of the law describe it as an opportunity for religious groups to become officially registered as religious organizations, providing them with a government "quality seal." Numerous religious groups not recognized by the State, as well as some religious law experts, however, dismiss the purported benefits of obtaining status under the new law and have complained that the new law's additional criteria for recognition under the 1874 law obstruct claims to recognition and formalize a second-class status for nonrecognized groups. Experts have questioned the new law's constitutionality.

In 1997 the Government continued its information campaign against religious sects considered potentially harmful to individuals and society. As part of this campaign, the Family Ministry published a widely distributed brochure describing the potential dangers of membership in various nontraditional religious groups. The Family Minister publicly declared his determination to combat dangerous religious groups.

In August the Austrian People's Party (OeVP) decided that party membership is incompatible with membership in a sect. Understanding that he would be expelled as a consequence of this decision if he did not withdraw from either Scientology or the party, a local OeVP politician resigned from the party and abandoned plans for running on the OeVP ticket in October local elections. In July a national OeVP politician was criticized heavily across the political spectrum for his friendship with the local politician.

*Source: County Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997, U.S. Department of State