Partial Church Withdrawal - Affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church

Facts

[A.] resides in the municipality of [B.] in the canton of Lucerne. With a written declaration dated 9 December 2000 to the Church Council of the Catholic parish of [B.], she declared her withdrawal from this parish, but at the same time emphasized that this withdrawal only concerned the state church of the canton of Lucerne and not the Roman Catholic Church, to which she still felt affiliated. The President of the Church Council replied that her membership in the parish of [B.] would continue, as she still professed her affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church. [A.] then unsuccessfully approached the Synodal Council of the Roman Catholic National Church of the canton of Lucerne with the request to determine that she was no longer a member of the parish of B. Finally, [A.] filed a constitutional appeal with the Federal Court.

Considerations

The Federal Court dismisses the constitutional appeal. It states that the connection between affiliation with the Roman Catholic religious community and membership in the Roman Catholic National Church and the corresponding parish (the so-called "Nexus") as regulated in the constitution of the canton of Lucerne is generally permissible. [A.] is free to continue to belong to the Roman Catholic religious community or to withdraw from it. She is not required to renounce the Roman Catholic religion. However, if she professes this religious community, she is also bound by the organization provided for in this respect. Personal conflicts do not in themselves give the right to withdraw partially from an association.

The…