Bern creates cemetery for Buddhists
Bern has become the first Swiss city to set aside a special final resting place for Buddhists.
Around 150 guests attended a ceremony at Bremgarten cemetery in the Swiss capital on Thursday.
In 2016, there were around 37,000 Buddhists living in Switzerland, many originating from Thailand.
The city’s government has set a goal of offering members of the world’s five biggest religions appropriate funeral services according to their needs.
Christians and Muslims can already be buried at the Bremgarten cemetery. A Jewish cemetery is also available in Bern. The next step is to create a special place for Hindus. People of no religious faith can be buried in all three cemeteries in Bern.
+ Read more about the different religions in Switzerland
Most of the Swiss population (8.4 million) are Christian. Catholics remain the biggest faith group – 37% of permanent residents in 2016, down from 47% in 1970. The percentage of Swiss Protestants has fallen since 1970 from 49% to 25% in 2015. The other biggest religious communities include Muslims (353,000), Hindus (38,000) and Jews (17,000).
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