The three main Churches of Switzerland intend to present a united front during the European football championship in 2008: that’s the pledge made at a meeting between representatives of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the Federation of the Evangelical Churches and Old Catholics, in which representatives of the cities that will host the matches also participated: Basel, Bern, Geneva and Zurich. According to the report carried by the Austrian Catholic Kathpress agency on 1st February, the Swiss Churches intend to set up a shared “place of peace and dialogue” for fans. “The aim is to show hospitality and contribute to mutual understanding”, declared the Evangelical pastor of Zurich Christoph Sigrist. According to Sigrist, preparations are already at an advanced stage to be able to present concrete projects in March; but no final decisions have yet been taken. The European football championships in 2008 are being organized by Switzerland and Austria; the event will be inaugurated at Basel on 7 June and end in Vienna on 29 June 2008.
