Archdiocese of Vienna on handover of churches to Orthodox

(Catholic Sentinel) - Austria's Vienna Archdiocese has defended its gifts of Catholic churches to Orthodox communities, as part of a current reorganization.

"Our own church is receding in Vienna, whereas other Christian confessions are on the rise because of immigration," Michael Pruller, the archdiocese spokesman, told Catholic News Service Dec. 19.

"Many large churches were built in the 19th century for parishes numbering tens of thousands. As in other countries, we're now having to get rid of churches, which can't be maintained by their small congregations."

Read the rest here.

I empathize. Here in the US, as families migrate from traditionally immigrant communities, a lot of Orthodox churches have suffered membership troubles and some have had to be closed. In any event I applaud the Catholics for handing the church buildings over to other Christians instead of allowing them to be used for secular purposes, or turned into mosques.