History (§1).
Relation to England (§2).
Church and State. General Statistics (§3).
Anglican Church (§4).
Other Protestants (§5).
Roman Catholics (§6).
Non- Christian Religions (§7).
Missions Among Aborigines (§8).
Education (§9).
Australia is a continent and a federal commonwealth that includes, for administrative purposes, the island of Tasmania; it consists of five states, with a population of about 3,670,000 in 1901, in addition to the 172,000 inhabitants of Tasmania. In 1788 Sydney, in the present state of New South Wales, was founded, chiefly as a penal settlement, but the immigration of freemen continued side by side with that of criminals until 1840, while after 1835 the latter class of settlers entered the colony in considerable numbers. In the present Western Australia and Queensland penal settlements were established at King George Sound and Brisbane in 1825 and 1826, while Adelaide and South Australia were settled in 1836. In consequence of the rich discoveries of gold Victoria was formed into a new colony in 1851, and Queensland was separated from New South Wales eight years later. These districts enjoyed the utmost independence, especially after 1855, but the need of union was increasingly felt, so that on Jan. 1, 1901, a confederation of all the colonies and Tasmania was formed under the name of the Commonwealth of Australia. The administration consists of the Governor-General, seven ministers, a senate of six members from each of the allied states, and a house of seventy-six representatives. In addition to this, each state has its own parliament and president.
The legal bond of Australia with the mother country is extremely loose, since the power of the English Governor-General is restricted to a temporary veto with regard to foreign affairs. On the other hand, by far the greater majority of the population recognize themselves as united with the mother country by descent, language, and religion, so that Australia and England are knit together by internal bonds other than political. The import and export trade, moreover, is carried on chiefly with England, which is also the principal creditor of the national debt of Australia. The immigrants naturally transplanted their ecclesiastical tendencies and institutions into their new home, and the religious communities of Australia are vitally connected with those of the mother country as well as with other British colonies, thus further cementing the internal union of Australia and England.
An external union of Church and State was long maintained in Australia, the state finances paying the greater part of the salaries of the clergy and contributing largely to the building of churches and parish expenses until the seventh decade of the nineteenth century. The dissolution of this relation, begun by New South Wales in 1862, brought little disadvantage to the larger denominations, and of the smaller sects only the Lutherans (chiefly Germans) suffered severely by the change.
The following table gives results of the census of 1901, to which figures
for 1891 are added for comparison:
(TABLE INSERTED HERE)
To the figures for 1901 are to be added 1,240 Quakers, 3,100 Unitarians, 22,050 who reported themselves simply as Protestants (the majority probably Germans), 11,660 "Christians," and 24,200 adherents of smaller bodies. The Salvation Army numbered 31,150. The sum total of the Protestant population of the Commonwealth is therefore in the neighborhood of two and three quarter millions.
The Roman Catholics are also strong in Australia, as is shown by the following table:
| New South Wales | Queensland | South Australia | Tasmania | Victoria | West Australia | |
| 1901 . . . | 847,150 | 120,700 | 52,200 | 30,350 | 260,050 | 40,800 |
| 1891 . . . | 286,950 | 92,800 | 47,200 | 25,900 | 240,800 | 12,500 |
Adding 6,200 who designated themselves simply as "Catholics," the sum total is 857,450.
The ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the religious bodies naturally conforms to the political boundaries of the states, although, as in case of the states, unions, either temporary or permanent, have been formed. The oldest and most prominent Protestant body in Australia is the Anglican Church, with a membership of 1,498,750. Services were held as early as 1788, although the bishopric of Australia (includingTasmania and New Zealand) was not created until 1836. In 1847 three new bishoprics were created and the former bishop of Australia became bishop of Sydney and metropolitan of
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5. Other Protestants. The Presbyterians, who numbered 427,000 in the Commonwealth in 1901, belong to several branches. Their first minister was installed at Sydney in 1823. The synod of each state and the general assembly meet annually. The Australian Methodists in 1901 were 506,000 strong. After the census of that year, which showed seven branches of Methodists in New South Wales, the union of the entire denomination was effected by the establishment of the "Methodist Church of Australia," first in three colonies, and in 1902 in the remainder. The first Wesleyan service in Australia was held in 1821, but a. Methodist conference was not established until 1854; it was at first affiliated with the British conference, becoming independent in 1876. An annual conference is held in each colony, and the general conference meets triennially, while every ten years the Australian Methodists take part in the international Methodist Ecumenical Conference. The Baptists of Australia numbered 91,700 in 1901, although they did not begin to increase rapidly until after 1852, their gains being due primarily to their missionary activity in cooperation with the larger denominations already mentioned. The Congregationalists, including the Independents, numbered 75,350 in 1901, but can scarcely be considered a united and influential religious community on account of their basal principle.
6. Roman Catholics. The Roman Catholic Church in the commonwealth, with 857,450 members, is divided into five provinces. Although Roman Catholic priests were in Australia as early as 1803, it was not until 1820 that the Church came to a vigorous development with the aid of State subvention of clergy and buildings. In 1834 Sydney became the seat of a vicar apostolic with twenty-five priests, and eight years later was elevated into an archbishopric and the seat of a metropolitan for Australia and the islands, Hobart and Adelaide being suffragan sees, although they did not remain in the province of Sydney, which now includes Maitland (1847), Armidale (1862), Goulburn (1862), Bathurst (1865), Lismore (formerly Grafton; 1887), and Wilcannia (1887). The second oldest archbishopric is Melbourne, which was created a diocese in 1847 and elevated to an archdiocese in 1874. To it belong the bishoprics of Sandhurst (1874), Ballarat (1874), and Sale, the southeastern part of Victoria (1887). In 1887 Adelaide and Brisbane (founded as bishoprics in 1842 and 1859) were made archbishoprics. The province of the former comprises the dioceses of Perth (1845); Victoria, formerly Palmerston, in the north, opposite Melville Island (1847); Port Augusta, on Spencer Gulf (1887); and Geraldton (1898); also the abbacy of New Norcia (founded on Moore River in 1867) and the apostolic vicarship of Kimberley (1887). Brisbane includes the bishopric of Rockhampton (1881) and the apostolic vicarships of Cooktown (founded in 1876 and placed for the most part in the charge of the Augustinians for missionary purposes) and Queensland (1887). The fifth province is Hobart (Tasmania), founded as a bishopric in 1842, raised to metropolitan rank in 1888. Many of these dioceses contain but few Roman Catholics, and were poor in ecclesiastical institutions and churches at the time of their creation. With the rapid increase of immigration after the seventh decade of the nineteenth century, however, and in the determination to resist the propaganda of Protestant denominations, orders and congregations were brought to Australia at an early period, and were particularly active in missions and parochial schools. The most extensive settlements were those of the Jesuits, the Marists, the Dominicans, and the Brothers of the Christian Schools, although the Benedictines were the first to arrive. The most active female orders are the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, and the Sisters of St. Joseph. Roman Catholic associations flourish in all the cities, and schools of all kinds, especially intermediate, are under ecclesiastical control, while Roman Catholic newspapers and weeklies promote the interests of this Church. Synods of the Roman Catholic clergy of Australia have thrice been held, the first being in 1844.
7. Non-Christian Religions. The number of Jews in Australia is relatively small; there were in 1901 only 14,850, of whom 6,450 were in New South Wales and 5,910 in Victoria. Mohammedans, chiefly from India and the Sunda Islands, numbered scarcely 4,500, chiefly in Queensland. Confucians and Buddhists were not carefully distinguished in every colony, as is clear from the grave discrepancy between the number of Chinese immigrants and
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8. Missions Among Aborigines. Polytheists and fetish-worshipers come from the islands of the Pacific, the Philippines, and the Sunda Islands; it is uncertain how large a proportion of this category is made up of the aborigines. By far the greater number of Australian blackfellows have been converted to Christianity by missionary activity in their behalf, although the precarious conditions of life and the poverty of nature in the interior render it extremely difficult to reach the natives in that region, and the obstacles are augmented by their spiritual and moral degradation. Nevertheless, not only the larger denominations, but also the smaller, such as the Lutherans and the Quakers, are engaged in missionary activity among the aborigines. There are, in addition, special societies under the auspices of the Anglican Church and unions of several denominations, such as the Aborigines' Protection Mission, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Free Mission (in New South Wales), and the Australian Board of Missions (in Victoria). The missions of the Roman Catholic Church are chiefly in the north. The number of unconverted Australian aborigines is estimated between 10,000 and 20,000. Several missions have also been established for workmen in the gold mines. The number of those who profess to be without a religion, such as freethinkers and the like, is inconsiderable, the census returning less than 24,000 of this class; to this group, however, should doubtless be added many of those who declined to answer the question concerning their religion, so that the number can probably be doubled.
9. Education. The public schools of Australia underwent an important change in the eighth decade of the nineteenth century, when obligatory gratuitous instruction was introduced into all the colonies. While many schools are still maintained by religious denominations, all citizens contribute to the support of the public schools. The intermediate schools, on the other hand, are, for the most part, under denominational control and of denominational origin. Popular Christian education is also furthered by the Sunday-schools, which are well attended. --WILHELM GOETZ.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. W. Rusden, History of Australia, 3 vols, London,
1883; T. A. Coghlan, Statistical Account of the Seven Colonies of Australia,
Sydney,
1891; R. R. Garran, The Coming Commonwealth; a Handbook of Federal Government,
ib.1897; P. F. Moran, Hist of the Catholic Church in Australasia, ib.
1897; W. Westgarth, Half a Century of Australian Progress, London,
1899; Australian Handbook,
ib. 1902; W. H. Moors, Constitution
of the Commonwealth of Australia, ib. 1902;
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Supple ment, s.v.
AUSTRIA.
I. The Roman Catholic, Greek, and Armenian Churches.
The Concordat of 1855 ( §1).
Effects of the Concordat (§2).
Theological Education (§3).
Revenues (§4).
Archdioceses and Dioceses (§5).
Societies and Charities (§6).
Greek and Armenian Christians (§7).
II. The Protestant Churches.
The Evangelical Church and its Organisation (§1).
Changes of Confession (§2).
Schools (§3).
Theological Education (§4).
Financial Status of the Evangelicals (§5).
Societies and Charities (§6).
Minor Denominations and Non-Christians (§7).
Religious Distribution and Statistics (§8).
Austria is an empire of southern Europe, forming with the kingdom of Hungary (which is not included in the present article; see HUNGARY) the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Excluding also the former Turkish provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (q. v.), the area is 115,903 square miles, the population (1900) 26,107,304.
I. The Roman Catholic, Greek, and Armenian Churches: During the period of the Reformation, Protestantism made much progress among the people and gave rise to a considerable number of sects, especially in Bohemia. But the government remained Roman Catholic and by force and law freed the Church from heresy and then began to rule it. Long before the reign of Joseph II (1780-90) Gallican and Jansenist teachings were introduced and were intensified by Febronianism (see HONTHEIM, JOHANN NIKOLAUS),and Joseph transformed the Austrian Church into a body which was almost schismatic. An ecclesiastical government was formed which regulated the minutest details by state law, sparing scarcely any department of activity, legislation, or administration. (see JOSEPH II).
1. The Concordat of 1855. A new period began with the concordat of 1855 (see CONCORDATS AND DELIMITING BULLS, VI, 2, §§ 6, 8). The imperial patent of Mar. 4, 1849 and the imperial enactments of Apr. 18 and 23, 1850, laid the foundation of the complete independence of the Church and in 1853 negotiations were begun with the Curia for carrying out the new provisions. The result was the concordat of Aug. 18, 1855, which was promulgated by a bull of the pope and by an imperial patent, both dated Nov. 5 of the same year. A definite agreement in regard to all ecclesiastical matters was enacted in thirty-six articles. The jurisdiction and administration of the Church, so far as its internal interests were concerned, were placed entirely under church control, in this category falling the relations between the bishops, the clergy, the laity, and the Holy See; the education and ordination of the clergy; diocesan administration; the arrangement of public prayers, processions, pilgrimages, funerals, provincial councils, and diocesan synods; the superintendence and giving of instruction to the Roman Catholic youth, and all religious instruction from the theological faculties to the public schools; the ecclesiastical right to censor books; jurisdiction
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2. Effects of the Concordat. The results of the concordat, though it was actually enforced in but few points, were especially noteworthy in two phases of public life. The marriage laws hitherto prevailing were subjected to a rigid scrutiny, and by the imperial patent of Oct. 8,1856, the Roman Catholics received a new law corresponding in all respects to the decrees of the Council of Trent, placing divorce under the control of the newly created episcopal divorce court. Seminaries for boys were established in all dioceses,. and received children of lawful birth immediately after they left the public schools, giving them, in addition to their gymnasium traiping, preparation for later theological studies, thus forming places of education for the future clergy. The expenses of these seminaries were partly covered by ecclesiastical funds and partly by the income from benefices. The influence of the State was limited to the supervision of their financial relations and the superintendence of instruction so far as it concerned the State. The result was an increase in the number of Roman Catholic theological students from 1,804 in 1861 to 3,286 in 1868, after which began a period of decline, due especially to the law of Dec. 5, 1868, which abrogated the previous exemption of theological students from military service, an additional factor being the school laws of 1868 and 1869, which made admission to study in a faculty conditional on the possession of a diploma from a gymnasium. The breach with the concordat widened steadily, and the law of May 25, 1868, repealed the imperial patent of Oct. 8, 1856. The former regulations concerning marriage were again enforced, divorces being referred to state tribunals and civil marriage being again permitted. Finally, by a despatch of July 30,1870, Austria abrogated the concordat altogether.
3. Theological Education. The theological training of the Roman Catholic clergy is given partly by the faculties of the various universities and partly by the diocesan seminaries. Theological faculties exist in the universities of Vienna, Gras, Innsbruck, Prague (two), Lemberg (for both the Latin and Greek rites), Czernowitz, and Cracow, in addition to two independent theological faculties, not affiliated with any university, in Salzburg and Olmutz. The course given by the diocesan seminaries corresponds essentially to that given by the university faculties, but they are forbidden to confer academic degrees and the bishop is in absolute control. Certain orders provide for the education of their own members in twenty monastic schools, yearly courses being given in successive years in different monasteries in the Tyrol. In 1895 the Roman Catholic Church had 16,132 priests, the Greek Catholic 2,649, and the Greek Oriental 475.
4. Revenues. In cases where a living has no canonical claims to a definite income, the revenues of the Church, and even the State, come to its assistance. The claim to such an income, either from the property of the living or from the benefice, begins with ordination to the priesthood, but if religious foundations and monasteries desire to give a title to such income to one who does not belong to their own number, they are required to secure the consent of the government. The endowment of the Church has come from the monasteries secularized in the reign of Joseph II and later, abandoned churches, and suppressed communities, canonries, benefices, and ecclesiastical feoffs. It is continually augmented, moreover, by the intercalaries (the income of vacant positions), the auxiliary taxes of dioceses and orders, and, in Bohemia, by a certain percent of the sale of salt. This fund, when the property has been sold, is invested in state bonds which belong to the ecclesiastical province or diocese, the income being administered by the government with the cooperation of the bishop or bishops. It is charged with the defrayal of certain expenses (the cathedral chapters of Budweis, Salzburg, Trent, and Brixen drawing their entire income from it), as well as with the payment of all other disbursements which are not obligatory on a third party. The revenues are devoted to the defrayment of patronage, the income and endowment of new parish, the building of churches, the increase in the income of livings, the salary of chaplains, the malting good of deficits, the support of mendicant orders, the salaries of teachers at the state schools, and the maintenance of theological faculties and seminaries. A second fund is that for students, which is derived from the estates of the Jesuit monasteries suppressed by Maria Theresa on Dec. 23, 1774, and is devoted to defraying the expenses of Roman Catholic education in intermediate and higher institutions of learning. Since the passage of the new school law, this fund is also used for undenominational public schools, since the estates of the Jesuit monasteries are not regarded as the property of the Church. For the value of the livings and the income of the religious orders no recent data are at hand, but in 1875 the former amounted in all parts of the empire to 7,644,611 florins, and the latter to 4,100,375 florins.
5. Archdioceses and Dioceses. Austria is divided into nine ecclesiastical provinces as follows: (1) the archdiocese of Vienna for Upper and Lower Austria, with the two suffragan dioceses of St. Polten and Linz; (2) Salzburg for Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol, and Vorarlberg, with the five suffragan dioceses of Secksu, Lavant, Gurk, Brixen, and Trent; (3) Gurz for Carniola, Kustenland, and the island of Arbe, with the four suffragan dioceses of Laibach, Triest-Capo d'Istria, Parenzo-Pola, and Veglia-Arbe; (4) Prague for
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6. Societies and Charities. Austria, like Germany, has countless Roman Catholic societies, institutions, and foundations. In almost every parish there are brotherhoods and societies far prayer, associations of both sexes and all ages, societies of priests, congregations of Mary, Franciscan Tertiaries, the Society of the Holy Family (with 25,000 families in the diocese of Lavant alone), societies for pilgrimage and for the building and adornment of churches, church music, home missions, brotherhoods of St. Michael, political Roman Catholic societies, and general Roman Catholic social organizations with 40,000 members in the single province of Upper Austria. Children and youth are cared for in protectories, kindergartens, orphan asylums, refectories, boarding-schools, refuges, training-schools for apprentices, and the like, while the great Roman Catholic school-union has about 40,000 members. Popular education is promoted by reading clubs and societies for the dissemination of educational literature, as well as by reading-rooms and libraries for the clergy and laity, while Roman Catholic science, literature, and art are advanced by the Leo-Gesellschaft, the Czech society Vlast, and by various periodicals. Countless institutions are devoted to charity, including almshouses, memorial foundations, poor gilds, hospitals of the most various characters, and funds for the feeding of the poor in monasteries. There are likewise insurance societies for the protection of masters, partners, apprentices, peasants, workmen, credit and other purposes of economic nature, but clubs of Roman Catholic students are still only in embryo.
7. Greek and Armenian Christians. There is a large number of Greek and Armenian Christians, some being Uniates and some non-Uniates. The Uniate Greeks, or Greek Catholics, form a special ecclesiastical province with the archdiocese of Lemberg and the suffragan diocese of Przemysl. The Uniates of the Armeno-Catholic rite also have an archbishopric of Lemberg, the archbishop likewise ruling over the non-Uniate Armenians of Galicia and Bukowina. The non-Uniate Greeks of the Greek Oriental rite have a patriarchate at Carlowitz with ten bishoprics or eparchies, of which seven are in Hungary, one in Czernowitz (Bukowina), one at Hermannstadt (Transylvania), and one at Sebenico (for Dalmatia and Istria), in addition to the community at Vienna. The patriarch is chosen by the national congress of Servia, which must remain in session sufficiently long for its candidate to receive the sanction of the emperor, after which the formal consecration takes place. The non-Uniate Armenians of the Armeno-Oriental rite control the Mekhitarist monastery in Vienna (see MEKHITARISTS) and are accordingly subject to the Uniate Armenian archbishop of Lemberg. The Old Catholics have three parishes at Vienna, Warnsdorf, and Ried, and in 1902 built two new churches at Schonlinde and Blottendorf. The Philippones, or Lippowanians, expelled from Russia, have formed scattered communities in Galicia and Bukowina.
II. The Protestant Churches:
1. The Evangelical Church and its Organization. Austria
is essentially Roman Catholic, and the number of Evangelical Protestants
in the Empire has declined from a tenth of the population at the time of
their greatest expansion in the sixteenth century to a fiftieth. A patent
of toleration was issued in their favor on Oct. 13, 1781, and the Protestant
patent of Apr. 8, 1861, conferred upon them full equality before the law.
At the same time the political, civil, and academic disabilities of the
non-Catholics were removed, and they were no longer required to contribute
to the support of another Church, while they were now permitted to adorn
their churches, to celebrate their feasts, and to exercise pastoral care.
On the day after the patent was issued (Apr. 9), a preliminary church constitution
was drawn up, but one which was substituted on Jan. 6 (23), 1866, canceled
important rights of self-government, and from this the present constitution
of Dec. 9, 1891, differs only in minor details. The Evangelical Church,
divided into parishes, seniories, superintendencies, and synods, is unrestricted
in respect to its confession, its books, the creation of societies for
ecclesiastical and educational purposes, and its relations to foreign religious
bodies. It forms a national Church, of which the emperor may be regarded
as the bishop, his prerogatives in its control being distinguished from
the corresponding functions of the Roman Catholic German sovereigns in
degree, not in kind. His position is due, however, to his constitutional
relation to the Evangelical Church, and not, as in the case of the German
princes, to his ecclesiastical relation. The lawful administration of Evangelical
funds, as well as revenues and assessments, is guaranteed by the State.
The Austrian Evangelical Church is divided into ten superintendencies, six of the Augsburg Confession, three of the Helvetic Confession, and one mixed. Those of the Augsburg Confession are: (1) Vienna, with the seniories of Lower Austria, Triest, Styria, the region south of the Drave in Carinthia, and the region north of the Drave and in the Gmund valley in Carinthia; (2) Upper Austria, with an upper and a lower seniory; (3) Western Bohemia; (4) Eastern Bohemia; (5) Asch (also in Bohemia); (6) Moravia and Silesia, with the seniories of Brunn, Zauchtl, and Silesia. The superintendencies of the Helvetic Confession are: (1) Vienna; (2) Bohemia, with the seniories of Prague, Chrudim, Podiebrad, and Czaslau; and
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2. Changes of Confession. While in the last decade of the nineteenth century the increase of Roman Catholics was but 9.12 per cent, the Evangelicals of the Augsburg Confession showed an increase of 15.17 per cent, as against 9.28 in the preceding decade;. and the Helvetic Confession a gain of 6.67 per cent, as contrasted with the more rapid accretion of 9.05 in the ten years previous. In Bohemia the Evangelical gain was 20.06 per cent, in Styria 25.9 per cent, and in Lower Austria 37.01 per cent. In Silesia and Galicia alone the increase of Evangelicals failed to keep pace with. the gain in population, this being due to the increasing emigration from the German districts of West Silesia and the German colonies in Galicia, an additional factor being the immigration of Galician workmen to Silesia to work in the coal mines.
No statistics are available for a classification of the Austrian Protestants according to language, nor are the figures sufficiently complete to afford a safe basis to determine the changes caused by immigration and emigration. The Los von Rom movement, which began in 1898, resulted by 1900 in the loss of more than 40,000 members to the Roman Catholic Church, some 30,000 becoming Evangelicals, several thousand Old Catholics, an undetermined number joining the Moravians and Methodists, while some broke entirely with denominational Christianity. Many, however, returned to the Roman Catholic Church. A hundred new chapels were erected, and seventy-five preachers, chiefly from Germany, entered upon the work (see LOS VON ROM).
3. Schools. Religious instruction is given in the primary and secondary schools by the minister of the parish, or, in certain cases, by secular teachers of religion, either in the school or in "stations." By a law of June 17, 1888, an allowance was given or a special teacher of religion was appointed in the higher classes of primary or secondary schools of more than three classes, and more than 160 teachers of this description are active in over 560 "stations." The Church also provides for religious instruction in normal and intermediate schools, although state aid is given only when the total number of Evangelical scholars in such an institution is more than twenty. National, district, and local school boards are entrusted with the administration and supervision of normal and intermediate schools in each province, and in almost all the boards the Evangelical Church has a vote (at least advisory) and representatives. In consequence of the rivalry of the state undenominational schools, however, the Evangelical schools tend to become more or less ultramontane, and are gradually decreasing as a result of the double taxes levied on the Evangelicals. In 1869 there were 372 Evangelical schools, a number which has since decreased by two-thirds. An Evangelical normal school exists in Bielitz for the training of Evangelical teachers, while in Czaslau there is a Czech Evangelical Reformed seminary for Bohemia and Moravia.
4. Theological Education. The education of the Evangelical clergy is confined to the Evangelical theological faculty maintained at the expense of the State in Vienna. Though desired by the estates for this purpose in the sixteenth century, it was first founded as a theological institute after the separation of the empire from Germany and the prohibition to attend German universities (Apr. 2, 1821). On Oct. 8, 1850 (July 18, 1861) it was made a faculty with the right to confer degrees, but although the only Evangelical theological school in all Austria, clerical intrigues, Protestant narrowness, and the disfavor and indifference of the Liberals have prevented it from being incorporated with the university and securing the rooms allotted to it in the new buildings. The school consists of six professors and two privatdocents; teaching Augsburg and Helvetic dogmatics separately. The course of study is at least six semesters, two of which must be spent at Vienna. Since the formation of the dual monarchy in 1861, which denies to Hungary all Austrian subventions, and as a consequence of the Hungarian legislation and the national excitement, the number of students at the theological school has diminished. In 1904-05, however, fifty-one were studying there, although the meager salaries attached to the majority of the parishes gives little hope of an increased student body. In 1901 a small national denominational Utraquist home was established at Vienna by private contributions for the aid of students without means, and is conducted by an inspector and an ephor.
5. Financial Status of the Evangelicals. In view of the necessity of maintaining their churches, schools, and charitable organizations, the congregations have the right to claim State aid, but this is asked reluctantly, despite the heavy debts of most of the congregations, especially in Galicia. Outside assistance is, therefore, absolutely necessary. The oldest and most generous benefactor is the Gustav Adolf Verein (q.v.) which has spent millions of florins, and which is divided in Austria into a main society with fifteen branch societies, in addition to thirty societies for women, forty-nine for children, and 324 local organizations. This is followed by the Lutherischer Gotteskasten and, more recently, by the Evangelischer Bund (see GOTTESKASTEN, LUTHERISCHER, BUND, EVANGELISCHER), as well as by many societies and priirate benefactors in Switzerland and Holland. The property of the individual superintendencies is administered by committees of the districts concerned, while the foundations and funds of the superintendencies and seniories are controlled by committees appointed from these bodies, and also by the supreme church council