Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland

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The Catholic dioceses in Switzerland

The Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland is the part of the Roman Catholic world church located in Switzerland . In 2017 it counted around 3.1 million believers, which corresponded to a share of the population of 36.5%. In 2010 it was still 38.6%. A Swiss specialty is the addition of the church law system to the church law system and the associated coexistence and coexistence.

organization

The organization of the Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland shows a coexistence of a hierarchically organized episcopal church and a democratically organized regional church that is unique worldwide .

The six dioceses directly subordinate to Rome are listed below (as of December 31, 2011 / AP 2013 ):

Diocese Seat Cantons Area
(in km²)
Population (2011) Catholics (2011) Share (2011)
(in%)
Parishes (2011)
Diocese of Basel Solothurn Aargau , Basel-Stadt , Basel-Country , Bern , Jura , Lucerne , Schaffhausen , Solothurn , Thurgau , Zug 12,585 3,096,000 1,094,000 35.3 520
Diocese of Chur Chur Glarus , Graubünden , Nidwalden , Obwalden , Uri , Schwyz (except for the Einsiedeln Monastery Abbey), Zurich 12,272 1,769,999 0686.660 38.8 308
Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Friborg Freiburg Friborg , Geneva , Neuchâtel , Vaud 05,557 1,619,000 0703,000 43.4 255
Diocese of Lugano Lugano Ticino 02,811 0317,000 0241,000 76.0 256
Diocese of St. Gallen St. Gallen Appenzell Ausserrhoden , Appenzell Innerrhoden , St. Gallen 02,429 0551,707 0262,806 47.6 142
Diocese of Mores Manners Valais (except Saint-Maurice regional abbey), Aigle district (Canton of Vaud) 05,589 0316,000 0242,000 76.6 158

There are also two regional abbeys :

These dioceses and regional abbeys are united in the Swiss Bishops' Conference (SBK).

The cantonal state church law organizations are united in the Roman Catholic Central Conference of Switzerland (RKZ). They include e.g. B. the parishes for the administration of church property, which in the 19th century were separated from the parishes under liberal pressure and organized democratically.

With regard to the appointment of bishops in the dioceses of Basel , Chur and St. Gallen , special regulations apply. For example, the diocese of Basel can determine its bishop largely independently of the Vatican , and the government of the canton of Solothurn, which is the seat of the diocese, can forcibly refuse bishop candidates that it does not like. The regulation goes back to the Kulturkampf and is more of a rarity.

history

The historical ecclesiastical division of Switzerland

The first dioceses on today's Swiss territory were founded in the late Roman period (3rd / 4th century). a. in Geneva and Avenches .

Christianization began from the north by Anglo-Irish missionaries in the early Middle Ages . Up until the Reformation , the Roman Church comprehensively pervaded all areas of social and state life.

A second phase of suppression after the Reformation was the Enlightenment , liberalism and the Kulturkampf . Even after that - analogous to the other denominations - the secularization of social life continued.

After the Second World War - in addition to leaving the church - there was the immigration of people from other cultures / religions. In addition, one increasingly has to struggle with a shortage of priests . Nevertheless, the Roman Church continues to be the largest denominational group in the country.

The conservative Bishop of Chur, Vitus Huonder, calls for the separation of church and state , analogous to secular circles, but with different motives . This separation has existed for a long time in Basel-Stadt and some cantons in western Switzerland. On the other hand, some believers in the diocese - similar to the time of Bishop Wolfgang Haas - are calling for Huonder to be dismissed, and in the canton of Zurich even to be detached from the Chur diocese.

Swiss cardinals

There are currently two Swiss cardinals who are both in Rome: Kurt Koch and Henri Schwery . The historically most influential Swiss cardinal was Matthäus Schiner , who almost became pope at the conclave of 1521–1522 .

See also

literature

  • Urs Altermatt : The Swiss Catholics' Way into the Ghetto. The history of the origins of the national popular organizations in Swiss Catholicism 1848–1919. Benziger, Zurich 1972, ISBN 3-545-25031-8 (3rd revised edition. (= Religion, Politics, Society in Switzerland. Vol. 13)). Universitäts-Verlag, Freiburg 1995, ISBN 3-7278-0968-X , Simultaneously: Bern, Diss., 1970: The long way of the Swiss Catholics to national popular organizations.
  • Roman Catholic Central Conference of Switzerland . In: Nicolas Michel (ed.): Rerum Novarum 1891–1991. Cent ans d'enseignement social chrétien / Hundred years of Christian social teaching . University of Freiburg (Switzerland), Friborg 1991, pp. 29–30.
  • Ulrich Im Hof : History of Switzerland . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1974.
  • Erich Gruner , Beat Junker : Citizens, State and Politics in Switzerland. Textbook for civic education at higher secondary schools in German-speaking Switzerland . Basel Lehrmittelverlag, Basel-Stadt 1968.

Individual evidence

  1. Religions , Statistics Switzerland, accessed on February 6, 2018
  2. The Federal Government in Brief 2013 ( Memento of the original from October 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . The federal authorities of the Swiss Confederation ( admin.ch ). Retrieved April 29, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bk.admin.ch
  3. Explanations of the Roman Catholic. Aargau Church
  4. ^ Hans Berner: Parish. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . May 20, 2010 , accessed June 5, 2019 .
  5. E. Gruner / B. Junker: Citizens, State and Politics in Switzerland
  6. Kipa announcement of June 10, 2013
  7. Focus on Religion from Radio SRF, November 30, 2014

Web links