Roman Catholic regional church of the canton of Bern
The Roman Catholic Church of the Canton of Bern ( French Église nationale catholique romaine du canton de Berne ) is a public corporation established under state church law and as such represents the Roman Catholic residents of the Canton of Bern . The entire territory of the regional church is in the area of the diocese of Basel . The regional church is a member of the Roman Catholic Central Conference of Switzerland .
history
After the introduction of the Reformation in the canton of Bern, the Catholic mass was banned in the canton area until 1799. After that there was a tolerance status for the Catholic religious practice, but no legal equality with the reformed regional church. The Swiss Kulturkampf delayed steps in this direction. Only a referendum in 1979 made the creation of the Roman Catholic Cantonal Church possible as a public corporation. It was constituted in 1982.
structure
Board of Directors and Administration
The Synodal Council of the regional church has been presided over by Marie-Louise Beyeler from Bern since August 20, 2020 . The administrative seat of the regional church is Bern.
organs
The Roman Catholic Church in Bern is structured as follows:
- the entirety of the Roman Catholic canton residents, if entitled to vote
- the parishes of the parishes
- Cantonal offices and missions
- Office and communication service
- the Legislative Synod (consisting of 78 delegates from the parishes of the canton (in terms of population distributed across the four regions of Bern, Bernese Jura, Mittelland and Oberland as well as 4 mission and 4 deanery delegates)).
- the Executive Synodal Council with six members, the Presidium for the four regions of Bern, Oberland, Mittelland and Jura Bernois and one of the Dean's office.
Specialist agencies
The regional church maintains several specialist and advice centers, u. a. the Catholic university pastoral care. The Department of Religious Education. Youth work: Foreign language missions.