New employment regulations in the Swiss canton of Zurich mean Church employees cannot be dismissed for failing to follow Catholic teaching.
“What has long been guaranteed in civil law now also applies to employment in the church,” the Diocese of Chur said, announcing that the revocation or withholding of the episcopal missio canonica – which confirms compliance with doctrine and moral teaching – will no longer lead to an employee’s automatic dismissal.
In Switzerland, it is not dioceses and parishes that are the legal employers of church workers, but rather church corporations governed by public law.
These corporations are democratically organised and cover the area of a canton, which does not correspond with dioceses.
Referring “to the social reality in Switzerland that there is nowadays greater openness to life forms that were previously taboo”, the canton said the new regulations instead require employees to be willing “to respect the Christian character of the institution and to contribute to making it effective in one’s own area of responsibility”.
“Relationships, sexual orientation, and lifestyle, particularly the intimate sphere … are excluded from legal assessment and do not constitute a criterion for employment,” it said.
A person’s private life cannot constitute “unsatisfactory behaviour” that is reasonable grounds for dismissal, though Church discipline for priests, deacons and Religious is exempt.
Zurich’s statement said the regulations were agreed in negotiation with Bishop Joseph Maria Bonnemain of Chur, whose diocese covers the entire canton.
In November, the Swiss bishops’ conference issued a “status report on the practice in Swiss dioceses with regard to the connection between episcopal authorisation” for pastoral work.
While emphasising the “uniqueness of each life situation” and rejecting a “rigid set of rules”, the report did not say that a person’s private life could not be grounds for dismissal.
Five theologians from Lucerne called the report an “abuse of power” and challenged the bishops to change their approach.
The reform group “Allianz Gleichwürdig Katholisch” demands the separation of missio from private lives, accusing the bishops of failing “to develop the necessary changes to make the Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland a discrimination-free working environment for pastoral workers”.