Parliament’s “online prayer party” continues to draw criticism – Coronavirus Vienna

The hour of prayer held in parliament on Tuesday continues to draw criticism. Former NEOS MP Irmgard Griss wants to leave the committee in protest against the non-invitation of Muslims. NEOS announced a request to the president of the National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP), who had invited prayer. The SPÖ described the event as “unacceptable” and constitution expert Heinz Mayer as “misplaced”.

Griss told the “Kleine Zeitung” that he would be leaving the “National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast Committee.” “I don’t want to have anything to do with it anymore. If you organize a public event, all religions must be represented. Otherwise, you don’t join, you divide.”

According to “Standard”, the deputy head of the SPÖ club, Jörg Leichtfried, was outraged by the hour of prayer: “I presented the SPÖ’s protest against the form of this event at the presidential conference last week, because it was extremely conservative at the instigation of the president. of the National ÖVP Council via a live broadcast from parliament Providing a stage for Catholic religious circles and ÖVP politicians to be placed in the limelight is not acceptable and blatantly goes against the separation of the church and the state “.

NEOS Vice President Nikolaus Scherak has sent a parliamentary question to Sobotka on the issue, according to “Standard.” Among other things, he wants to know if the employees of the Parliamentary Directorate used their labor for the prayer ceremony and if there were additional costs due to the celebration of the event on a public holiday. “Everyone should be able to pray when and how they want. But what is not possible are prayer events in parliament. Parliament is not a church. In a democratic society there is a strict separation between state and religion,” so Scherak.

For constitutional lawyer Heinz Mayer, the hour of prayer should not have taken place in parliament, especially since it was clearly directed against the separation of state and religion. “That has no place in a secular democracy,” Mayer said of the “standard.” “If you take it funny it was silly, but if you take it seriously it was out of line.”

Sobotka and the “National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast Committee” had invited the event on December 8. The title of the “Online Prayer Celebration” was “Hope in Crisis.” In addition to Sobotka and the president of the Federal Council Andrea Eder-Gitschthaler (ÖVP), deputies from the ÖVP and FPÖ participated. Representatives of the SPÖ and NEOS, who had initially agreed, jumped in advance and after criticism on social media. The Greens did not participate either. Compared to the “Standard”, it was said from the green club that individual parliamentary groups and MPs were free to use the facilities of Parliament for events in the interest of their own political interests. “That is why it is not yet a parliamentary event. The Greens do not want any political instrumentalization of religion and we are in favor of a clear separation between state and religion. Any appearance of confusion should be avoided.”

The prayer time also featured video greetings from, among others, Culture Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP), former Styrian Governor Waltraud Klasnic and Loretto Community founder Georg Mayr-Melnhof. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn brought greetings, Evangelical Bishop Michael Chalupka said a prayer, Vienna Chief Rabbi Jaron Engelmayer, and representatives of the Orthodox Church, Old Catholics and Copts were also represented. According to the “Kleine Zeitung”, the Islamic faith community was not invited to join in the prayers.

According to “Standard,” there was also amazement at the invitation policy among the young Catholic crowd. This was initially uninvited and then received an invite to the live broadcast on Friday night. One feels it is “a shame” that the invitation is not “much broader in all denominations,” said its president, Martin Hohl. Catholic youth also joined in this criticism, according to “Standard.”

In a written statement to the APA, ÖVP deputy Gudrun Kugler expressed her misunderstanding about the criticism at the prayer time held in parliament. It is “incomprehensible” that in a pluralistic country a celebration of prayer cannot take place in Advent, he said. “We are not meeting here on behalf of parties, not even on behalf of Parliament or any institution, but as members of parliament with a personal belief.”

Kugler also noted that, from an international perspective, Austria is not an isolated case with this prayer group: “There are around 130 parliamentary prayer meetings around the world. The most prominent are, for example, in the European Parliament, in the UN, in the United States, presidents have always been there for over sixty years, in Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Baltic States, etc. “In Austria, this facility is now in its fourth year. “In 2019 we were able to welcome representatives of 20 denominations into parliament. For this format in all countries of the world, interreligious and interdenominationalism, as well as the participation of guests from other religions, is very important.”

Kugler also emphasized that there are “all kinds of events” around Parliament: “Art, culture, dealing with your own history, charity events, we even have a football team. So there is also a prayer party for those who want that.” .

Regarding criticism of Muslims’ non-invitation, Kugler told the Kleine Zeitung that he did not understand the emotion. There is no intention behind this, unfortunately there are currently no Muslims in parliament.

Compared to the APA, the ÖVP deputy emphasized that religion “plays an important role in the lives of many people in Austria.” Seven million Austrians are members of a religious community. “There is a great unifying force in this.” And religion also plays an important role in integration, says Kugler. “The diversity of contributions made by the various religious communities underscored this. Many saw the church and the prayer of representatives of other denominations for the first time through the joint celebration of prayer. We made this diversity visible.”

In the absence of understanding by young Catholics about the non-invitation, Kugler said, they were invited “like all other interested parties” to watch. “As Catholics, they were prominently represented by Cardinal Schönborn.” Of the eight active religious communities, no other denominational youth representatives have been specifically re-represented.

Regarding the issue of the non-invitation of Muslims, Kugler specified that Muslims are not currently represented on the committee of the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast, but of course in parliament. She was misleadingly quoted in an interview, he said.