http://iglesiadescalza.blogspot.com/2012/12/catholics-in-basel-may-vote-on.html
"On Tuesday, November 27th, the synod of the Roman Catholic Church in Basel,
Switzerland, recognized the validity of the "Initiative for Equality in the
Church" which requires notably the abolition of priestly celibacy and the
ordination of women. "We take the concerns of the initiative seriously,
Christian Griss, the chairman of the synod, declared Thursday to the Basler Zeitung
daily.
In the neighboring canton of Basel Land, a similar initiative has
been launched and will be submitted to the synod when it meets in Liestal on
Monday, December 3rd. But the executive of the Synod has already asked that it
be considered valid.
Nearly 3000 signatures, including those of several
theologians, were collected to support this "Initiative for Equality in the
Church" launched jointly in the two half-cantons of Basel. If passed by the
synod of Basel Land, it may be submitted to a popular vote before the summer of
2013, and if accepted, the cantonal ecclesiastical authorities would be required
to commit to the abolition of priestly celibacy and the ordination of
women.
The scope of this initiative is however limited to church civil
law structures and will not effect the ecclesial level. However, its supporters
hope to have a effective means of pressure against diocesan and Roman
authorities.
In Switzerland, the Catholic Church is organized in a
two-tier system: in addition to the canonical structures specific to the
Catholic Church (dioceses, parishes), there is effectively a system of
ecclesiastical corporations benefiting from a public law statute both at the
cantonal and communal levels. These corporations, which are democratically
elected, notably distribute the church taxes they receive, but do not have the
right to modify the conditions of admission to Catholic ministries, which
remains the responsibility of the Magisterium."
Text of the Initiative for Equality in the
Church (short version)
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