Concordat of 1855

The Concordat of 1855 was a Concordat or agreement between the Holy See and the Austro-Hungarian Empire as regards the Catholic Church in Austria.

The Austrian Bishops' Conference was established in 1849 and agreed to a Concordat which would grant them greater scope in a variety of areas. They were granted full control over their own affairs, including making appointments.[1]:123 The Catholic church was also placed in charge of 98% of public primary schools, i.e. those nominally Catholic and controlled the curriculum.[1] The Catholic ecclesiastical courts were given jurisdiction over marriages where either or both the couple were Catholic.[1]

International repercussions

The Concordat had an impact across Germany stimulating anti-clericism amongst liberal opinion. During the Austro-Prussian War the Austrian soldiers were called "Concordat soldiers". The Austrian defeat in this war forced the Emperor Franz Josef to grant concessions to German liberals in Cisleithania[1]:124 Originally there were plans to extend the Concordat to Hungary (the largest part of Cisleithania), but these never materialised.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Evans, Ellen Lovell (1999). The Cross and the Ballot: Catholic Political Parties in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, 1785-1985. Boston: Humanities Press International Inc.
  2. ↑ Schanda, Balazs (2006). "Religion and Law in Dialogue: Covenental and Non-Covenental Cooperation of State and Religions in Hungary". Religion and Law in Dialogue: Convenantal and Non-convenantal Cooperation Between State and Religion in Europe. Leuven: Peeters Publishers: 79.
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