EUROPE/AUSTRIA - Cardinal König “The Friend of the Missions”. The Pontifical Mission Societies in Austria will dedicate the next issue of their missionary magazine to the Cardinal Archbishop emeritus of Vienna who died recently.

Vienna (Fides Service) - As a mark of deep gratitude to Cardinal Franz König, emeritus Archbishop of Vienna, who died on Saturday 13 March at the age of 98, the Pontifical Mission Societies in Austria, Missio Austria, will devote the May/June issue of their missionary magazine “alle welt” to the late Cardinal who was a close collaborator with the Pontifical Mission Societies. The Cardinal was archbishop of Vienna from 1956 to 1985.
Cardinal König kept close contact with the Pontifical Mission Societies. He was a subscriber to both the Missionary Childhood Annual and “alle welt” magazine. On the occasion of the “alle welt” 50th anniversary the Cardinal said: “Strengthened by the impulse of the Council , ‘alle welt’ magazine continues to reminds us that the missionary activity of the Church started with Christianity and it is therefore an ongoing commitment which regards each of us more than ever today”. The Cardinal never tired of underlining the connection between mission and ecumenism. In 1997, in an editorial for “alle welt” he wrote: “The mission entrusted to us by Christ is a duty for all Christians. It is also a call to the ecumenical movement to make every effort to see that the Lord’s command is obeyed with one voice. This can only come about if all Christians are committed to working for reconciliation and unity.”
On 30 March Cardinal König was due to celebrate a Mass in memory of a former National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Austria Bishop Florian Kunter. (MS) (Agenzia Fides, 18/3/2004 - 20 righe, 270 parole)