Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-09
METHODlSM In AUSTRIA.
A New Church Closed in Vienna By State
Authorities.


A New Church Closed in Vienna by Stat.
Authorities.
Vienna Dispatch to the London Times.
The masistracy of Vienna, at the instance OF
the public prosecutor. has issued decree clos
ing the Methodist church in this city and in.
hiblsing its pastor, the Rev. Friedrich Roesch
from preaching anywhere in the capital This
decision is one tina; interests all Protestant com.
munities. for the magistrates base their inhibi.
ton on the fact that the Methodists, in one oil
the articles of their belief, denounce the sacri.
fees Of masses as ''biasphemous fables and dan.
gorous deceits." These words are held to con.
stitute IAN insult against one Of the religions
| recognized by the state''-namely, the Roman
Catholic; but it seems to have escaped the
attention of the public prosecutor that
| the incriminated words are derived from
the articles of the Church OF England and may
be found in the English books Of Common
Prayer which circulate freely i'm this country
When in 1743 John and Charles Wesley drew
up the articles and statutes Of MetLodism
| they adopted twenty-five out Of the twenty-nine
| articles of the Church Of England, and the
article on the lone oblation OF Christ" which
is numbered 20 in the Methodist statute book
is nothing but article 81 of the Anglican
Liturgy. The argument used against Nj
Roesch might, therefore, be enforced to the
inhibition Of every Anglican clergyman in
this country, excepting the chaplain of the
British embassy, who is privileged.
An interesting account of the development
of Methodism in Austria may be found in an
article contributed to the December number OF
the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine by Mr. James
Budget Meakin. The community has been
growing in numbers and Importance. but until
the present year it had no fixed place of wor.
ship. This want was supplied last June by Bar
m ON, II nh l. a..
in religious work, and who bought a house in
which a permanent Methodist chapel was to be
established. This lady also founded a chill.
dren home and servant girls home, both OF
which institutions have been doing much good.
As, however, Baroness Won Langenau WAS \
| convert from Lutheranism, her generosities
appear to have excited the displeasure OF her
former coreligionists, and also of the .'colo-
nists," who did not wish to see Methodism
added to the number of the recognized
churches.
The Roman Catholics do not seem to have
cared much about what was being DONE but
the civil authorities are believed to have taken
alarm at some missions for postmen in which
Sir Arthur Blackwood, while he was in Vienna
on the business of the postal congress-, took q
warm interest, and when a formal application
was at length presented for the recognition of
the Methodist church inquiries were made
as to the statutes, with the result already men,
toned
A church cannot obtain recognition in Aus
tria unless its founders guarantee that they are
able to provide funds for its maintenance. and
to this end they must deposit about 81. 900 in
caution money. There are other conditions,
but none Of them would have stood in the way
of the Austrian Methodists under the liberal
patronage vouchsafed them by Baroness Won
Langenau. Nor can it be supposed that their
cause is hopeless because Count KielmaLsegg's
decree has temporarily left them without .
church or . pastor. They are only passing
through the troubles which had to be borne by
the Moravians and the old Catholics, who, after
considerable tribulations. won their battles,
and are now ranked among the official religious
communities. Nevertheless, the Methodists
will probably be required to expunge their
twenty fifth article.