Austria hiring hermit to greet pilgrims

VIENNA (AP) – Wanted, part-time: A hermit. Experience not necessary.

Municipal and Roman Catholic church officials in the Austrian town of Saalfelden are looking for someone to live in a nearby hermitage built into steep cliffs characteristic of the Salzburg region.

But a second job is advisable. Unheated and without running water, the hermitage is inhabitable only between April and November.

State broadcaster ORF on Thursday cited cleric Alois Moser as saying the search is on for “a person at peace with himself.” Moser says the successful candidate also should have a Christian outlook and be ready to greet visiting pilgrims.

The more than 350-year-old building has been uninhabited since a Benedictine monk left in the fall.

Salary details weren’t provided, but other reports say only free room and board would be provided.

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1/12/2017 11:33:07 AM (GMT -5:00)