Church reforms: Zulehner calls for honesty and new volunteer culture

Church reforms: Zulehner calls for honesty and new volunteer culture

Klagenfurt, 03.12.2024 (Cape) - In a haunting lecture, the Viennese pastoral theologian Prof. Paul Zulehner advocated a "culture of trust", which is supposed to counteract the widespread feeling of fear in society. In the diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt, Zulehner presented his views on necessary church reforms and referred to current developments in the Austrian dioceses. He was based on results from online surveys that show a clearly changed church image: While the traditional "priest church" is characterized by the priest and his tasks, Zulehner calls for a turn to the "Church of the Baptism", in which the faithful focuses on. The Gurk-Klagenfurt diocese reported on the event.

The divergent church pictures according to the tensions within the municipalities. He realized that representatives of the priestly church are often resistant to structural reforms that could accelerate the transition to a sustainable baptismal order church. In addition, he emphasized the need for a "new volunteer culture", supported by full -time employees, to make pastoral activity more effective. The director of the Jungkirche department of the Gurk diocese, Irina Kolland, gave the concerns of the younger generation to hear and emphasized their desire for increased participation. According to katholisch.de , the main motive for these church reforms is also the lack of money, which criticized as a more honest approach.

transformation of the church structure

Criticism of the current church structure also expressed Zulehner in the context of the frequently questioned participation in services. He found that many believers believe that they are good Christians even without regular visit to the measurement, which is a sharp contradiction to the teaching of the second Vatican Council. His position: the church must proactively shape a transition and not passively manage a decline. Information from his upcoming publication "Time turn. Tasks and opportunities of church structural reforms" demonstrate the growing demand of many church members after a decisive commitment to peace and justice.