New lease of benefices

Farmers protest against diocese: “Will resign”

Around 70 farmers met in St. Margarethen on Friday. And the protest is set to continue.

(Bild: Christoph Miehl)

The farmers' resentment over the reallocation of benefices is growing. Many now want to withdraw from the church.

Serious faces Friday morning in a field in St. Margarethen. Around 70 farmers have gathered to protest against the diocese's new lease of the parish benefice with banners reading "Stop the bishop's capitalism". There has been rumbling among the farmers for some time because the old contracts were terminated by the bishop's court and put out to tender again. Not all of the previous tenants were able to keep up with the price in the bidding competition, which is causing anger.

"Temporary withdrawal" as a reaction
"My granddaughter has already resigned from the parish council, my wife hardly ever goes to church anymore and my daughter has given up her lector duties," says Josef Dorner from Markt St. Martin, who became known for his online video "Wutbauer". His family is even considering "temporarily leaving" the church in response to the diocese's actions.

Dismissal before the first harvest
Farmer Josef Freismuth has a similar view: he will lose around ten percent of his previous land as a result of the new allocation. He could not go along with the prices now being asked. "These are dubious offers." The result, he says, is that the death of farmers and industrial agriculture will be further promoted. The well-known organic farmer Martina Schmit is also concerned. She has invested a lot of money in recent years to revitalize the soil, and this year is the first harvest. "And even before the harvest, we had already been given notice." Because she had already invested so much money, she could not get out and would pay the higher rent.

 "God is everywhere anyway"
"I'm bothered by the way the church has handled the matter," says farmer Leonhard Gabriel. Adjusting the lease price is basically legitimate. "You can talk to each other." But at the prices now quoted, it is no longer economical. Especially as the prices would continue to rise due to the contractual index adjustment in line with the consumer price index. So how can the other bidders afford this? "I don't understand that either," says Gabriel. He wants to leave the church. "God is everywhere anyway, I don't need to pay a church contribution for that."

Will private individuals now follow suit?
Julia Schneider-Wagentristl, an ÖVP member of parliament and herself a farmer in Kleinfrauenhaid, expressed her solidarity with the farmers. "I'm afraid that the private sector will now follow suit and demand the same price that the church gets. We will have to ask ourselves whether this is still economically viable. We have no index adjustments."

Only Burgenland residents get a chance
The Bischofshof emphasizes that the diocese has never specified any prices. The figures quoted now are offers from other farmers. In addition, existing tenants are always given the opportunity to improve the offer, which many are grateful for. Only Burgenlanders would be considered, unless the previous tenants were already non-Burgenlanders. "We can assure you that we have handled the awarding process objectively to the best of our knowledge and belief," they say.

Second wave next year
This year, it is about church land in 105 municipalities for which there were over 5000 offers from 1600 farmers. Next year, the land in the remaining municipalities will be reallocated. The Bishop's Court rejects the accusation that only large landowners will be given a chance.

Protest could be too late
As the bidding process has already been completed, the farmers' current protest is unlikely to change much. According to the diocese, the reallocation process is in its final phase. The new lease contracts will be sent out at the beginning of next week.