Catholic Social Academy of Austria

In May 1952, a student day was held in the Austrian place of pilgrimage Mariazell to prepare for Catholic Day 1952, under the slogan A free church in a free society. In doing so, the principle was established of independence of the Catholic Church from partisan politics in Austria. The student day also called for a Catholic social program and training centre. The paper was later named the Mariazeller Manifesto.

In 1954 a Social and Economic Policy Unit was created in the Archdiocese of Vienna. As a result, the Austrian Bishops' Conference decided in the spring conference of March 1958 to establish the Catholic Social Academy. The archbishop in Vienna Franz Kardinalkönig drew up a statute and made it a church entity. On 1 October 1958, Jesuit Fr. Walter Riener was placed in charge of the Social Academy, as half-day lecturer and full-time secretary. In 1959 the premises were located in the Schottengasse.[2] With this founding of the Catholic Social Academy of Austria, the training institution called for by the Mariazeller Manifesto was implemented as a part of the social program of the Austrian Catholics.[3]

The creation of the social and economic policy unit of the Archdiocese of Vienna came earlier in 1954, with the mission of "research and dissemination of the Catholic social doctrine as well as promoting its application." A differentiated program developed on the pillars of social policy, political adult education, and organizational development.[4]

From a three-month internship course for men, and later also for women, a course in "Social Responsibility" was developed, which confers the title "Academic Practitioners of Social Responsibility." In addition to the two- and three-week social seminars for women, the Women's Academy was founded in the early 2000s.[5] The two-year vocational course was awarded the "Innovation Award for Adult Education" and became the inspiration for a women's platform in 2007.

In the mid-1970s, the Catholic Social Academy initiated talks between the Church and political parties[6] as well as the Chamber of Labor and the trade unions, and intensified cooperation with their political academies. The political education work of the Social Academy led to projects in inner- and extra-church enterprises and focused on the humanization of the working world.[7]

The academy's political education for adults assists in the development of persons and organizations,[8] in innovation and finding alternatives, and in accompanying change. Organizational development happens through the introduction of ideas and skills, through participation in initiatives, and through the assumption of responsibility.[9]

Guaranteed minimum income became a central theme of social policy in the mid-1980s, through the publications of the academy.[10]

Starting with a study day entitled From quantity to quality of life, a book of the same name arose, and from it the fictional series Social Foci. At the end of the 1980s, the academy played a decisive role in preparing the first Austrian poverty conference, which was held in Salzburg at the end of 1995. The creeping erosion of Sunday was countered by the Sunday Alliance, which was broadly based and included churches, trade unions, and economic and civil society organizations.[11] The academy won a prize for its International Fotoworkshop "In the focus: Sunday work."[12]

Since the 2000s, the migration of families and their integration into society has been the subject of several studies and advocacy.[13] Also during this time, the academy coordinated the creation of an ecumenical social document in which fourteen Christian churches participated. Social Word (Sozialwort) of the World Council of Churches in Austria is a compass for social thinking and action.[14] From 2004, the ethics of financial investment was discussed.[15]

In 2008, a fund was set up to subsidize resources for new programs which the current budget doesn't cover.[16]