United States Department of State

“ Jehovah's Witnesses, the Baha'i Faith, the Baptists, the Evangelical Alliance, the Movement for Religious Renewal, the Pentecostalists, the Seventh-Day Adventists, the Coptic-Orthodox Church, and the Hindu Religious Community.
Religious associations that do not qualify for either religious society or confessional community status may apply to become associations under the 1951 Law on Associations. Associations are corporations under law and have many of the same rights as confessional communities, including the right to own real estate. ”

“ Austria International Religious Freedom Report Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice. ”

“ The Government does not offer such funding to nonrecognized religious groups. A minimum of three children is required to form a class. In some cases, officially recognized religions decide that the administrative cost of providing religious instruction is too great to warrant providing such courses in all schools. ”

“ The Austrian Evangelical Alliance, the umbrella organization for nonrecognized Christian organizations, has reported no significant problems in obtaining visas for religious workers. While visas for religious workers of recognized religions are not subject to a numerical quota, visas for religious workers who are members of nonrecognized religions do have a numerical cap ”

“ Approximately 2 percent of the population belong to nonrecognized "other faiths," while 8.64 percent consider themselves atheists. Four percent did not indicate a religious affiliation. Only about 17 percent of Roman Catholics actively participate in formal religious services. ”

“ The number of Muslims is higher than the national average in Vienna and the province of Vorarlberg, due to the higher share of guestworkers from Turkey in these provinces.
The vast majority of groups termed "sects" by the Government are small organizations, having under 100 members. Among the larger groups are the Church of Scientology, with between 5,000 and 10,000 members, and the Unification Church, with approximately 700 adherents throughout the country. ”

“ In recent years, the country has experienced a rise in immigration from countries such as Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has increased the number of Muslims in the country.
According to the Ministry of Education and Culture, the memberships of the 12 officially recognized religions are as follows: Roman Catholic Church--78.14 percent; Lutheran Church (Augsburger and Helvetic Confessions) --5 percent; Islamic community--2.04 percent; Old Catholic Church--0.24 percent; Jewish community--0.09 percent ”