Farewell celebration for Archbischop Christoph Schönborn in January 2025

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The big official farewell ceremony for Archbishop Christoph Schönborn will occur on January 18, 2025, in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. This was announced by the Archdiocese of Vienna in a press release on Friday, 11. October 2025. It is, therefore, almost certain that Schönborn will retire soon.

Pope Francis is expected to accept Schönborn’s resignation as Archbishop of Vienna around his 80th birthday at the end of January 2025, according to reports. For this reason, Schönborn and the archdiocese invite people to a service in St. Stephen’s Cathedral on Saturday, January 18, at 2 p.m. “to celebrate and give thanks at the end of an almost 30-year journey together.”. Therefore, mutual thanks and blessings to God for the shared journey will be at the center of the service.

The invitations will be sent out in the next few days to employees of the Archdiocese of Vienna, companions from a wide range of areas, the deputy chairpersons of the parish councils and the asset management councils of the parishes, and representatives of public life.

Tell – pray – donate
In addition, all those who would like to celebrate with the Archbishop are invited to attend the service. You can register for this from the end of November via the website of the Archdiocese of Vienna. The service will also be broadcast on ORF 2.
The Archdiocese of Vienna is preparing a “gift of remembrance” for Schönborn.
The Archdiocese of Vienna has prepared three options for participating in a “commemorative gift”, all of which are already available on the website: You can share the memory of an encounter with the Archbishop, sign up for a prayer or donate money to an Austrian or an international aid project.

Dispatch note
“Kreuz und Quer Spezial” is dedicated to the life and work of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn in: ‘Cardinal Christoph Schönborn – Shepherd and Crisis Manager’ on Sunday, October 13, 2024 at 11.08 pm on ORF 2.

In his years as Archbishop, Christoph Schönborn has had countless encounters with people from various areas, according to the archdiocese’s broadcast. Schönborn had shaped people and they had enriched his life. Everyone is invited to upload their memories of an encounter to the website. A bound chronicle will be created from the collected memories as a farewell gift for the archbishop.

A successor is not yet known
If you would like to pray for the Cardinal, you can easily enter on the website when and for which intention you are praying. Finally, there is also the option of donating to one of two projects that are close to the Archbishop’s heart: for single mothers and their children as part of the work of the St. Elisabeth Foundation in Vienna or for a Christian-run retirement home in Syria.

Schönborn had already reached the age limit for bishops of 75 at the beginning of 2020 and offered his resignation to Pope Francis at the time. However, the head of the Church did not accept. Schönborn would remain in office “for the time being and indefinitely”, it was said at the time. The press release concluded that it is not yet known which successor Pope Francis will appoint for Cardinal Schönborn as Archbishop of Vienna. It is possible, for example, that Archbishop Franz Lackner will move from Salzburg to Vienna.