!!!König, Franz

b. Warth (district of Rabenstein, Lower Austria), Aug. 3, 1905, 
clergyman and theologian. Ordained as a priest in 1933, 1938-1945 
pastoral work with young people, 1949 university professor of Moral 
Theology in Salzburg, 1952-1956 Co-adjutor of the bishop in St. 
Poelten, 1956-1985 Archbishop of Vienna, 1958 Cardinal; as a member of 
two commissions K. made significant contributions to the 2nd Vatican 
Council. 1964 established the church endowment fund "Pro-Oriente", 
over which he presided until 1985, and which made significant progress 
in cooperation with the Churches of Eastern Europe and Asia. 1965-1980 
K. was President of the "Vatican Secretariat for Non-believers". His 
ecumenical commitment and openness to dialogue earned him high esteem 
beyond Church circles. In Austria, it is owing to his initiative that 
the tensions between the Roman Catholic Church and the 
Social-Democrats in the 2nd Austrian Republic were eased.

!Works
Christus und die Religionen der Erde, 3 vols., 1951; 
Zarathustras Jenseitsvorstellungen und das Alte Testament, 1964; Der 
Mensch ist fuer die Zukunft angelegt, 1975; Kirche und Welt, 1978; Der 
Weg der Kirche, 1986; Haus auf festem Grund, ed. by A. Fenzl a. R. R. 
Foeldy, 1994; Appelle an Gewissen und Vernunft, ed. by G. 
Hierzenberger, 1995.

!Literature
A. Fenzl (ed.), Kardinal K., 1985; A. Stirnemann (ed.), 30 
Jahre Pro Oriente, Festgabe fuer den Stifter F. Kardinal K. zu seinem 
90. Geburtstag, 1995; E. Mayerhofer, Kirche im Dialog. Kardinal Dr. F. 
K. und das Sekretariat fuer die Nichtglaubenden, 1999.


%%language
[Back to the Austrian Version|AEIOU/König,_Franz|class='wikipage austrian']
%%

[{FreezeArticle author='AEIOU' template='Lexikon_1995_englisch'}]
[{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW comment All}][{ALLOW edit FreezeAdmin}]