Parish clustering begins in earnest

As from the beginning of the new church year, the present 653 parishes in the Vienna archdiocese have been clustered into 140 so-called “development areas”, each of which will evenutally become a “new parish” (Pfarre Neu), writes Christa Pongratz-Lippitt.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn announced the news in a special pastoral letter to each parish on 25 November.

Each “development area” consists of two or more parishes which are encouraged to work closely together from now on and to pool resources.

There will be three to five priests in each development area but eventually only one of them will remain parish priest of each new parish. The other priests will become parish vicars – a newly created office – but will go on receiving the same salary as a parish priest.
Only one of the present five parish churches in Vienna’s first district will remain the parish church for the district and that will be St Stephen’s Cathedral parish.

Eleven parishes in Vienna’s 10th district have already been clustered into three new parishes.

Up to 2019, the clustering will be on a voluntary basis, but the cardinal fully expected conflict and tensions, Schönborn’s vicar-general, Nikolaus Krasa, told journalists.

It would then be up to the newly created “coordination teams” operating in each development area to underline the importance of loving one’s neighbour, he said.

The long-term aim is for 80 per cent of all the parishes in the Vienna archdiocese to become new parishes by 2022.