Most Swiss Christians don’t believe story behind Easter
Jesus, played by an actor, carries his cross during Holy Week in Portugal last year
Keystone
Almost two-thirds of Swiss Christians who took part in a survey do not think the Resurrection of Jesus is a historical fact. Three-quarters of the population as a whole don’t believe it, up from two-thirds in 2007.
This content was published on
1 minute
Keystone-SDA/ts
العربية
ar
معظم المسيحيين السويسريين لا يؤمنون بقصة عيد الفصح
In addition, a third of respondents in French-speaking Switzerland said they didn’t know the meaning of Easter, according to a survey of 1,031 people published on Tuesday by two faith organisations, the Swiss Evangelical AllianceExternal link and Alliance PresseExternal link.
Women were more likely not to know than men, the study said.
Religious belief in Switzerland has been dwindling for many years. Data from the Federal Statistical Office in 2018 showed that the percentage of Swiss residents without a religious faith had more than doubled to around 25% since 2000. Christianity was on the decline and followers of Islam were increasing gradually.
Despite this, a number of long-held Easter traditions in Switzerland are being revived, changed or invented from scratch, while others have died out completely.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
More
More
Easter in Switzerland: more than just eggs
This content was published on
The Alpine nation retains a number of long-held Easter traditions, despite the commercialisation of the religious festival.
Swiss federal accounts CHF2.5 billion better than expected
This content was published on
A deficit of CHF80 million instead of the budgeted CHF2.6 billion: for the first time since the Covid pandemic, the Swiss government has almost balanced its books
Swiss government specifies reconstruction aid in Ukraine
This content was published on
Reconstruction of urban infrastructure, restoration of secure basic services, continuation of emergency aid: these are the goals of the Swiss government in Ukraine over the next few years.
Swiss government wants to adopt Council of Europe AI conventions
This content was published on
The Swiss government wants to incorporate the Council of Europe's conventions on artificial intelligence (AI) into Swiss law.
Swiss government wants more leeway to export war materiel
This content was published on
The Swiss parliament will decide on whether the government is to be given more leeway in authorising exports of war materiel if the situation requires it.
Ai Weiwei expresses surprise at being turned away at Zurich Airport
This content was published on
The world-famous artist was stopped when he entered Switzerland on Monday evening because, according to the Zurich police, he did not have a visa.
This content was published on
Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the American "absence" on the executive board since last week makes him "sad".
Number of bearded vultures in the Alps could double in ten years
This content was published on
The bearded vultures in the Alps are currently doing so well that their population could double to around 700 animals within ten years.
Hardly any violations of minimum wage regulations in Ticino
This content was published on
A good 3% of companies inspected have violated the minimum wage in the Swiss canton of Ticino in the past three years, according to an official review.
Mandatory EU referendum not possible, says Swiss commission
This content was published on
Switzerland's treaties with the European Union cannot be subject to a mandatory referendum. This is the opinion of the majority of the responsible committee of the House of Representatives.
This content was published on
Some of the old celebrations have disappeared, some have adapted, some have been revived, and some have doubtless been recently invented. It is not always easy to know which is which. Easter has today become highly commercialised, with chocolate rabbits and eggs appearing in the shops weeks ahead of the festival itself. Paul Hugger, retired…
This content was published on
Although Christianity dominates the Swiss religious landscape, the Alpine country is home to a variety of other religions and sects.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.