Many Muslims convert as adult baptisms increase

Adult baptisms in Austria are booming, with many former Muslims converting. Six hundred and thirty-three adults will be received into the Catholic Church in the weeks leading up to Easter, compared to 411 last year, writes Christa Pongratz-Lippitt.

In the Vienna archdiocese, where the number has doubled, 80 per cent of the converts have a Muslim background and they come from 19 different countries. By far the largest group is from Iran, followed by Afghanistan. Seventy-eight per cent of those converting are aged between 14 and 35 and 69 per cent are male.

The admission ceremony in Vienna on 2 March, at which the catechumens receive their diocesan bishop’s permission to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, was held behind closed doors because many of the converts, especially those from Iran, feared reprisals against their families.

Some of these people had already wanted to become Christians there but had experienced such hostility or even death threats that they had fled the country, the director of the adult catechumenate in the Vienna archdiocese, Friederike Dostal, told Kathpress. Many Muslims were most impressed by the fact that Christianity allowed far greater freedom, compared to the religious regime they had experienced in their homelands; also that men and women were equal and that Christians did not kill their enemies, Dostal said.

Anyone who wanted to become a Catholic in Vienna had to spend at least a year learning the basics of Christianity. At the same time, they had to grow into and become at home in a parish or Catholic community, Dostal added.
“This very thorough preparation enables both the catechumen, us and the parish to recognise whether the wish to become a Catholic is genuine,” she said, adding that would-be converts often had to be rejected if their motivation was utilitarian.

Two hundred and fifty-four converts, compared to 121 last year, is a new record for the Vienna archdiocese. However, Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, where 165 adults will be baptised around Easter, compared to 75 last year, is not far behind. In Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol, the number of converts has risen from 37 last year to 65 this year.