A Council of Religions that brings together representatives of the three national Churches (Protestant, Catholics, Old Catholics), and of the Jewish and Muslim communities in Switzerland, was founded in Bern on 15 May, after a year and a half of preparations. During the official ceremony marking its inauguration, the members of the Council signed a joint document setting out its aim: namely “to be a place of dialogue between the leaders of the various religious communities in the country and an interlocutor of the federal authorities”, with the objective of contributing to “religious peace in Switzerland”. The initiative is that of Pastor Thomas Wifp, chairman of the Council of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Switzerland, to find places “of regular meetings and dialogue” and thus to give a clear sign of the common responsibility of the national Churches and religious communities to promote religious peace in Switzerland”. According to Catholic Bishop Kurt Koch, vice-president of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, “the Council of Religions is a profession of public faith: religion is undoubtedly everyone’s private affair, but it ought not to be confined to the private sphere”. According to Hisham Maizar, president of the Federation of Islamic organizations in Switzerland, Muslims, “since they form part of Swiss society, think that it is their duty and responsibility to contribute to the construction of inter-religious peace”.
