Sociologists of religion and theologians from the Institute for Social Sciences of Religions of University of Lausanne and the Strasbourg and Basel faculties of Theology, have released the study Secularisation and inclusivity: The development of local religious groups in Switzerland, 2008 – 2022.

They interviewed the leaders of parishes, congregations, synagogues, temples, mosques and cultural centres across the country, “to analyse the characteristics and activities of their respective communities”.

The study came to two key findings: first, they find “a continuing secularisation: the number of local groups has decreased and the average age of leaders and regular participants has increased”.

Secondly, “we observe an overall growing inclusivity among local religious groups, with a higher acceptance of homosexuals and a greater normative openness and practice towards female leadership”.

Secularisation and age on the rise

According to the study, the total number of local religious groups during the period under review, fell from 6,341 in 2008 to 5,883 in 2022, a decrease of 7.2 %.

Furthermore, the amount of regular participants in religious events “has fallen from around 894,000 (2008) to 824,000 (2022),which corresponds to a decline from 11.6 % (2008) to 9.5 % (2022)”.

Roman Catholics and Reformed Protestants are the groups that has lost more members , while “the evangelical-charismatic congregations in Switzerland are therefore not growing, but are characterised by a high level of fluctuation”, points out the report.

The study also shows that the age of the leaders in religious communities is increasing, and it is “ageing faster on average than the rest of the working population in Switzerland”.

Between 2008 and 2022, the average age of spiritual leaders rose by three years, from 50.8 to 53.8 years.

“The reason for this lies in the fact that not enough younger leaders are being recruited”, states the study.

More openness

In addition to secularisation and ageing, the study finds that the percentage of local religious groups that accept homosexual people as fully members of the community has risen from 63% in 2008 to 75% in 2022.

The percentage of groups that allow homosexual people as volunteer leaders has also increased, from 36% (2008) to 55% (2022).

“The growing acceptance of homosexual people is particularly evident in the Roman Catholic, Protestant-conservative and Muslim traditions”, says the study.

Religious groups also became more open to women in leadership roles between 2008 and 2022, with 54 % allow women leadership (47 % in 2008), and 15.2 % led by women (12.4 % in 2008).

The increase has been “above all among Reformed, classical evangelicals and Buddhists, while conservative evangelicals, Orthodox, Muslims and Hindus/Sikhs have changed little or negatively”.

You can read the full study here (in German)