The Catholic Church is Losing its Status as National Church in Liechtenstein

Vaduz (kath.net/KNA)  The separation of Church and State in the Principality of Liechtenstein has taken another step.  In the Parliament of Vaduz 19 of the 25 representatives voted for the new law on religious association, as the Swiss media reported on Friday.

The law is the central element of the new organization of the relationship between State and Church.  Additionally there are constitutional revisions with the Catholic Church losing its special position as the National Church, as well as the concordat with the Holy See.

The Constitutional alteration will be put in effect in 2013 before the newly elected parliament.  Passing a fundamental law requires two further proceedings as well as pass with a two thirds majority.

In the new law regarding the recognition of religious societies, the Evangelical Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church will be included. Over 75 percent of the 36,000 inhabitants are Catholic;  50 years ago it was still 90 percent.

The Archdiocese of Vaduz, which includes the entire territory of the small country, was established in 1997 by the Vatican.  A law from 1870 served as a legal precedent.

In the second reading the Parliament decided to establish the religious declaration at 14 years of age; in Switzerland it is set at 16.  It was additionally decided to restrict obligatory religious instruction in school to the primary school.

The recognized national religious communities will be financed by a mandated tax.  Those obligated to pay the tax can determine to which community his portion of tax will flow.

The government of Liechtenstein has stated that the prescribed religious communities shall receive 2 percent of the wealth and tax income of the nation and the community.  This corresponds roughly to less than three million euros per year.

The Concordat as applied to the property rights will be divided at the community level.  The Principality and the Vatican have already united on the level of negotiations.  Originally the signing of the agreement was planned for 12 December.  For "reasons of a deadline" they will probably not take place till the beginning of January 2013, it is said.

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Liechtenstein Votes Against Proposed Abortion Law

Bern (kath.net/KNA) In Liechtenstein abortion remains illegal even for the future. At a popular vote on Sunday about 52 percent of the 36,000 citizens voted against the legalization of pregnancy termination, 47.7 percent voted to allow abortion within the first twelve weeks.

In Liechtenstein, abortion is illegal is punishable with up to a year of confinement, if it is undertaken abroad.

Archprince Alois von Liechtenstein had shown himself to be explicitly against the initiative and promised to cast his veto and refused to sign it into law. The reason for his opposition lay in that the proposed form did not merely address fetuses in the first twelve weeks, but could allow for it in cases of handicapped children all the way up to the point of birth.

Even the goevrnment and parliament of Liechtenstein had spoken out against the text of the poll.

Various political parties proposed a further challenge in the text in the event that it were rewritten. Abortion is still punishable in any case, even if only, it is undertaken by Lietchtenstein.

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The Prince of Liechtenstein Will Block Proposed Abortion Law

Prince Alois von Liechstenstein will reject the law for abortion in the first trimester himself, in case it is adopted by popular vote.

Vaduz (kath.net) Prince Alois von Liechtenstein will reject the law for abortion in the first trimester himself, in case it is adopted by popular vote. The Prince made this clear as part of his role as Liechtenstein's head of state in a speech at for the national holiday. The present bill under proposal will not come into effect. The proposed law foresees an allowance for early abortion in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, and abortion may be allowed up to the moment of birth in cases where a fetus is handicapped. At present abortion is illegal in the Principality of Liechtenstein where about fifty female citizens of Liechtenstein have abortions abroad every year illegally.

The Liechtenstein National Assembly had defeated the controversial proposal at the end of June, while the plebiscite will follow in September. One of the grounds for the rejection of the bill is that it must be presented to the Prince first who has reservations which are in his words that "it is problematic that the proposal aims to abort children with disabilities". The Prince said: "Till now we were very proud to support children with disabilities in our country."

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