Catholics and Protestants mark 50 years sharing a church in Kalkgruben

Catholics and Protestants in Kalkgruben have shared a church building for 50 years, ORF Burgenland reports. The municipality in the Oberpullendorf district was long the only one in Austria with a church shared by the two denominations. They celebrated the anniversary together at the weekend.

The shared church, known as the Friedenskirchlein, grew out of a 1970s law requiring municipalities to build mortuaries. Residents of Kalkgruben decided to do more and built what became Austria’s first church shared by Catholics and Protestants. At the time, the arrangement was a risk, said eyewitness Gerda Aufner, recalling that accepting different ideas “did not happen overnight.”

Both denominations say they put what unites them ahead of what divides them. “Basically, they believe in the same God,” said Berhold Frauenschiel. Herbert Degendorfer said people from both communities help whenever celebrations are held.

Cornelia Richter, bishop of the Evangelical Church A.B., said each denomination could learn from the other. “But the interesting thing is when you keep learning together. Then it gets really exciting, and that is uniquely possible in this building,” she said.