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In seven weeks, the number of believers in the Catholic parish church of the canton of Zurich has fallen by 3,223, with thousands more elsewhere in Switzerland: Leaving the Church has reduced congregations across the country since two researchers from the University of Zurich published a study on September 12 that revealed more than 1,000 cases of abuse. It keeps you busy.
There is an economic side to the exit wave. Not only for the church, but also in the form of reduced tax revenues of the church. There are those who make money from exits: When you enter the word “Kirchenaustritt” into the search engine, sites such as Kirchenaustritt24.ch, Austritt.ch or Kirchenaustritt.ch appear at the top.
No form required to leave church
These providers charge around 30 francs for the church exit form. This consists of a pre-written letter to the church responsible, explaining in detail that the person in question no longer wishes to have anything to do with the church.
But it’s also much easier and free in most cantons. “A piece of paper with an addressed sentence and a handwritten signature is enough to leave the church,” says Simon Spengler, spokesman for the Catholic Church in the canton of Zurich.
Third-party providers have long been a pain in the ass for it. Not because he wants to play the moralist role and make it harder for people to leave, as some providers claim. “But charging people for something you can have for free is a scam,” says Spengler.
Apparently only ten percent is paid for the exit form
One of the operators of this website is Stefan Amrein from Kirchenaustritt Schweiz. He denies the accusation and says the church has been slandering his organization since its founding. Additionally, only ten percent of their customers were choosing the paid version. Visitors to the website will have the opportunity to download a free form. But you can find the free document only after a long search. Anyone who clicks on the words “church leaving form” or “church leaving letter” always gets the paid service.
The operator of the rival platform, Kirchenaustritt24.ch, emphasizes that it also has a free offer in addition to the paid version. To get there, customers have to visit one of the other websites. Links to these can only be found after a long search.
He doesn’t want to say how many people visit Amrein’s website each month or how much money he makes from the business. The only thing that is clear is that the website is operated by the Swiss association Exiting the Church, but the money does not flow into the association’s coffers. Since it is a non-profit organization, the association is not allowed to make a profit. Instead, Amrein’s company, Simple-net AG, issues the invoices.
Signature St. Must be approved in St. Gallen
So what do customers actually pay for? Stefan Amrein explains that you get a “100 percent completed form”, you don’t need to look up the neighborhood address yourself, and you can sit back in case of any problems. “If there is a problem at the exit, you benefit from our reputation. “Then we will involve our lawyer.”
St. In the canton of St. Gallen, the exit does not proceed smoothly in approximately 30 percent of cases. “Sometimes it fails due to the incompetence of rural districts, but it seems to me that secession is made more difficult for ideological reasons,” says Amrein.
Actually St. Catholic canton law in the canton of St. Gallen has a special feature: Anyone who no longer wishes to be a member must present, in addition to the intention to leave, a signature notarized by the local community or a lawyer. The cost of this service comes regardless of whether you order a paid form from one of the providers or not. It remains unclear whether the problems Amrein mentioned are primarily due to customers becoming aware of this obstacle too late.
Church contradicts: There is no hard way out
St. “If an application is received by one of the 90 parishioners and the requirements are met, the withdrawal is legally valid,” says Thomas Franck, executive director of the Catholic Church Administration in St. Gallen. He could not confirm that they were deliberately making the process difficult for members. «That would be pointless. If someone wants to leave, they want to leave.” He couldn’t rule out the possibility that the letter would sit around for a while because some parishes were official. “But I’m not aware of any major problems with people leaving the church in individual parishes.”
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
