Roman Catholic Church in Liechtenstein

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St. Florin in Vaduz, since 1997 cathedral of the Archdiocese of Vaduz

The Roman Catholic Church in Liechtenstein has belonged to the Diocese of Chur since early Christian times . It was not until December 2nd, 1997 that a separate Archbishopric of Vaduz was established for the territory of the Principality of Liechtenstein , and Wolfgang Haas, the first archbishop, was installed . In this foundation one can see the efforts of the Catholic Church to bring ecclesiastical and political boundaries to a common denominator. Archbishop Haas also emphasized the need for independence from church and state, which does not exclude a mutually beneficial cooperation on certain issues.

Separated from the Diocese of Chur ( Switzerland ), there were violent disputes between opponents and supporters of the papal decision at the beginning, and the Princely House also felt that it had been left out. After initial entanglements, in which the person of the new archbishop played a role (Haas was already controversial as Bishop of Chur), the diocese was able to establish itself very quickly. The association for an open church was created as a counterpoint .

According to the results of the census in 2015, 27,576 out of 37,622 inhabitants (73%) in the Principality were Catholic. They live in 11 parishes , which extend over 160 km², and are looked after by 19 diocesan and 12 religious priests. At the same time, 66 nuns live in the archdiocese.

The Catholic holiday of the Assumption is a national holiday . According to Article 37 paragraph 2 of the constitution of the Principality of Liechtenstein , the Roman Catholic Church is the regional church in the sense of a state church . The abolition of this privilege is sought; In future, the relationship between church and state is to be regulated by a concordat . On December 20, 2012, the state parliament decided to enter into religious maturity on the age of 14 and to restrict denominational religious instruction to primary schools .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 2015 census. In: Statistisches Jahrbuch 2017. Landesverwaltung Fürstentum Liechtenstein, accessed on June 10, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Adolescents aged 14 and older , Liechtensteiner Vaterland , December 20, 2012