23-05-2025
Austria's Lutheran Church appoints first female bishop
A woman is set to head the Lutheran Church in Austria for the first time.
Cornelia Richter, a 54-year-old professor of theology, was elected on Friday as the Protestant church's first female bishop at a synod in Vienna.
Richter, who teaches at the University of Bonn in Germany, was the only candidate. She will take office on January 1 next year.
Like her predecessor, who is retiring for age reasons, Richter wants to campaign for the reintroduction of Good Friday as a public holiday in Austria.
She had previously stated that she intends to give up her teaching position in Bonn.
With just over 237,000 members, the Protestant Lutheran Church is one of the less prominent denominations in Austria.
There are around 4.5 million Catholics in the Alpine republic, followed by sizeable communities of Muslims and Orthodox Christians.
