Vienna’s work against persecution praised

Both Pope Francis and the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, have expressly praised Austria for its engagement against the persecution of Christians, writes Christa Pongratz-Lippitt.

After meeting them both last week the Austrian Foreign Minister, Sebastian Kurz, said: “The Pope is counting on Austria as far as engagement against Christian persecution is concerned.” At his meeting with Archbishop Gallagher, Mr Kurz told the Austrian Kurier  newspaper, the archbishop had especially praised Austria’s new law on Islam which was passed in February. The law forbids Muslim communities from being financed from abroad, and requires imams to speak German.