Catholic bishops oppose minaret ban
The Swiss Bishops Conference is against a controversial rightwing proposal to ban minarets - an issue that will go to nationwide vote on November 29.
In a statement, the conference said that like church steeples, minarets marked a religion's presence in the public domain.
The bishops said that a ban would hinder interreligious dialogue and added that the construction and operation of minarets were already regulated by Swiss building codes.
The initiative to ban minarets was launched by the rightwing Swiss People's Party and a small ultra-conservative Christian party last year. Supporters see minarets as political symbols and as a sign of what they term "Islamisation" in Switzerland.
"As bishops and Swiss citizens, we are pleased that there are no longer any special articles relating to religion in the constitution. No new ones should be introduced," the bishops' statement added.
"Our request for the initiative to be rejected is based on our Christian values and the democratic principles in our country."
swissinfo.ch and agencies
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@PJ , Switzerland: You have evidently misread or misconstrued my message. Please explain what the bishops' statement of "our Christian values" means. I am curious about "their Christian values" considering the scandalous and outrageous sexual abuse of children (boys) by numerous of 'your' clergy over many decades if not centuries and all over the world. My message was and still is that the catholic clergy should mind and "mend" their own affairs.
I am all for freedom of religion, but when the religion goes further to state that their law is more important that the law of the land... Its counter to the separation of church and state.
The minerets denote a religious building but also signify the need to follow their law and super-inpose it over the predominat civil authority. How would you like a swastika on the top of a building near you? It may be rash on my part but.........
As bishops, representing catholics in Switzerland including myself, they have every right to give their opinion in this matter. Furthermore, this are swiss bishops who also hold swiss citizenship, so we are now also going to deny the right to voice opinions to citizens of our country. I would like to believe we live in a tolerant and liberal democracy which is not defined by what type of structure is allowed to be built. We also have non-christian Swiss citizens, where are their rights??