.Boxes containing more than 100,000 signatures for a ban on facial coverings worn by some Muslim women are pictured at the Federal Chancellery in Bern, Switzerland, Sept. 15, 2017. Swiss religious leaders say a proposed ban on Muslim head coverings would violate religious freedom. A referendum is scheduled March 7. (CNS photo/Moritz Hager, Reuters) .Demonstrators covering their faces participate in a protest called The traditional clown s walk against the burqa ban in Vienna Oct. 1, 2017. Swiss religious leaders say a proposed ban on Muslim head coverings would violate religious freedom. (CNS photo/Leonhard Foeger, Reuters)
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By Jonathan Luxmoore, Posted: 1/28/2021
.Demonstrators covering their faces participate in a protest called The traditional clown s walk against the burqa ban in Vienna Oct. 1, 2017. Swiss religious leaders say a proposed ban on Muslim head coverings would violate religious freedom. (CNS photo/Leonhard Foeger, Reuters) OXFORD, England (CNS) Switzerland s Catholic Church has joined other religious groups in opposing a proposed ban on Muslim head coverings, arguing it would disproportionately restrict religious freedom.
The statement was published on the bishops conference website amid preparations for a March 7 referendum on a law to ban covering the face in public, introduced by members of the center-right Swiss People s Party.