Austria: Mgr. Lackner (Salzburg) is new president of Bishops’ Conference. He succeeds Card. Schönborn

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna is leaving after 22 years of service as president of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference. He will be succeeded by Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg who was elected today by the Austrian Bishops, gathered at Mariazell for their plenary assembly. During his six-year term, he will be assisted by Bishop Manfred Scheuer who will act as Vice-President. According to a statement, “both Lackner and Scheuer obtained the required two-thirds majority in the first ballot”. Card. Schönborn, 75, had already announced in March that he would not run for a new term. Voting, however, had to be postponed because of the pandemic. In an interview with the Bishops’ Agency Kathpress, the Cardinal said his 22 years of service as president “have sometimes been very challenging, due to the conflicts and scandals, but also a time where many things have grown in silence”. During his mandate, Mgr. Lackner intends to “strengthen fraternal cooperation between the Bishops of Austria” while also taking “the concerns, needs, as well as the hopes and visions of the Church in Austria to the universal Church level”, also by “defending them”.
Sarah Numico