Roman Catholics in Vienna protest transfer of their parish church to the Serbian Orthodox

Members of the Roman Catholic parish of Neulerchenfeld in Vienna, whose church will be given as a present to the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), are continuing to protest the decision of the Archdiocese of Vienna.

After collecting signatures against the decision, parish members - mostly of Polish descent - organized a protest in downtown Vienna late last year, and are now threatening disobedience to the Roman Catholic Church.

The Neulerchenfeld parish does not want to comply with the decision of Archbishop of Vienna Christoph Schonborn, and 800 of its members were very surprised when the gift was made official with a contract earlier this month.

The parishioners claim they were not informed about the signing of the contract between the Archdiocese of Vienna and the Serb Orthodox church of St. Sava.

In a statement to the media, they said they will continue to fight for their church, and might stop paying church taxes.

The Archdiocese of Vienna and the Serb Orthodox church in Vienna signed a deal at the start of the year that the Roman Catholic church in Neulerchenfeld will be given as a gift to SPC.

The church is set to replace the Temple of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, located in Vienna's 17th district, which was too small to hold all of the faithful. The church in Neulerchenfeld, also dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, was built between 1733 and 1753.

The church given as a present is much bigger that the current Serbian Orthodox church and can hold over 1,000 people.

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