There has seen a record number of departures from the Roman Catholic Church in Vorarlberg, according to Radio Vorarlberg.It reported today (Mon) that 2,600 people had left the Church since the beginning of the year, already more than the record number of 2,515 during 2009.
It added that news of cases of abuse of children by priests and the Church tax were the main reasons for the increase.
Radio Vorarlberg noted, however, that the number of departures during the first two weeks of May had been roughly the same as average during pervious years.
The increase in Church departures in Vorarlberg is symptomatic of a broader trend as more Austrians than ever in history are expected to leave the Catholic Church this year.
Official figures released late last month showed that 30,004 people had left the Church in the first three months of the year, up by 42 per cent compared to the same time span of 2009 when more people than ever cancelled their membership.
The developments mean that between 70,000 and 80,000 Austrians are expected to leave the Church this year after last year’s record number of 53,216.
The image of the Austrian Catholic Church has suffered as hundreds of people have come forward to reveal how they were beaten or verbally or sexually abused by clergy and staff at Catholic boarding schools and other clerical institutions.
Research by public opinion agency Integral showed earlier this year that 69 per cent of Austrians thought the Church was lacking in credibility in its dealing with the revelations.
A recent Karmasin poll showed that 57 per cent of Austrians thought Pope Benedict XVI should resign amid the sex abuse incidents across Europe.
Public debate regarding the Church in Austria was dominated last year by controversial statements from Gerhard Maria Wagner, the ultra-conservative pastor in Windischgarsten, Upper Austria.
Wagner branded the best-selling Harry Potter books by Joanne K. Rowling a "work of Satan" and called homosexuality a "curable disease". He also claimed that natural disasters such as tsunamis and hurricanes were God’s punishment for human sin.
He was nominated by Pope Benedict XVI to become auxiliary bishop of the Linz diocese but eventually announced he had decided to stay at his local parish.
Wagner hit the headlines this year when he claimed that January’s Haiti earthquake was God’s punishment since "nine in ten people living there believe in voodoo".
Church leaders face the problem of upcoming financial bottlenecks caused by a decreasing number of financial contributions to the so-called church tax that every Church member has to pay.
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