Swiss bishops: Catholics "on the decrease", especially among immigrants ” “

The number of Catholics in Switzerland has dropped by approximately 4%, especially among immigrants: the alarm bell is rung by the Swiss bishops, who have issued a statement in which they offer a preliminary analysis of the federal census relating to the year 2000; its data relating to religious aspects have just been published. In comparison with 1990 – according to the data of the federal Office of statistics – the number of Catholics is “on the decrease both in absolute figures (-124,434), and in relative terms (-3.9%). If account is taken of the fact that “for several decades society has been secularized” and that “the number of faithful of the so-called traditional Churches is declining”, point out the Swiss bishops, “there’s nothing really new” in the figures. If however we analyze them “in detail”, we will see that “while the number of Roman Catholics has dropped by 3.9%, this diminution is mainly due to the migratory phenomenon”. The census data in fact show a 10.1% drop among “foreign” Catholics, many of them “from Latin American countries, traditionally Catholic”, to whom are added “the new arrivals, often coming from countries with a majority of other religions and cultures”. Read in this perspective, the census figures are – in the view of the Swiss bishops – “rather reassuring”, given that “the percentage drop of Roman Catholics among the Swiss population” over the last ten years “may be considered an understandable fluctuation in the context of our society”, in which “one might have expected a more substantial decrease, especially due to the decline in the birthrate”. “The religious landscape is being transformed”, however, admit the Swiss bishops, and the “traditional” Churches must “serenely consider the lessons to be drawn from it”, in the first place the need to “seek new forms of pastoral ministry, especially in the cities”, and to come to terms with the presence of “people who have no religious beliefs at all”, whose number is “markedly increasing”. Developing “a real dialogue” with these latter, turning “linguistic Catholic missions” into an “important pastoral tool”, and fostering “ecumenical dialogue with the Christian Churches and communities” (especially the Orthodox Churches) present in the country: these are some of the suggestions of the Swiss bishops for the pastoral mission of the future. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1177 N.ro relativo : 7 Data pubblicazione : 31/01/2003