CNA Staff, Jul 17, 2020 / 07:30 am
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has said that he regrets that an increasing number of people are leaving the Church in Austria.
In an interview with Austrian Church newspapers, he said: "There is a phenomenon that affects the Church worldwide and especially us here in Austria: that is, those who silently turn their backs on the Church."
In Austria, the number of people leaving the Church rose by 14.9% in 2019 compared to the previous year. A total of 67,583 people left in 2019, while 58,807 left in 2018, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA's German language news partner.
Austria has a population of almost nine million, with around 4.98 million Catholics.