Catholic Church in Switzerland

The traditionally Catholic regions of Switzerland are shown in red.

Roman Catholicism in Switzerland, organised in the six dioceses and two territorial abbeys, comprises approximately 3 million Catholics, about 42% of the Swiss population.

The dioceses are the bishoprics of

• Basel, currently headed by Bishop Felix Gmür
• Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg, currently vacant
• Chur, currently headed by Bishop Vitus Huonder
• Lugano, currently headed by Bishop Pier Giacomo Grampa
• Sankt Gallen, currently headed by Bishop Markus Büchel
• Sion, currently headed by Bishop Norbert Brunner

The two territorial abbeys, which do not belong to any bishopric, are

• St. Maurice, in the Canton of Valais, which is the longest continuously inhabited monastery in Europe, currently headed by Abbot Joseph Roduit,
• Einsiedeln, in the Canton of Schwyz

In contrast to most Catholic dioceses, Swiss bishoprics are 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 whose chairman is the current Bishop of Sion, Norbert Brunner.

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 an metropolitan see (probably in Lucerne). However, discussions remain unresolved especially about the status of the Canton of Zürich as part of the Diocesis of Chur, the large but splinted extend of the Diocesis 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, imposed by anti-clerical canontal governments in the 19th century and organised along democratic lines and control the application of funds collected through church taxes.

Currently, there are four Cardinals from Switzerland: Henri Schwery, Kurt Koch, Gilberto Agustoni and Georges Cottier, of whom two (Cardinals Schwery and Koch) could participate in the next conclave.

See also

• List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Switzerland