BishopAccountability.org
	Mass Exodus from Catholic Church in Austria Catholic Culture January 13, 2010 http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=5163 Austrian Catholics left the Church in record numbers in 2009, Deutsche Press agency reports. The dissident group We Are Church claims that the exodus was motivated by “self-defense,” and claims that the departures began when Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of the controversial Bishop Richard Williamson. A spokesman for the Vienna archdiocese offers a different explanation, saying that tough economic times make people reluctant to pay the “church tax” that is required for registered believers. Austria’s population is now 66% Catholic—down from 89% in 1961.
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