Last Thursday evening, the Pontifical Mission Societies presented the ‘EMIL’ bronze donkey to missionary personalities for the fifth time in a row as part of the emotional Austria.on.Mission.Award show. People who are committed to missionary work in Austria and beyond were honoured in four categories. Numerous companions and guests accepted Missio Austria's invitation to the ARIANA Centre in Vienna. These included guests of honour such as Bishop Wilhelm Krautwaschl, Bishop Werner Freistetter and Auxiliary Bishop Franz Scharl.
‘There are committed people, men and women, in the universal church who are on fire for charity,’ says Missio National Director Father Karl Wallner. The EMIL Award, in the form of a bronze donkey, has a special symbolism, as Father Karl Wallner explains: ‘The donkey is an unappreciated animal that works hard and carries heavy loads and is the only animal that Christ was allowed to carry. Many missionaries work like donkeys, are unappreciated and rarely receive thanks for their hard work and service of charity.’ With the EMIL awards, Missio Austria puts such heroes and heroines of charity in the spotlight.
The EMIL award winners 2024
This year's ‘Emil’ in the ‘Missionary from Austria’ category goes to Sister Elisabeth Brunmayr. Born in Lower Austria, she has been supporting the poorest of the poor in the Ugandan diocese of Mityana since 2002. Together with her fellow sisters from the Order of the Sisters of St Mary of Mount Carmel, the 74-year-old founded a mission station and an educational centre 22 years ago, which is regarded as a beacon of hope in the region. Thanks to support from Austria, the educational centre has become an important facility for the local population, where they receive training in health, sustainable agriculture and water supply and thus act as multipliers for the region. In the midst of poverty and a lack of healthcare, Sister Elisabeth remains an indispensable pillar of support for the community.
This year's ‘Missionary in Austria’ is Deacon Georg Mayr-Melnhof, founder of the Loretto Community. After studying business administration, specialised theology and independent religious education, the husband and father of four worked in the family business for two years before leaving the private sector to follow the path of the Lord: He has now been a full-time youth leader and deacon in the Archdiocese of Salzburg for 20 years. The starting signal for the Loretto Community was a bus pilgrimage to the Bosnian Marian pilgrimage site of Medjugorje in August 1987. Moved by the experiences and impressions of Medjugorje, Georg Mayr-Melnhof founded the Loretto Community together with friends in October of the same year. What began over 40 years ago as a small prayer group in Vienna has developed into a community with 800 members in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, South Tyrol and London. The community is particularly appealing to young people: Through discipleship, praise and worship, young people learn about life in the Holy Spirit in a community. ‘We offer things that young people might not find in a conventional parish,’ explains Georg Mayr-Melnhof. The annual Pentecost festival ‘Fest der Jugend’ in Salzburg, which Georg initiated, has also been an attraction for young people for many years. In 2019, more than 10,000 young people took part in the programme in Salzburg Cathedral. Since 2022, the Whitsun festival has been held in four countries at almost 30 locations. A total of 12,000 people attended the Whitsun festivals in 2023.
The Emil in the ‘Star of Mission’ category goes to Abbot Gerhard Hafner, whose monastery, Admont Abbey, is celebrating its 950th anniversary this year. For many years, Admont Abbey has been closely associated with the Pontifical Mission Societies in Austria by supporting the training of priests in the countries of the Global South. A few years ago, the diocese of Popokabaka in the Democratic Republic of Congo did not have its own small seminary to adequately support the many vocations in this very poor region. In the spirit of St Benedict, Abbot Gerhard became a generous supporter of the project. Abbot Gerhard Hafner was born on 1964 in Trieben in Upper Styria. After graduating from high school in Stainach and studying theology in Graz, he was ordained a diocesan priest in Graz Cathedral on 1 July 1990. He worked as a chaplain in Schladming until 1994 and then entered the novitiate at the Benedictine monastery in Admont. He made his temporary profession in 1995 and his solemn profession in 1999. From 1996 until his election as abbot, he was the abbey's parish priest and rector of the abbey church, and until 2012 he was also parish priest in Hall in Styria. Already deputy since 1996, he was dean of the deanery from 2000 to 2015. From November 2008, he was also Prior of Admont Abbey. On 25 January 2017, he was elected as the 68th Abbot of Admont Abbey for twelve years and took office in March of the same year.
This year's ‘Hero of Charity’ is Taratra Rakotomamonjy, Secretary General of the Madagascan organisation VOZAMA. Together with her team, Taratra Rakotomamonjy is committed to the education of more than 11,700 children in the highlands of Madagascar, in the province of Fianarantsoa. In recent years, VOZAMA has succeeded in building over 670 preschools in the remote, poor areas of Madagascar. The schools also give parents the opportunity to receive further training in environmental and health issues and to optimise their crop yields. However, it is important to Taratra and her team that they always help people to help themselves. It is also important that VOZAMA actively promotes environmental protection in Madagascar. The children at the preschools and the village communities work together to reforest sections of the highlands with trees in order to stop the further desertification of the land. A good 90 per cent of Madagascar's former primary forest has been cut down, with massive consequences for the climate. VOZAMA has planted over 1 million trees so far. Taratra Rakotomamonjy herself was born in Madagascar, completed her schooling and later her Master's degree in France. Even though her family lived with her in France, she always longed for her homeland. So she decided to do an internship in Madagascar, where she became increasingly aware of the abject poverty: Madagascar is the second poorest country in Africa. Two thirds of the people have less than two euros a day to survive. Around half of the children are considered malnourished. Shocked by these conditions, Taratra decided to stay in Madagascar to work for change.
Starmaniac Judith Lisa
Judith Lisa provided the musical backdrop this year, performing her new single ‘Alte Küche’ and the song ‘Heute wird gut’ live. The 24-year-old singer became famous in 2022 as the runner-up on the ORF show Starmania.
Bronze donkey for donkey work
Every year since 2020, Missio Austria has awarded a bronze donkey ‘Emil’, designed by the artist monk Father Raphael Statt, in four categories to missionary personalities who have shown exemplary commitment to world missions or are involved in missionary work. The donkey refers to the biblical symbolism according to which Jesus Christ deliberately chose a humble beast of burden for his entry into Jerusalem in order to lay down his life for the people there. In addition, the donkey is still an exploited beast of burden in many countries around the world, whose labour often goes unnoticed and unappreciated.
