On March 7, 2012, the Federal Bulletin in Austria published an extract from an official document concerning the establishment of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Diocese of Vienna and Austria.
The Diocese of Vienna was established by the decision of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Holy Synod in 1945, but it has not been officially recognized by the Republic of Austria until recently.
The publication of an official document signed by the Federal Minister of Education, Culture and Arts Claudia Schmid has completed the process of the registration of the diocese.
The text of the official notification states that in accordance with par. 3-a of the Federal Law of June 23, 1967, on the External Legal Relations of the Greek Eastern Church in Austria, the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), through its representative leader of the Moscow Patriarchate Office for Institutions Abroad, Archbishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, has made a request to issue a notification concerning the establishment of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Diocese of Vienna and Austria.
The statute of the Diocese of December 15, 2011, has been confirmed by the supreme church authority – Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the document states. After this confirmation it has become possible to issue an official notification about the establishment of the Russian Orthodox Church’s diocese in Austria.