After the canton of Geneva had at least tacitly accepted the religious ceremonies in the lake, they are now suddenly banned. The reason: the separation between church and state. But is that legal?
Compatible with the secular law or not? A free church baptism in Lake Geneva.
Many people like to sleep in longer than usual on Sunday mornings and then treat themselves to an extensive brunch. Meanwhile, others are pursuing their faith – sometimes in the great outdoors. In the canton of Geneva, this is now leading to an open conflict between two evangelical free churches and the authorities.
In contrast to the state churches, the free churches know the so-called water baptism. Adults – and thus those who are capable of making decisions – are briefly dipped into the water, which is intended to symbolize the death and resurrection of Jesus. Such baptisms take place all over Switzerland, often in public waters – and usually at a time when the beaches are not yet overcrowded with bathers.
In Geneva, however, this is over for the time being. On June 27, the responsible security department refused two churches permission for such baptisms in Lake Geneva. «So far there have never been any problems. That’s why we’re quite astonished by this harassment,” says Stéphane Klopfenstein, Deputy Director of the Evangelical Alliance (RES).
Only three churches are recognized
Geneva and Neuchâtel are the only two Swiss cantons in which church and state are separated at constitutional level. Geneva is particularly strict in this regard: in 2018, Parliament drafted its own secular law, which was adopted in a referendum in 2019 and specified in an executive order in 2020. The authorities are now relying on this regulation.
Because it states that only those organizations that are officially recognized by the canton may request permission to hold a cult event on public land. Currently these are the Protestant, the Roman Catholic and the Old Catholic Church. Because the two free churches do not meet this basic condition, the content of the applications was not checked at all, writes the security department on request.
Only: Since the regulation came into force, there have also been free church baptisms in Lake Geneva. It is unclear whether the canton has ever given written approval for this. But the churches sometimes received verbal approval through personal contacts in the department, says Klopfenstein. In addition, because there had never been any resistance or anger in the past, they assumed that the authorities would give their tacit approval. He recalled that after the adoption of the law on secularism, the canton promised a “tolerant approach” to water baptism.
Also a swimming pool will do‘s
The dispute now continues on legal terrain. Bothn Freikirchen have lodged an appeal against the bans with the administrative court and also refer to the federal court. In December 2021, this stated that freedom of belief guarantees the right to collectively express one’s religion in public.
Although a swimming pool is also used for a baptism, the free churches want to be able to immerse their believers in natural waters again as quickly as possible. But the lawsuit is also about fundamentals: Geneva is trampling on its “tradition of tolerance” and damaging its reputation as the “capital of human rights,” say the churches. For its part, the canton replies that the secular law protects freedom of religion and conscience precisely by giving them a legal framework. In this way, not least, religious peace is preserved.