Katholikentage#

Catholic Rallies are official meetings of the Austrian Catholics in which general Christian, Catholic and also socio-political matters are highlighted. The First Austrian Catholic Rally took place in Vienna in 1877 and centred upon educational matters. In the second meeting (Vienna 1889) social issues were in the foreground. The third meeting held in Linz in 1892 was mainly devoted to the Catholic Press (the Catholic newspaper "Reichspost" was founded ); the meeting at Salzburg in1896 called for a Catholic university. At the 5th Catholic Rally in Vienna in 1905 the Austrian Catholics agreed on forming a central umbrella organisation for all Austrian Catholics: ( Katholischer Volksbund). The 6th meeting in 1907 in Vienna was characterized by controversial ideological views on universities. The 7th meeting took place in Innsbruck in 1910 and the "Katholikentag der Deutschen Oesterreichs" in 1913 in Linz was no longer an all-Austrian event. In the time between the two World Wars there was an Austrian Catholic Rally in 1923 and a German Catholic Rally in 1933, both in Vienna. The meeting in Vienna in 1952 had the motto "Freedom and Dignity of the Human Being" and the meeting in Salzburg in 1962 had the motto "Do not quench the Spirit!" In preparation of these two meetings days of study had been organised. The 13th meeting in 1974 in Vienna took place directly after the "Synodaler Vorgang", an important assembly of both laity and clergy in which a broad variety of Catholic matters was discussed. The 14th Catholic Rally in Vienna in 1983 was marked by the pastoral visit of Pope John Paul II to Austria.

Literature#