Austria needs Good Friday as a holiday for everyone
The Evangelical Church will not give up and will continue to campaign for the reintroduction of Good Friday as a public holiday. This was confirmed by the Lutheran bishop Michael Chalupka in an interview with the news agency “Kathpress” (Wednesday). The abolition of Good Friday as a holiday for Protestant Christians in Austria is an open and painful wound. He thought it would make sense to declare Good Friday a public holiday for everyone, the bishop said.
All attempts to reverse this have so far failed due to the government’s unwillingness and economic considerations. However, the abolition happened under one government and at a time “when one could not imagine that the future could not be planned, that the economy did not have priority”. But now the pandemic and the war in Ukraine are showing how vulnerable the world is. It would be all the more important for the future to have such a day of concern for everyone’s vulnerability on Good Friday. “A day when we remember that we don’t have everything under control.”
According to Chalupka, politicians should come to their senses “and not see Good Friday as a privilege for the evangelicals, but declare it a public holiday as a sign of the vulnerability of society”.
A second aspect of Good Friday: With the abolition of this special holiday, the Republic of Austria has also taken a day of remembrance for itself. “A day of remembrance that focused on the history of dealing with the Evangelicals, with a religious minority in Austria.” According to Chalupka, Good Friday was something like “a memorial to the terrible times of the Counter-Reformation”: “The fact that there is no longer a memorial still hurts us. And it will stay that way. That means that this question will be solved have to.”
Climate protection and self-defence
In an interview with the “Oberen Nachrichten” (Wednesday), the Lutheran bishop once again urged committed climate protection. At the same time he conceded: “We have done too little – and that affects my generation. We could have known much earlier what development we were facing. That applies to me personally as well as to politics.” Now you are at a point “where we still have six to eight years to change course”. But it is important not to become apocalyptic. Chalupka: “Just being scared and saying everything will perish makes no sense. In our tradition, prophecy has always had an aspect of hope. There is the possibility of rethinking and turning back. And we want to work on that.”
His generation had more reason to be optimistic when they were young, said the bishop: “It should give us older people to think about the world we are leaving behind for the young.” are, but which show a climate-neutral and livable world”.
Regarding the position of the Evangelical Church on the war in Ukraine, Chalupka referred to Martin Luther: The individual Christ can completely do without violence, just as Jesus did. “But if those close to you are in danger, then you have to defend them. The right of defense cannot be denied to the Ukrainians.
There is a right to self-defense and the Austrian Armed Forces should also be equipped in such a way that it can fulfill this task, emphasized the bishop: “In the past few years, people have not covered themselves with glory. Peace is more than the absence of violence. “
In view of the lack of priests in the Catholic Church, Chalupka nevertheless said of his church: “You can’t compare that in terms of dimensions. We don’t have anyone who has to look after eight parishes.” What is most likely to cause a shortage in the Evangelical Church is the fact “that we have to finance these positions. That means we have as many clergymen as we can pay. But of course we’d like more.” Another issue connects the Protestant Church with the medical profession: “We don’t have a problem in urban centers, but it’s becoming more and more difficult to finance certain rural communities.”
Source: Kathpress