VIENNA (EJP)---Austrian Justice Minister Beatrix Karl has given a legal clearance to doctors in the Vorarlberg province to resume religious circumcisions without risking criminal charges.

A furor over circumcision in Germany had reached Austria last week when the Vorarlberg governor advised doctors against performing the procedure, even when it is on religious grounds.

Markus Wallner, center-right state premier of the province, said the instructions followed the controversial June ruling by a court in the German city of Cologne that equated circumcision of young boys with grievous bodily harm. Another state governor came out in favour of a national ban.

Another state governor came out in favour of a national ban.

Austria's Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim leaders united in defense of circumcision on Friday, condemning calls to limit the practice as an attack on religion and demanding that the government clarify its legality.

Oskar Deutsch, the head of Vienna’s Jewish Community, said that the practice was “protected by the constitution”.

A letter from the Justice Minister giving the legal all clear has now helped assuage concerns, a spokesman for Governor Wallner said.

"We only wanted to get legal certainty for doctors so they can be clear whether they face legal consequences if they perform circumcisions for religious reasons," he said.

Doctors still have to decide for themselves whether to perform such voluntary operations, which are not covered by the public health system, he added.

A spokesman for Karl said the minister had simply put in writing to Vorarlberg state officials what she and her legal experts have said in public for days.

Austria is home to about half a million Muslims, most of whom are migrant workers from Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and about 10,000 Jews.