The Minoritenkirche (, related to the monastic Order of Friars Minor Conventual monks), formally called Italienische Nationalkirche Maria Schnee (, related to the Italian Congregation who was the owner of this church), was built in French Gothic style in the Altstadt or First District of Vienna, Austria.
The site on which the church is built was given to followers of Francis of Assisi in 1224. The foundation stone was laid by King Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1276. Duke Albrecht II later supported the building process, especially the main portal. The Gothic Ludwig choir was built between 1316 and 1328, and used as a mausoleum in the 14th and 15th centuries. Construction of the church was completed in 1350.
The top of its belltower was damaged during the first Austro-Turkish war, rebuilt, then again destroyed again during the second Austro-Turkish war; the top was then replaced by a flat roof.
When Joseph II gave the church to the Italians as a present, they transferred the name Maria Schnee ("Mary of the Snows") from their nearby chapel which was subsequently destroyed.
Following disagreements between the church owner (the Italian Congregation Mary of the Snows) and the Archdiocese of Vienna, the Italian community was moved to the Church of the Holy Trinity of the Friars Minor in the Alservorstadt. After two years of uncertainty, in 2021 the Italian Congregation donated the Minoritenkirche to the Society of Saint Pius X, which operates it to this day.
History
The church is located in the Innere Stadt of Vienna, northwest of the Hofburg, at the Minoritenplatz. The Minoriten were Franciscan friars (Latin: "fratres minores"). They were appointed to Vienna in 1224.
After the city fire of 1275, the foundation-stone for the new church was laid by Ottokar Přemysl. It was one of the first Gothic churches in the east-Austrian area. After Ottokar's death in the battle on the Marchfeld, he was laid out here for thirty weeks.
A crucial break came in 1782, when the Minorite church was closed in the course of the religious politics of Joseph II. The church thereupon was renamed the "Italian National Church of Mary of the Snow" (Santa Maria Maggiore) – a name which still exists today. In the course of the evacuation of their church, the Franciscan friars minor brought the cross provided with a picture of Christ hanging over the high altar of their church in Wimpassing, so that, when it came back to Vienna some centuries later, it was called the "Wimpassinger cross." Today a copy of it hangs in the Stephansdom cathedral.
Parish split and donation to the Society of Saint Pius X
In 2019, a split occurred between the owner of the church (the Italian Congregation Mary of the Snows, led by Mrs Daniela Panella Jirout) and Father Thomas Manalil, the priest in charge of the church: the disagreement involved many issues, especially the liturgy, with Panella supporting the use of traditional liturgy and Father Manalil supporting a more modern one. Following repeated failed attempts to reconcile, the Congregation asked the Archdiocese of Vienna to dismiss Father Manalil and send a new priest; in response, Father Manalil resigned from his post in the church. Since a part of church-community-members supported Manalil's positions, the Archdiocese moved the Italian Catholic community in Vienna to the Church of the Holy Trinity of the Friars Minor in the Alservorstadt.
After two years of uncertainty, on 25 May 2021 the Congregation donated the Minoritenkirche to the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a traditionalist Catholic clerical fraternity which is currently not in full communion with the Holy See. The SSPX started to operate the church on 3 June 2022. Since then, the Tridentine Mass is recited daily on working days and twice on Sunday.