https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Switzerland in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed With the election of the new Pope on May 8th, this is a good time to look into how popular the Catholic Church is in Switzerland, and whether people actually attend mass. https://www.thelocal.ch/20250509/just-how-catholic-is-switzerland-in-2025 Fri, 09 May 2025 17:16:20 +0200 just-how-catholic-is-switzerland-in-2025 The daily presence of the Swiss Guard notwithstanding, Pope Francis visited Switzerland only once, in 2018. This is how this event is remembered. https://www.thelocal.ch/20250422/i-love-the-swiss-the-popes-visit-to-geneva-and-vaud-remembered Tue, 22 Apr 2025 12:45:07 +0200 i-love-the-swiss-the-popes-visit-to-geneva-and-vaud-remembered Sexual, psychological and physical violence has taken place in several countries within the ultra-conservative Society of Saint Pius X, Swiss newspaper Le Temps reported Saturday after a months-long investigation into the breakaway Catholic group. https://www.thelocal.ch/20240113/swiss-newspaper-uncovers-abuse-in-breakaway-catholic-group-in-france-and-beyond Sat, 13 Jan 2024 18:30:10 +0100 swiss-newspaper-uncovers-abuse-in-breakaway-catholic-group-in-france-and-beyond It's not only the glaciers in Switzerland that are shrinking, the main churches are also shedding members every year, gradually changing the religious profile of the country. Clare O’Dea, a recent church leaver, asks what this means for society. https://www.thelocal.ch/20231109/opinion-why-so-many-swiss-are-quitting-the-church-and-taking-their-money-with-them Thu, 09 Nov 2023 16:18:05 +0100 opinion-why-so-many-swiss-are-quitting-the-church-and-taking-their-money-with-them Following shocking sexual abuse revelations within Switzerland's Catholic Church, the Catholic dioceses' coordinating body said Saturday it planned to create a tribunal to discipline clergy members who break ecclesiastic law. https://www.thelocal.ch/20230923/swiss-bishops-plan-new-tribunal-after-sexual-abuse-revelations Sat, 23 Sep 2023 17:08:24 +0200 swiss-bishops-plan-new-tribunal-after-sexual-abuse-revelations A study into sexual abuse in the Swiss Catholic Church has identified almost a thousand victims and widespread efforts to cover up abuse, researchers at the University of Zurich said Tuesday, warning it was "just the tip of the iceberg". https://www.thelocal.ch/20230912/study-reveals-hundreds-of-sexual-abuse-victims-in-swiss-catholic-church Tue, 12 Sep 2023 17:45:48 +0200 study-reveals-hundreds-of-sexual-abuse-victims-in-swiss-catholic-church It may surprise many that an army from a neutral nation has the job of protecting the pope. We meet the new recruits being sworn in as Swiss Guards. https://www.thelocal.ch/20230505/defending-the-pope-meet-the-new-recruits-behind-the-swiss-guards-armour Fri, 05 May 2023 12:32:08 +0200 defending-the-pope-meet-the-new-recruits-behind-the-swiss-guards-armour Swiss places of worship will be able to reopen from May 28, the government announced Wednesday, to allow weddings, baptisms and other religious celebrations to resume. https://www.thelocal.ch/20200520/normal-life-is-coming-back-churches-in-switzerland-to-open-earlier-than-expected Wed, 20 May 2020 19:26:34 +0200 normal-life-is-coming-back-churches-in-switzerland-to-open-earlier-than-expected There was a riot last time St Pierre's cathedral in Geneva hosted a Catholic Mass in 1535, with clergymen chased out and statues and treasures looted. https://www.thelocal.ch/20200227/bastion-of-swiss-reformation-to-host-first-catholic-mass-for-500-years Thu, 27 Feb 2020 11:21:21 +0100 bastion-of-swiss-reformation-to-host-first-catholic-mass-for-500-years In an early test for Geneva's controversial new secularism law, a Muslim councillor on Tuesday chose to sit in the public gallery during a recent council meeting rather than obey the new legislation by removing her headscarf so that she could take part in the session. https://www.thelocal.ch/20190313/geneva-muslim-councillor-forced-to-sit-out-council-meeting-because-of-headscarf-secularism-law Wed, 13 Mar 2019 20:54:08 +0100 geneva-muslim-councillor-forced-to-sit-out-council-meeting-because-of-headscarf-secularism-law A Zurich appeals court has upheld a fine for a Muslim man who chose not to send his three sons to a rehearsal for a Christmas concert. https://www.thelocal.ch/20190307/zurich-muslim-father-fined-after-kids-fail-to-attend-christmas-concert-rehearsal Thu, 07 Mar 2019 20:41:55 +0100 zurich-muslim-father-fined-after-kids-fail-to-attend-christmas-concert-rehearsal The Swiss government said this week it would not lend its support to plans to strike a 'blasphemy' clause from the country’s penal code despite similar moves in other countries in recent times. https://www.thelocal.ch/20190222/swiss-government-snubs-move-to-scrap-blasphemy-law Fri, 22 Feb 2019 12:22:54 +0100 swiss-government-snubs-move-to-scrap-blasphemy-law One of the key figures behind a successful campaign to have burqas banned in the Swiss canton of Ticino now wants Muslims banned from praying in public. https://www.thelocal.ch/20190213/swiss-burqa-ban-campaigner-calls-for-ban-on-muslim-prayers-in-public Wed, 13 Feb 2019 18:53:23 +0100 swiss-burqa-ban-campaigner-calls-for-ban-on-muslim-prayers-in-public Geneva residents on Sunday voted for a controversial new "secularism law", which will among other things ban elected officials and public employees from wearing visible religious symbols. https://www.thelocal.ch/20190211/geneva-votes-to-ban-religious-symbols-on-public-employees Mon, 11 Feb 2019 10:02:52 +0100 geneva-votes-to-ban-religious-symbols-on-public-employees The Swiss Federal Statistics Office has just published new figures on the religion in the country. Here are seven key takeaways. https://www.thelocal.ch/20190131/losing-my-religion-what-new-stats-reveal-about-faith-in-switzerland Fri, 01 Feb 2019 00:16:19 +0100 losing-my-religion-what-new-stats-reveal-about-faith-in-switzerland The Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt is to take on the costs of employing security personnel to protect its Jewish institutions. https://www.thelocal.ch/20181205/basel-to-pay-for-armed-security-to-protect-jewish-institutions Wed, 05 Dec 2018 23:11:06 +0100 basel-to-pay-for-armed-security-to-protect-jewish-institutions Tired of seeing their holy texts used to justify the subjugation of women, a group of feminist theologians from across the Protestant-Catholic divide have joined forces to draft "A Women's Bible". https://www.thelocal.ch/20181127/swiss-womans-bible-offers-feminist-theology-for-metoo-moment Tue, 27 Nov 2018 12:08:35 +0100 swiss-womans-bible-offers-feminist-theology-for-metoo-moment Pope Francis called on Thursday for deeper unity between the Catholic Church and other Christian faiths as he visited Geneva, a centre of Protestantism, amid Christianity's waning influence in Europe. https://www.thelocal.ch/20180621/pope-francis-seeks-unity-with-non-catholics-in-geneva Thu, 21 Jun 2018 17:25:34 +0200 pope-francis-seeks-unity-with-non-catholics-in-geneva The Pope is to hold a mass at the Palexpo convention centre in Geneva on June 21st during his upcoming visit to Switzerland. https://www.thelocal.ch/20180326/pope-francis-to-hold-geneva-mass-on-june-21st-switzerland-religion Mon, 26 Mar 2018 11:05:28 +0200 pope-francis-to-hold-geneva-mass-on-june-21st-switzerland-religion Pope Francis is to visit Geneva on June 21, Swiss authorities confirmed on Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20180228/pope-francis-studying-geneva-switzerland-visit-in-spring-reports Wed, 28 Feb 2018 10:09:59 +0100 pope-francis-studying-geneva-switzerland-visit-in-spring-reports