Religious freedom
Separation of church and state
Freedom of religion is enshrined in Art. 37 of the Constitution. In the same article, the Roman Catholic Church is placed under state protection as a national church. It is thus given preferential treatment and financed by the state and the municipalities as well as through tax contributions. As far as religious education is concerned, there has been a formal agreement between the Catholic Church and the State of Liechtenstein on religious education in public schools since 1936, according to which the Church selects the content and teaching materials for the subject of religion. Only since 2003 in secondary schools and since 2019 in elementary school has the denomination-neutral religious education "Ethics and Religion" been offered as an alternative at public schools.
Non-Catholic religious communities are defined as private associations. They receive varying levels of state funding on application. State support for Islamic religious communities is linked to the condition that they establish a joint umbrella organization. There are no such conditions for other religious communities. This does not guarantee equal treatment of religious communities.
This has also been established by international monitoring committees: In its examination of Liechtenstein's 2017 State Report, the UN Committee on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights questioned the close ties between the state and the Catholic Church and expressed concerns about the impact that the close ties between state and church could have on the protection of religious freedom as provided for in the aforementioned covenant. He called on Liechtenstein to make funding available to all religious organizations on an equal footing and without conditions and to grant all religious and faith communities the same rights by law. In 2018, the Council of Europe's Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recommended the abolition of discriminatory rules and practices in the area of religion. In 2023, it called on the authorities to be vigilant with regard to teaching materials that are critical of human rights, particularly those that are hostile to LGBTIQA+.
Religious Communities Act
In 2008 and 2011, there were already concrete legislative plans to reorganize the relationship between the state and religious communities. Although a Religious Communities Act was passed by parliament in 2012, it never came into force. In the reporting year, the government submitted a new draft to parliament. It based its bill on the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Covenant II), the UN Convention against Racism and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. References were also made to the ECHR and the 2018 report by the Council of Europe's Commission against Racism (ECRI).
The bill provides for improvements for religious communities that were previously not recognized under public law. All religious communities can now be legally recognized, provided they meet certain criteria. State recognition gives a religious community the status of a corporation under public law, which gives it special rights and obligations. These include the provision of religious education in schools, pastoral care in public institutions, the conclusion of contracts and financial support from the state. According to the report and proposal, the aim is graduated equal treatment. Property law issues were not considered in the proposal.
This means that the bill does not lead to equal treatment - i.e. equal protection and equal rights - for all religious communities. It also refrains from disentangling church and state. The constitution continues to guarantee the Roman Catholic regional church its special status as a regional church. In addition to the Catholic state church, the Protestant and Evangelical-Lutheran churches are also recognized by law, while other religious communities can receive state recognition or individual special rights under certain conditions by means of a government decision. In its statement on the consultation process, the VMR therefore criticized the fact that the bill does not implement the human rights principles of freedom of religion and non-discrimination. The bill was discussed at first reading in May. A second reading was postponed indefinitely by Parliament, as the Archbishopric of Vaduz has only been under administrative management since the Archbishop's resignation in 2023.
In May, the Free List submitted a parliamentary initiative to reorganize the relationship between the state and religious communities, as the disentanglement of church and state in the government bill did not go far enough. The aim of the initiative was to end the special status of the Roman Catholic Church and introduce a modern, equal financing model for all religious communities by introducing a so-called mandate tax. This meant that taxpayers could decide for themselves which church or religious community they would like to contribute to financially. After the initiative was declared unconstitutional by parliament in September, the Free List launched a new, amended initiative in October, which was no longer discussed in the reporting year. The changes to the first version related in particular to property law issues concerning the Archbishopric of Vaduz.
The Free List initiative goes one step further than the government's proposal with regard to the integration of church and state and thus the effective equal treatment of religious communities in Liechtenstein. As long as the Roman Catholic Church derives its right as a national church in the constitution and some religious communities are given more legal certainty in their public law status in a Religious Communities Act, there can be no talk of equal treatment. The integration of the national church with the municipalities is omitted both in the government bill and - at least temporarily - in the Free List initiative. The delay caused by the lack of a new archbishop may be understandable for political reasons. For human rights reasons, however, the VMR demands that the reorganization of the relationship between the church and the state and, in particular, the introduction of a law on religious communities be pushed forward. In doing so, freedom of religion and the prohibition of discrimination should be comprehensively implemented in accordance with the Monitoring Committee under UN Covenant II and ECRI.
Adopt a law on religious communities that comprehensively protects religious freedom and the ban on discrimination.
Muslim cemetery and prayer rooms
According to the last census in 2020, around 2,300 Muslims live in Liechtenstein. That is 6 percent of the population. There is no Muslim burial ground accessible to these people, neither in Liechtenstein nor in the region. Muslims who have lived in Liechtenstein for several generations must bury their loved ones in other countries - usually their original countries of origin - if they wish to be buried in accordance with their religion. In 2018 and 2023, the Council of Europe's Commission against Racism (ECRI) called on Liechtenstein to find a suitable burial site for the Muslim communities in Liechtenstein. After a corresponding project in Schaan failed in 2016, the municipalities of Gamprin and Schaan began preliminary investigations into a Muslim cemetery at the southern entrance to Nendeln in the reporting year. However, the project met with resistance during the clarification phase and had to be put on ice.
The Muslim religious communities have had problems renting prayer rooms and club premises in Liechtenstein for years. There is no mosque. In its 2018 report, ECRI called on the authorities to help Muslim communities find suitable prayer rooms. In the reporting year, the Islamic Community (IGFL) was able to open new premises in Schaan after a long search.
Urgently resume efforts to create faith-compliant burial sites for Muslims.
Interreligious dialog
Since 2022, the government has been conducting an annual integration dialog in which religious communities also participate. In its 2023 report, the ECRI's Commission against Racism encourages the authorities to continue this in the long term. On the private initiative of the Gutenberg Education Center and the VMR, a round table of religions has also been held annually since 2023. In 2024, a Roman Catholic priest took part for the first time. The Round Table of Religions serves as a platform for interreligious dialog and for cultivating relationships to coordinate interreligious activities. In the reporting year, the Round Table organized the "Religion in the Cinema" film festival.
