The Catholic Church in Switzerland (german: Römisch-katholische Landeskirche, french: Église catholique en Suisse, it, Chiesa cattolica in Svizzera) is organised into six dioceses and two

territorial abbey A territorial abbey (or territorial abbacy) is a particular church of the Catholic Church comprising defined territory which is not part of a diocese but surrounds an abbey or monastery whose abbot or superior functions as ordinary for all Ca ...

s, comprising approximately 2.9 million Catholics, about 33.8% of the Swiss population. The six dioceses are: *

Diocese of Basel The Diocese of Basel (german: Bistum Basel; la, Diœcesis Basileensis) is a Catholic diocese in Switzerland. Historically, the bishops of Basel were also secular rulers of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel (german: Fürstbistum Basel). The bis ...

whose

ordinary Ordinary or The Ordinary often refer to: Music * ''Ordinary'' (EP) (2015), by South Korean group Beast * ''Ordinary'' (Every Little Thing album) (2011) * "Ordinary" (Two Door Cinema Club song) (2016) * "Ordinary" (Wayne Brady song) (2008) * ...

is Bishop Felix Gmür * Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg whose

is Bishop

Charles Morerod Charles Morerod, O.P. (born 28 October 1961), is a Swiss (people), Swiss Dominican Order, Dominican prelate. Since 2011, he has been Roman Catholic Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg, bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg. Previously, he s ...

* Diocese of Chur whose ordinary is Bishop

Joseph Maria Bonnemain Joseph Maria Bonnemain (born 26 July 1948) is a Swiss prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the bishop of Chur since 2021. Life Joseph Bonnemain was born on 26 July 1948 in Barcelona, the son of a Swiss father and a Spanish mother. He spea ...

Diocese of Lugano The Diocese of Lugano (Latin: ''Dioecesis Luganensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Switzerland covering the canton of Ticino. The diocese immediately exempt to the Holy See. In 2004, there wer ...

whose ordinary is Bishop

Valerio Lazzeri Valerio Lazzeri (born 22 July 1963) is a Swiss prelate of the Catholic Church who was bishop of Lugano from 2013 to 2022. Biography Valerio Lazzeri was born in Dongio on 22 July 1963. He carried out his studies from 1982 to 1987 at the San Carl ...

* Diocese of Saint Gallen whose ordinary is Bishop Markus Büchel *

Diocese of Sion The Diocese of Sion ( la, Dioecesis Sedunensis, french: Diocèse de Sion, german: Bistum Sitten) is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the oldest bishopric in the country and one of the oldest north of ...

whose ordinary is Bishop

Jean-Marie Lovey Jean-Marie Lovey, c.r.b. (born 2 August 1950), is a Swiss prelate. Since 2014, he has been Roman Catholic Bishop of Sion. Previously, he served as provost of the congregation of the Canons regular of the Great St Bernard from 2009 to 2014. Ea ...

The two

s, which do not belong to any bishopric, are * St. Maurice's Abbey in the

Canton of Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the Sw ...

, which is the longest continuously inhabited monastery in Europe, whose Abbot is

Joseph Roduit Joseph Roduit (December 17, 1939 – December 17, 2015) was a Roman Catholic priest and abbot. Roduit was ordained a priest for the Swiss Congregation of Canon Regulars of Saint Maurice of Agaune on September 4, 1965. From 1999 until 2015, Rodul ...

, * 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 The Swiss Bishops' Conference (SBC; german: Schweizer Bischofskonferenz; french: Conférence des évêques suisses; it, Conferenza dei vescovi svizzeri; rm, Conferenza dals uvestgs svizzers) is the coordinating body of the Catholic dioceses in ...

. 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 Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

). However, discussions remain unresolved especially about the status of the

Canton of Zürich The canton of Zürich (german: Kanton Zürich ; rm, Chantun Turitg; french: Canton de Zurich; it, Canton Zurigo) is a Swiss canton in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton in the ...

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 Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

. Most cantonally delineated Catholic church bodies are members in their umbrella

Roman Catholic Central Conference of Switzerland Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

(RKZ, official names in german: link=no, Römisch-Katholische Zentralkonferenz der Schweiz, french: link=no, Conférence centrale catholique romaine de Suisse, it, link=no, Conferenza centrale cattolica romana della Svizzera, rm, link=no, Conferenza centrala catolica romana da la Svizra). Currently, there is one living Cardinal from Switzerland, Kurt Koch;

Gilberto Agustoni Gilberto Agustoni (26 July 1922 – 13 January 2017) was a Swiss prelate of the Catholic Church. He worked in the Roman Curia from 1950 to 1998, ending his career as head of the Apostolic Signatura from 1992 to 1998. He became a Cardinal in 199 ...

died in 2017 and Henri Schwery in 2021. Kurt Cardinal Koch participated in the

2013 Papal conclave The 2013 papal conclave was convened to elect a pope to succeed Pope Benedict XVI following his resignation on 28 February 2013. After the 115 participating cardinal-electors gathered, they set 12 March 2013 as the beginning of the conclave. On ...

Catholic lay organizations in Switzerland

Jungwacht Blauring Jungwacht Blauring (short: Jubla) is a Swiss children and youth organization. Jubla is one of the biggest children and youth organizations in Switzerland. Jubla is a member of the Catholic umbrella of youth organizations Fimcap. History The first ...

(JuBla)

Demographics

76% of Swiss Catholics support same-sex marriage and 23% oppose it.How Catholics around the world see same-sex marriage, homosexuality
''

Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catholic Church in Switzerland

Catholic lay organizations in Switzerland

Demographics

See also

References