Discontent Over Good Friday Legislation in Austria

Good Friday holds significant religious importance across various churches, particularly for Evangelical communities who commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. In Austria, this day also serves as a crucial aspect of identity for Evangelicals, who faced persecution during the Counter-Reformation. Following a general collective agreement in 1952, Good Friday was designated a public holiday in 1955 for members of the Evangelical Church A.B., H.B., the Evangelical Methodist Church, and the Old Catholic Church. This decision coincided with the re-establishment of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 as an official holiday.

Since 2015, a legal dispute concerning holiday compensation for Good Friday has unfolded, in which the three Evangelical churches were not permitted as intervening parties. Consequently, they could not participate in the preliminary ruling process at the European Court of Justice (ECJ). On January 22, 2019, the ECJ ruled that the existing Good Friday arrangements favoring the four churches were discriminatory. The court invoked Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, asserting that Good Friday should be a holiday for all workers unless the legal framework is amended.

In response, the ÖVP/FPÖ coalition swiftly introduced an initiative in the National Council that eliminated the previous Good Friday provisions and declared them void. This legislation included the introduction of a 'personal holiday' instead. Despite protests from the Evangelical churches, the then-Chancellor of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, remarked that 96% of the population would not be impacted by the new regulations.

The four churches subsequently filed a constitutional review request regarding the new legal provisions; however, the Constitutional Court rejected their applications on March 10, 2020, stating that the changes did not directly infringe upon the rights of the churches, nor was there a constitutional obligation to establish such a holiday.

Since 2019, the Evangelical churches have consistently engaged in discussions with political parties to advocate for the recognition of Good Friday as a public holiday for all, suggesting the potential removal of either Easter Monday or Whit Monday as an alternative to avoid reducing annual working days. However, these efforts have yet to yield any success.

The observance of Good Friday by Evangelicals in Austria has changed since 2019, leaving the churches concerned about their lack of participation in legal proceedings and being entirely excluded from the discussions surrounding their rights.

Currently, there is a grassroots initiative for a public petition regarding Good Friday, spearheaded by both Evangelical and Catholic Christians. This group seeks to address the current unsatisfactory situation, advocating for all Christians to be able to observe Good Friday meaningfully.