New office

Austria’s first episcopal vicar

Barbara Velik-Frank receives the decree of appointment as Episcopal Vicar from Bishop Josef Marketz.

(Bild: Diözesan-Pressestelle/Eggenberger)

Barbara Velik-Frank is the first woman to become vicar: from March 1, she will be responsible for the major task of church development in the Gurk-Klagenfurt diocese. Her appointment is a sign of the strengthening of lay people and women in the church.

Until now, all vicars have been ordained men. The Latin vicarius describes a deputy. The vicar general, for example, is the bishop's deputy for the administration of the diocese, while the episcopal vicar is entrusted with a special task. 

Austria's first vicar from March 1 is also directly subordinate to the bishop, who is her professional superior, and to the vicar general, who is her superior in terms of service law.

Synodality means facing the challenges and questions of the world together and not having hasty answers to burning (reform) questions.

Barbara Velik-Frank

The role of pastoral theologian Barbara Velik-Frank sounds unwieldy at first: Episcopal Vicar for Synodality and Church Development in the Diocese of Gurk. But the new office offers great opportunities for shaping things. Synods are assemblies that deliberate, answer questions and find solutions; synodality therefore means joint deliberation and decision-making. Among other things, this involves gender equality, for example through the targeted promotion of women in church leadership positions.

About the person

Barbara Velik-Frank, born in Vienna in 1968, married with two grown-up daughters.

After studying Catholic theology and independent religious education in Vienna, she worked for many years in international development cooperation, including four years in a social project in Brazil and in project management and educational work for several NGOs.

Velik-Frank taught religion at secondary schools in Klagenfurt and Villach until 2014. She then worked as a pastoral or parish assistant (Arnoldstein, Vorderberg, Egg, Thör-Maglern) and in regional work (Villach and Villach-Land). In 2024, she took over the management of the training course for diocesan pastoral assistants and the management of the working group for parish counseling.

Barbara Velik-Frank already dealt with women in the church in her dissertation.

Strengthening the laity, strengthening women
In her new position, Barbara Velik-Frank is to ensure the "continuation and implementation of the guidelines and impulses from the synodal church development process of the diocese of Gurk", according to the episcopal decree. For Bishop Josef Marketz , the establishment of the new office and the appointment of Barbara Velik-Frank as Episcopal Vicaress are "not only important steps on the synodal path, but above all concrete implementations of the strengthening of the laity and women in particular as called for by Pope Francis".  

The new vicar feels that her new task is "a special recognition and also a further sign of more leadership responsibility for women in the church". 

With a view to the next steps in the church development process, "an adjustment of the organizational structure is unavoidable in order to be able to effectively implement our priorities and goals", says Velik-Frank, knowing full well "that change also brings uncertainty and requires the courage to try something new".