Overview of the role of the Catholic Church in Switzerland
Catholic Church in Switzerland
French: Église catholique en Suisse German: Katholische Kirche in der Schweiz Italian: Chiesa cattolica in Svizzera Romansh: Baselgia catolica romana in Svizra
Type
National polity
Classification
Catholic
Scripture
Bible
Theology
Catholic theology
Governance
SBC
Pope
Francis
Region
Switzerland
Language
French, German, Italian, Romansh, Latin
Headquarters
Fribourg, Switzerland
Separations
Swiss Reformed Church (16th Century) Old Catholics (19th Century)
Members
2,946,773 (2020)
Official website
Swiss Bishop's Conference
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Catholicism portal
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Stiftskirche St. Gallus und Otmar (St. Gallen)The traditionally Catholic regions of Switzerland are shown in red [citation needed].
The Catholic Church in Switzerland (German: Römisch-katholische Landeskirche, French: Église catholique en Suisse, Italian: Chiesa cattolica in Svizzera, Romansh: Baselgia catolica da la Svizra) is organised into six dioceses and two territorial abbeys, comprising approximately 2.9 million Catholics, about 33.8%[1] of the Swiss population in 2021.
The six dioceses are:[2]
Diocese of Basel whose ordinary is Bishop Felix Gmür
Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg whose ordinary is Bishop Charles Morerod
Diocese of Chur whose ordinary is Bishop Joseph Maria Bonnemain
Diocese of Lugano whose ordinary is Bishop Valerio Lazzeri
Diocese of Saint Gallen whose ordinary is Bishop Markus Büchel
Diocese of Sion whose ordinary is Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey
The two territorial abbeys, which do not belong to any bishopric, are
St. Maurice's Abbey in the Canton of Valais, which is the longest continuously inhabited monastery in Europe, whose Abbot was Joseph Roduit,
Einsiedeln Abbey, in the Canton of Schwyz
In contrast to most Catholic dioceses, Swiss bishoprics are exempt, i.e. immediately subject to the jurisdiction of the Holy See, without any Metropolitan see. The bishops and the two territorial abbots are organised within the Swiss Bishops Conference.
In the last thirty years, mainly during the conflict over the appointment of Wolfgang Haas as Bishop of Chur, there have been discussions to make a major reform of the structure of the Catholic Church in Switzerland, which would probably also lead to the establishment of a metropolitan see (probably in Lucerne). However, discussions remain unresolved especially about the status of the Canton of Zürich as part of the Diocese of Chur, the large but splinted extend of the Diocese of Basel and the lack of a Metropolitan see stay unresolved.
The status of Catholicism in Switzerland is complicated further by the existence of Landeskirchen (Catholic cantonal churches), imposed by anti-clerical cantonal governments in the 19th century and organised along democratic lines and control the application of funds collected through church taxes. Most cantonally delineated Catholic church bodies are members in their umbrella Roman Catholic Central Conference of Switzerland (RKZ, official names in German: Römisch-Katholische Zentralkonferenz der Schweiz, French: Conférence centrale catholique romaine de Suisse, Italian: Conferenza centrale cattolica romana della Svizzera, Romansh: Conferenza centrala catolica romana da la Svizra).
Currently, there are two living Cardinal from Switzerland, Kurt Koch and Emil Paul Tscherrig. The most recent cardinals are Gilberto Agustoni died in 2017 and Henri Schwery in 2021. Kurt Cardinal Koch participated in the 2013 Papal conclave.
^Religions, Statistics Switzerland, accessed 27 January 2022.
^Catholic Hierarchy website, retrieved 2023-08-28
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