Christian Party of Austria

The Christian Party of Austria (Christliche Partei Österreichs, CPÖ; formerly the Christians – Die Christen) is a minor political party in Austria, founded on 15 October 2005.

It changed its name under its new chairman Rudolf Gehring in late 2009, to avoid the use of the term "Christians" to mean only the party.

History
The party was registered on 23 January 2006, and presented to the public on 27 September 2007, when it announced a popular initiative ("Volksbegehren") on the topic of children and families and that it would contest the 2008 election in Lower Austria.

In the 2008 parliamentary election, the party received 0.64% of the vote.

Rudolf Gehring, the party's chairman, announced he would run for president in the 2010 election. He received 5.44% of the vote for third place, the party's highest vote percentage in a national election to date.

Goals
The party is oriented mainly on Christian politics, advocating, for example:


 * Revoking the recognition of same-sex unions
 * Giving parents the right to vote for their children
 * Maintaining Christian symbols in schools
 * Outlawing (or maintaining the illegality of) abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research and artificial insemination
 * Protection of the belief in a Creator God, stating that the importance of this belief "demands respect from other creeds and atheists" as well
 * A rejection of further EU centralization
 * A rejection of illegal immigration