On Saturday, 24 June 2023, Maria Kubin (58), the new Old Catholic bishop for the Church of Austria, was consecrated in the Gustav Adolf Church in Vienna. She succeeds the previous Bbshop Heinz Lederleitner, who has retired. She is the first Old Catholic bishop in the churches of the Union of Utrecht. The consecration service was presided by the Archbishop of Utrecht, Bernd Wallet. Co-consecrators were the German Bishop Matthias Ring and the Swiss Bishop Harald Rein. In addition, other bishops from the churches of the Union of Utrecht as well as from the Anglican Churches, the Lusitanian Church of Portugal, the Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden and the Philippine Independent Church, with which the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht are in full communion, took part in the consecration.
Maria Kubin previously worked as a psychotherapist. She converted to the Old Catholic Church in 2008 and completed her studies in Roman Catholic theology at the University of Graz in 2020. She then supplemented her theological studies with a Master’s degree in Old Catholic theology at the University of Bonn. She was ordained deacon in 2017 and priest in 2019. On 22 April, she was elected by the Austrian Synod in the third round of voting with the necessary majority of votes as the new bishop for the Old Catholic Church of Austria.
The Old Catholic Church of Austria has around 9,000 members spread over 12 parishes. Four of them are located in the federal capital Vienna.
The service was livestreamed and can be viewed here.