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191 RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA swete switzerland total; those of no denomination fell from four to two per cent. Of a total number of Jews of 12,263, the canton of Zurich had 2,933 and of Basel-Stadt, 1,897. Of the 7,359 non-classified Geneva had 1,928 or over twenty-five percent of its total. The cantons of Zurich, Bern, Schaffhausen, Vaud, and NeuchAtel were (1900) over 80 per cent Protestant; Appenzell-Outer-Rohdes, over 90 per cent. The original cantons of Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, the two Unterwalden, Zug, Appenzell-Inner-Rhodes, Ticino, and Valais were over 90 per cent Roman Catholic, with Freiburg at 84.6 per cent. Most closely divided are Graubunden, Protestant 52 per cent, and Roman Catholic 47 per cent; Aargau, 55 and 44, respectively; and Geneva, 47 and 51. I. The Church Law: The federal constitution of May 29, 1874, placed the church conditions of all con fessions on a new footing. That of 1848 had guar anteed to all adherents of the Christian confessions unmolested residence and freedom of worship; re served to the federation and cantons the mainte nance of public order and peace among the confes sions and civil equality between church-members and citizens; and prohibited the Jesuits and affiliated orders. The constitution of 1874 further guarantees state primary education open to all without restriction of confessional faith or freedom of conscience, both of which are pronounced invio lable within the state. There is to be no coercion of religious affiliation, religious instx'uction, or of any religious performance, and no penalty on ac count of religious opinion. Parents or guardians exercise control of the religious instruction of chil dren till the end of the sixteenth year, in the sense of the above-mentioned principles. The exercise of civil and political rights are not to be abridged by any prescriptions or conditions of an ecclesias tical and religious character. Religious beliefs do not exempt one from civic duties. No one is obliged to pay taxes for the special purposes of religious worship of a society to which he does not belong. The application of this fundamental principle in detail is reserved to the federal diet. Freedom of worship is guaranteed within the limits of morality and public order. Full power is secured to the federation and cantons to adopt measures for the maintenance of order and public peace among the adherents of the different religious societies as well as against the invasion of the rights of citizens by church authorities. Questions of public or private rights arising from the formation or separation of religious bodies may, by way of complaint, be sub mitted to the decision of the proper civic author ities. The erection of dioceses on Swiss territory is subject to the approval of the Federation. The pro hibition against the Jesuits may, by act of the Fed eration, be extended to other religious orders whose activity may be a menace to the State, or disturb the peace of the confessions. The erection of new, or the restoration of abolished, monasteries or re ligious orders, is not permissible. The disposition of burial places devolves upon the civil authorities, who must see to it that every dead person is suit ably buried. The civic authorities are to deter mine and record the civic status. The right of mar riage is under the protection of the Federation, and
must not be restricted either for religious or economic reasons, nor on account of previous conduct. The spiritual jurisdiction is abolished. The carrying-out of these fundamental laws might have had as a result the complete indifference of State to Church and the disappearance of the cantonal state churches; but only a few radical consequences have actually resulted. A reaction in favor of a closer union of Church and State has gradually set in. The articles on the civil status and marriage have been enacted. A statute aiming at the extension of the federal supervision of public schools by the creation of a secretary was voted down in 1882. After much deliberation the constitutional article was amended so that the cantons receive national aid for the primary school system without the sacrifice of independent control.
The effect of the operation of the constitution to date may be summed up as follows: (1) All religious instruction, in or out of school, is facultative. However, in most cantons it is given in the schools, and in many cantons it is imparted by the clergy, especially in the higher grades. (2) The clergy may not serve ex officio as inspectors, presidents, or members of school boards; but they may, nevertheless, be elected, which .often happens in the Reformed cantons. (3) It has been questioned whether persons belonging to a religious order, and hence bound by vows other than those to the state authority, may become teachers in public schools; but the Roman Catholic cantons hold to it, and no other decision has been reached by the Federation. (4) Religious jurisdiction, especially official participation of church or priest in legal questions of marriage and paternity is prohibited; the civil marriage is obligatory, and alone legally valid; the civil register must not be conducted by priests; the church ceremony prior to the civil marriage is forbidden under severe penalties. (5) The federal diet has interfered with attempts of the Roman Catholic Church to make changes in the dioceses without reference to the Federation. (,6) Ecclesiastical measures (e.g., exclusion from church voting) against those who intentionally disregard church practises like baptism, confirmation, communion, church marriage, or church burial, are not admissible in cantons where the Protestant Church is established.
II. The Reformed Church: In the course of the Reformation the only alternative to the power of the papacy was the State. The resort to this on the part of the adherents of the Evangelical Church was not opposed by Zwingli and Calvin, who
