Cantonal Church

1. The Roman Catholic Church of the Canton of Nidwalden is the organization of the Roman Catholic residents of the canton.

2. It is a public law corporation.

3. It is based in Stans.

1. The regional church is divided into the Roman Catholic parishes and chapel communities, which together cover the entire territory of the canton.

2. The parishes and chapel communities are public law corporations of their Roman Catholic residents; as members of the regional church, they are subject to the legislation of the regional church.

3. When this constitution and the legislation based on it refer to parishes, this is also understood to include the chapel communities.

1. The regional church independently regulates its affairs through this constitution within the framework of the cantonal constitution and the other state legislation.

1. The regional church and the church congregations are under the supervision of the state authorities concerning non-ecclesiastical matters.

2. The supervision of the regional church is vested in the district council; in cases of serious breach of duty, it is authorized to order the necessary measures definitively.

3. The supervision of the church congregations is governed by the Municipal Code.

1. In internal church matters, the regional church and parish communities recognize the doctrine and legal order of the Roman Catholic Church.

2. Within the framework of federal law, the regional council is responsible for concluding the agreements necessary for relations with the diocese.

1. Regional Church and Parishes manage the public administration serving ecclesiastical activities.

2. The duties and powers reserved for the canton in ecclesiastical matters remain unaffected.

1. The Regional Church independently performs the following tasks within the framework of legislation

1. Works of pastoral care, charitable activities, as well as religious education and culture that exceed the scope of the parish;

2. Representation of the church members towards state and ecclesiastical authorities;

3. Cooperation with regional church organizations of other cantons;

4. Promotion of cooperation with other religious communities;

5. Balancing of the tasks and burdens that are to be borne by the parishes;

6. Other tasks assigned to it by legislation.

1. The church municipalities autonomously fulfill the tasks described in Article 6 within their territory, in accordance with the legislation.

2. The national church may assign tasks to the church municipalities through legislation.

1. A member of the national church is any Roman Catholic resident of the canton, as long as they have not withdrawn from the Roman Catholic parish by a written declaration to the president of the parish.

2. Anyone who belongs to the national church is a member of the parish in which they reside.

1. Active citizens are members of the national church or the church communities who possess the right of active citizenship according to cantonal legislation.

2. Foreigners who have resided in Switzerland for at least six years and in the canton for at least three years and otherwise meet the requirements of paragraph 1, shall obtain the right of active citizenship upon written application to the president of the church community.

3. Clergy of the national church and the church communities possess the right of active citizenship in the national church and in the church community in which they reside, even if they do not meet the requirements of para. 1 and para. 2.

1. Eligibility for an ecclesiastical office is determined by the ecclesiastical legal order.

2. There is no specific term of office for ecclesiastical positions; removal from an ecclesiastical office is governed by the ecclesiastical legal order.

3. Furthermore, in particular concerning the termination of public law employment relationships, the provisions of the personnel legislation shall be applied mutatis mutandis, unless the municipal code or the employment contract provides otherwise.

1. Insofar as this Constitution and the legislation based thereon do not prescribe otherwise, cantonal legislation shall apply mutatis mutandis to the national church and the parish communities.

1. The Authorities of the Regional Church are

1. the Church Congregation;

2. the Grand Church Council;

3. the Small Church Council.

1. The church members are responsible for enacting and amending the church constitution, deciding on a complete revision of the church constitution, as well as for the dissolution of the national church.

2. Further responsibilities of the church members include

1. making decisions on proposals pursuant to Art. 17, to which the Great Church Council does not agree;

2. making decisions on laws enacted or amended by the Great Church Council, to which the eligible voters of the national church present an alternative proposal pursuant to Art. 19 para. 1;

3. making decisions on expenditures that exceed the financial competencies of the Great Church Council.

1. Subject to a vote, if within two months after the publication of the law or resolution it is requested by 250 eligible voters or the church councils of at least three parishes, or resolved by the Great Church Council

1. the laws enacted by the Great Church Council;

2. the resolutions of the Great Church Council concerning expenditures that exceed half of the amount of its financial competences.

1. The Grand Church Council is authorized to allow the church congregation to vote on the inclusion of individual principles into the church's regional legislation or on the procedure for preparing a matter reserved for the church congregation.

2. The result of the consultative vote binds the Grand Church Council in the drafting of legislation or in the preparation of the matter.

3. The binding effect does not extend to later decrees and resolutions in which the same issue is addressed.

1. Motions may be submitted as a general suggestion or, if they do not demand a total revision of the constitution, as a drafted proposal.

2. The motions must relate to only one single subject and must include a justification.

1. The motions must not contain anything that contradicts higher law or, unless they demand a revision of the church constitution, the church constitution itself.

1. Applications may be submitted by

1. 1000 eligible voters or the Grand Church Council when a comprehensive revision of the church constitution is demanded;

2. 500 eligible voters, the church councils of at least three parishes or the Grand Church Council when a partial revision of the church constitution is demanded;

3. 250 eligible voters or the church councils of at least three parishes when the enactment, abolition, or amendment of a law or a financial resolution is demanded.

2. For applications from eligible voters, signatures must be submitted within two months from the date the application is filed with the presidency of the Grand Church Council.

1. The Great Church Council may present a counter-proposal to a motion.

2. 500 eligible voters or the church councils of at least three parishes may present a counter-proposal to a motion of the Great Church Council concerning a partial revision of the church constitution.

3. 250 eligible voters or the church councils of at least three parishes may present a counter-proposal to laws enacted or amended by the Great Church Council.

4. For counter-proposals according to paragraphs 2 and 3, the signatures must be submitted within two months of the submission of the counter-proposal to the Presidency of the Great Church Council; the submission must occur within two months of the publication of the Great Church Council's draft.

1. Applications subject to voting and counter-proposals by the eligible voters must be put to a vote within one year from their submission.

2. If a general suggestion is brought to a decision, the drafted proposal must be adopted within two years.

3. Applications and counter-proposals may be withdrawn by the authorized applicants until the publication of the voting date.

1. The counter-proposal shall be submitted to a vote simultaneously with the motion or the proposal of the Great Church Council; if the motion is withdrawn, only the counter-proposal shall be submitted to a vote.

2. In the case of a counter-proposal, the eligible voters may approve both the motion or the proposal of the Great Church Council and the counter-proposal, or they may reject both; if they approve both proposals, the one which receives more votes in the simultaneously held contingency vote shall be adopted.

3. The procedure for multiple counter-proposals shall be governed mutatis mutandis by the Election and Voting Act.

1. The provisions of the Voting and Polling Act concerning the form of motions and counterproposals, the collection of signatures, the ballot voting, and the judicial process are applicable mutatis mutandis.

1. The Great Church Council is composed of 40 members.

2. Five members are elected from among their own by the members of the Deanery of Nidwalden.

3. 35 members are elected by the church congregations, whereby members of the Deanery of Nidwalden are not eligible for election.

4. Each church congregation elects the members to which it is entitled based on the number of church members; each church congregation is entitled to at least one member.

1. For the allocation of seats to the parishes, the cantonal population statistics as of December 31 of the calendar year two years prior to the election is decisive.

2. The Small Church Council determines by resolution how many members of the Large Church Council are to be elected in each parish.

3. In this process, the provisions of the Election and Voting Act regarding seat allocation for the Cantonal Council are to be applied mutatis mutandis.

1. Elections for the Great Church Council are to be conducted by the end of June of the year in which the term of the Cantonal Parliament concludes.

2. By-elections may be held at any time for the remainder of the term.

1. The election in the church municipalities shall be conducted according to the municipal legislation through the municipal assembly or by ballot; the election is to be conducted as a majority vote unless proportional representation is introduced by regional church law.

2. The deanery shall determine its own procedure for electing its delegation.

1. The outgoing Grand Church Council shall remain in office until the inaugural meeting of the newly elected Grand Church Council.

2. Additionally, the relevant provisions of the authorities' legislation shall apply.

1. Following each general renewal, the Great Church Council is to be convened by the previous presidency, even if this presidency no longer belongs to the Great Church Council, no later than the end of September for the inaugural meeting.

2. The inaugural meeting shall be conducted by the previous presidency until the election of the new presidency.

3. The Small Church Council reports on the election results based on the information provided by the church congregations, or in the case of election complaints, by the government council or the constitutional court, after which the Great Church Council determines its composition.

4. Following the determination of the composition, the previous presidency administers the oath of office or the affirmation to the newly elected members, whereupon the election of the Small Church Council takes place.

1. The Grand Church Council enacts in the form of law

1. all generally binding regulations that determine the rights and duties of the members of the Roman Catholic National Church and the parishes;

2. all fundamental provisions regarding the jurisdiction, organization, and procedures of the national church authorities and the parishes.

2. It enacts under its own authority

1. ordinances for which it is declared competent by this constitution;

2. ordinances for the execution of the national church laws.

3. The Grand Church Council may, subject to Art. 5 Sec. 2, approve concordats in the form of a law.

4. Furthermore, the Grand Church Council is to draft those decrees which it submits to the church congregation for decision-making.

1. The Great Church Council shall elect

1. from its own members, the members of the Small Church Council;

2. from the members of the Small Church Council, the President and Vice President, who shall also be the President and Vice President of the Great Church Council, for a term of two years;

3. from its own members, two vote counters and a deputy;

4. from its own members, the members and the President of the Audit Commission and any additional commissions if applicable;

5. the Secretary, who shall also serve as the Secretary of the Small Church Council;

6. the clergy, officials, and employees appointed by the regional church in agreement with the diocesan bishop, unless the Small Church Council is designated as competent for this by law or by the decision of the Great Church Council.

1. The following also fall within the jurisdiction of the Great Church Council

1.* the decision on the constitutional admissibility of motions to the church congregation in accordance with Articles 17-20;

2. the determination of the result of the election of the Great Church Council and the referendums of the national church;

3. the resolution on freely determinable one-time and annually recurring expenditures within the framework of financial competencies;

4. the resolution on expenditures for which further powers have been transferred to the Great Church Council by legislation or in individual cases by resolution of the church congregation;

5. the determination of the annual budget estimates;

6.* the approval of the accounts of the national church and the accountability report of the Small Church Council;

7.* ...

8.* the resolution on the employment relationship and remuneration of the clergy and employees of the national church and on the creation of new positions within the national church, insofar as the Great Church Council does not transfer these competencies to the Small Church Council;

9. the approval of agreements within the framework of financial competencies;

10. the supervision of the administration of the national church;

11. all other tasks assigned to the Great Church Council by legislation.

1. The Great Church Council convenes at least twice a year.

2. It is summoned

1. when ordered by the President or the Small Church Council;

2. when at least one-quarter of the council members request in writing the convocation, specifying the matters to be addressed.

3. The meeting day is set by the President in all cases.

1. The right to submit proposals to the Great Church Council is vested in the Small Church Council as well as each member and committee of the Great Church Council.

1. Members are obligated to participate in the meetings of the Great Church Council.

1. The sessions of the Grand Church Council shall be public within the legislative framework.

2. The Grand Church Council may resolve to conduct secret proceedings if it appears necessary in the interest of public order or for other important reasons; the proposal to conduct secret proceedings shall be discussed and voted upon in a closed session.

3. ...

4. The resolutions of the Grand Church Council shall be made public.

1. The Large Church Council is led by the President; if the President is unable to serve, he shall be replaced by the Vice President, and if the Vice President is unable to serve, he shall be replaced by the next member of the Small Church Council in the order of election.

2. The Secretary maintains the minutes, which must be submitted to the Large Church Council for approval.

3. Within the framework of legislation, the Large Church Council may further regulate its organization and procedures by decree.

1. The members of the Small Church Council participate in the voting.

2. When approving the accounts and in resolutions related to the supervision of the Small Church Council, they must abstain from voting.

1. The Great Church Council elects from its members a standing Audit Committee consisting of three to five members.

2. The Audit Committee is responsible for examining the affairs subject to its supervision and obtaining the necessary information for this purpose; within the scope of its duties, it may review the management of the Small Church Council for legality and appropriateness of organization, and in doing so, inspect all minutes and records of the Regional Church.

3. The Audit Committee reports to the Great Church Council; it makes recommendations for approval or rejection of the budget and accounts and provides opinions on all other matters affecting the finances of the Regional Church.

1. The Small Church Council consists of seven members, one of whom must belong to the Deanery of Nidwalden.

2. The election is to be conducted at the inaugural meeting of the Large Church Council; a by-election can be held at any time for the remainder of the term.

3. The term of office begins with the election and lasts for four years.

1. The Small Church Council is the executive body of the Regional Church; it represents the Regional Church externally.

2. The Small Church Council is responsible for all regional church matters, insofar as these are not expressly assigned to another body, particularly for

1. the issuance of regulations;

2. the execution of laws, ordinances, and regulations as well as the resolutions and decisions of the competent regional and cantonal authorities, insofar as this authority is not reserved for specific bodies;

3. the election of commissions and the appointment of officials and employees, provided that it is declared responsible by legislation or by the decision of the Great Church Council;

4. the preliminary consideration of all matters to be addressed by the Great Church Council;

5. the submission of consultations requested from the Regional Church;

6. the decision-making on freely determinable one-time and annually recurring expenditures within the scope of financial competences;

7. the decision-making on expenditures bindingly prescribed to the Regional Church by legislation, regardless of item 6, or for which the Small Church Council is granted further authorizations by legislation, budget, or, in individual cases, by resolution of the Great Church Council;

8. the administration of the assets of the Regional Church;

9. the issuance of job descriptions for clergy in agreement with the Diocesan Bishop as well as for officials and employees;

10. the submission of the accountability report for the past calendar year;

11. the planning of the tasks and activities of the Regional Church;

12. the fulfillment of all further tasks assigned to it by legislation or by resolution of the Great Church Council.

1. The sessions of the Small Church Council are not public.

2. The members of the Small Church Council are obligated to cast their votes during decision-making; the president does not vote but provides the casting vote.

1. Minutes of the meetings of the Small Church Council must be kept and are not public.

2. The minutes must be approved by the Small Church Council and signed by the minute taker.

1. The Grand Church Council may further regulate the organization and procedure of the Small Church Council by ordinance.

2. Furthermore, the relevant provisions of the administrative legislation shall apply.

1. The financial budget shall be managed according to the principles of legality, urgency, efficiency, and economy.

1. The regional church has authority over the surcharge applicable to the income and capital taxes of legal entities, as provided by the cantonal legislation pertaining to the regional church.

2. The parishes may be obligated by regional church law to contribute to the financial needs of the regional church and to balance the burdens borne by the parishes.

1. The resources of the regional church shall be used in observance of their intended purpose to fulfill its duties in the canton.

2. Exceptions are determined by law.

1. All expenditures of the regional church are to be adopted with the budget or through special proposals; Article 35, numbers 3 and 4, and Article 44, numbers 6 to 8, remain reserved.

2. Expenditures not adopted with the budget must be submitted to the competent bodies for decision-making through special proposals, in particular

1. significant expenditures with an investment character;

2. extraordinary one-time expenditures;

3. additional expenditures that cannot be fully paid off or amortized within the current fiscal year.

1. The law stipulates which one-time and annually recurring expenditures the Great Church Council and the Small Church Council can freely decide upon, whereby the amount of the sums can be graduated according to the nature of the task.

2. Where the budget provides funds for specific tasks in accordance with Art. 53, the Small Church Council is not bound by the financial competencies pursuant to paragraph 1.

1. The Great Church Council shall establish the budget for the following fiscal year based on a draft from the Small Church Council no later than mid-December.

1. The fiscal year corresponds to the calendar year.

2. The administrative accounting must disclose all expenditures and revenues of the fiscal year.

3. The balance sheet must show the status and composition of the regional church's assets at the end of the year.

4-5

1. The Regional Church shall enact further necessary provisions concerning the financial budget through regional church law, particularly regarding the financial competencies of the Large Church Council and the Small Church Council, the financial equalization, the contribution to the diocese, and the financing of regional church pastoral care.

1. The provisions of municipal legislation apply to the church congregations, unless otherwise determined by the church constitution.

1. The formation, amalgamation, or division of parishes requires the approval of the eligible voters of the parish as well as of the cantonal council.

2. The conversion of a chapel parish into a parish requires the approval of the eligible voters of the parish.

1. The resources of the church congregation must be used in accordance with their designated purpose for the fulfillment of the congregation's tasks.

2. The church congregation is authorized to support works of pastoral care, charitable activities, as well as religious education and culture that extend beyond the scope of the congregation with contributions from public funds.

1. Ecclesiastical foundations are to be administered in accordance with their purpose and with due diligence.

2. The revenues are to be used according to the foundation’s purpose; they accrue to the parish insofar as the parish fulfills the foundation’s tasks.

3. Regarding foundations established by or for the benefit of the parish, unless the act of foundation or customary law specifies otherwise, the church council shall serve as the foundation board; it is required to annually account to the parish for the status of the foundation's assets and the use of the foundation's income.

1. The remuneration of priests, deacons, pastoral assistants, catechists, as well as other persons employed under a public-law employment relationship, shall be determined within the framework of an agreement to be concluded between the church communities and approved by the Great Church Council.

2. The church communities may authorize the Church Council to conclude remuneration agreements.

3. If the majority of church communities have agreed to a remuneration agreement, the Great Church Council may declare it binding for all church communities; the financial equalization creates the prerequisites for this.

1. The provisions of the municipal legislation apply to the municipal assembly.

2. The municipal assembly of the church parishes, which is entitled to this traditional right, has the right to choose (present) the clergy.

1. The Duties and Powers of the Church Council are Governed by the Provisions of the Municipal Legislation (13).

1. The Church Council shall promote and support the pastoral concerns in agreement with the pastors.

2. The arrangement and design of worship services and other religious ceremonies, as well as the management and safekeeping of parish registers, are the responsibility of the designated pastor or parish administrator; regarding the order of services, the Church Council shall be consulted.

1. The Church Council ensures that the religious education provided for by Article 39 of the Cantonal Constitution is taught in public and private schools.

1. Church offerings and collections for purposes for which the parish would otherwise have to provide from general funds can be undertaken with the consent of the parish office and the church council; the church council is responsible for managing the proceeds and is required to account for them to the eligible voters.

2. ...

1. If buildings, building elements, or other objects of artistic or historical value are to be altered, art experts must be consulted for an assessment beforehand.

2. Items of artistic or historical value may not be sold.

3. An appropriate inventory must be maintained for items of artistic or historical value owned by the church congregation or a church foundation.

1. Church parishes may form municipal associations according to the regulations of municipal legislation.

2. The municipal associations of church parishes require, in addition to the prerequisites of municipal legislation, the approval of the Minor Church Council for their establishment; this approval must be granted if the statutes of the municipal association do not contradict federal law, cantonal law, or this constitution, and if they do not exhibit any other significant material or formal deficiencies.

1. If a proposal is submitted as a draft, the partial revision of the constitution shall proceed through the legislative process.

2. If a proposal is submitted as a general suggestion, the partial revision shall proceed according to the procedure stipulated in Art. 70.

1. If a total revision of the constitution is demanded, the request shall be submitted to the church populace.

2. If the total revision is decided, the drafting of the new constitution shall be the responsibility of the Great Church Council, unless a constitutional council is entrusted with this task by the revision decision.

3. The constitutional council shall consist of the same number of members as the Great Church Council and is to be elected within six weeks in accordance with the regulations applicable to the election of the Great Church Council.

4. The revised constitution shall be submitted to the church populace, with counter-proposals being excluded; if it is rejected, the revision shall be considered declined.

1. The proposal is adopted if it is approved by a simple majority of the church members in the ballot vote.

2. It comes into force, after the Great Church Council has established the result of the vote, with the approval of the Regional Council, unless it specifies a later date for this.

**1. Dissolution of the Regional Church**

1. The dissolution of the Regional Church may be proposed by a resolution of the Great Church Council or by a public initiative.

2. The resolution of the Great Church Council requires the approval of two-thirds of all its members; the public initiative requires the signatures of one-fifth of the active members of the Regional Church.

3. A referendum on the dissolution of the Regional Church must be held within six months from the resolution of the Great Church Council or from the submission of the public initiative.

4. If the referendum results in the decision to dissolve the Regional Church, the Great Church Council shall carry out the liquidation.

1. The church constitution shall come into effect immediately upon approval by the Cantonal Council, provided that the congregation has approved it by a simple majority in a referendum and the Constitutional Council has confirmed the result of the vote.

2. Upon the entry into force of the church constitution, the regional church shall acquire its legal personality.

1. Upon the entry into force of the church constitution, the Roman Catholic Church Constitutional Council, elected by the parishes, shall assume the role of the Grand Church Council for the remainder of the term.

2. The Constitutional Council shall convene within one month of the entry into force of the church constitution, upon being summoned by the President, to elect the Small Church Council.

3. As long as there is no regulation regarding the organization and procedure of the Grand Church Council according to Art. 40 para. 3, the provisions of the Landrat Ordinance, particularly concerning the rules of procedure and parliamentary motions, shall apply mutatis mutandis.

1. Until the church legislation concerning the financial budget is enacted, the following provisions apply

1. The Grand Church Council can independently authorize expenditures of a one-time payment of 50,000 Francs and annually recurring payments of 10,000 Francs, subject to Article 15, Number 2;

2. The Small Church Council can independently authorize expenditures of a one-time payment of 10,000 Francs and annually recurring payments of 2,000 Francs;

3. The share of the regional church from the tax surcharge collected by legal entities for the church tax is to be used as follows

a) 10 percent is at the disposal of the regional church;

b) 20 percent is to be allocated to a fund from which the Grand Church Council can provide contributions to financially distressed parishes;

c) the remainder is to be distributed to the individual parishes in proportion to the number of their church members.

1. The church constitution approved by the district council is to be published in the cantonal official gazette.

2. After the church population of Nidwalden approved the present constitution in the ballot vote on October 26, 1975, it is declared as adopted. The present constitution is approved by the district council of Nidwalden and thus comes into immediate effect.[17]