{"id":17257,"date":"2012-12-15T09:04:37","date_gmt":"2012-12-15T15:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=17257"},"modified":"2013-06-11T14:10:57","modified_gmt":"2013-06-11T20:10:57","slug":"swiss-abbot-harshly-criticizes-church-structures-calls-for-reform-in-the-system-of-naming-bishops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/15\/swiss-abbot-harshly-criticizes-church-structures-calls-for-reform-in-the-system-of-naming-bishops\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss Abbot Harshly Criticizes Church Structures, Calls for Reform in the System of Naming Bishops"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Benedictine abbot of Mariastein in the diocese of Chur in Switzerland, Peter von Sury, has harsh criticism for the system of appointing bishops in the Catholic Church. He spoke recently in the context of ongoing turmoil around the leadership of Bishop Vitus Huonder in Chur. He said, \u201cA bishop is of central importance. He is a pontifex, which means \u2018bridge builder\u2019; he must be a person who integrates. Unfortunately, we repeatedly experience the opposite, as is the case now in the Diocese of Chur. Here the bishop is obviously not a bridge builder, but a divider.\u201d The abbot said \u201cIt is disastrous in every respect when a bishop is divisive. In my opinion, he is morally obligated in such cases to resign from office. The same holds true for an abbot or a pastor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In an interview published at KIPA<\/a> the abbot said, \u201cIn our church we have serious structural problems. It is important to me that questions [such as clerical celibacy and women\u2019s ordination]<\/em> simply be dealt with. Topics can only be solved when the structures are minimally functional and the procedures are worked out. One unresolved question concerns the selection of bishops. Many other problems in the church stem from this.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the naming of bishops, the abbot said, \u201cToday only the pope names bishops. This practice stands in contradiction to many theological convictions. It must be changed. Through exclusive naming by pope the system reinforces itself and is not renewed. In these nominations, issues of church politics are oftentimes emphasized more than the good of the diocese. But that is what it is about. On this issue, bishops and theologians must offer decisive resistance. There were other criteria for bishops\u2019 selection in the first millennium of our church. Three levels were decisive in the election: the faithful of the diocese, the clergy of the diocese, and the bishops of the region. Today this would be the Swiss Bishops\u2019 Conference. Such a process makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Benedictine Abbot Martin Werlen of Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland recently called for church reforms, including greater involvement of all the baptized in the selection of bishops. See Pray Tell’s<\/em> report<\/span><\/a>.]<\/span><\/p>\n

The Diocese of Chur was in turmoil in the 1990s<\/a> under the highly controversial leadership of Bishop Wolfgang Haas. The Swiss bishops\u2019 conference backed the statement of an auxiliary bishop that a new beginning was not possible under Haas, and at one point the Swiss government asked the Vatican to intervene in the diocese. When Pope John Paul II appointed two auxiliary bishops to diffuse the crisis the situation did not improve, and one of the new auxiliary bishops stated that it was not possible to work with Bishop Haas. In 1997 Pope John Paul II made the tiny principality of Lichtenstein, previously a part of the diocese of Chur, into an archdiocese and named Haas as the first archbishop. The pope claimed that the move was in recognition of Lichtenstein\u2019s deep bonds to the Holy See historically, but it was obvious to most observers that the real reason was that the pope needed to solve the personnel problem he had created. Under Haas\u2019s successor, Vitus Huonder, tensions have continued.<\/p>\n

Abbot von Sury has strong criticism for centralism in the Catholic Church. \u201cEven if it is denied, in fact the dioceses are treated by Rome as administrative entities. The problem is that bishops achieve their position through this system, and consequently they have no interest in questioning the current system. The church thus becomes a closed system. Perhaps it eventually has to collapse or fall apart before anything happens. Or the money runs out and brings the system to a still stand.<\/p>\n

\u201cA closed system is no longer capable of accepting critique or correction from the outside,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then when the local churches are disempowered, it is especially dire.\u201d<\/p>\n

The abbot stated, \u201cChurch institutions, and also the pope, must have a counterweight. In economics or politics we speak of \u2018checks and balances.\u2019”\u00a0 He lamented that this is lacking at the level of the universal church.<\/p>\n

Abbot von Sury criticized bishops\u2019 synods, in which selected bishops from around the world come to Rome every few years to discuss questions proposed by the pope. Because the questions to be treated are named exclusively by the pope, the abbot said that it is a \u201cone-way street.\u201d He said that the bishops should \u201crise up on their hind legs and defend themselves.\u201d He suggested that any contingent of bishops or bishops\u2019 conferences should have the ability to propose topics for discussion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the monastery there are venerable procedures for this prescribed by the Rule of St. Benedict. They are not democratic in the contemporary sense, but all participants are engaged with a view to the whole when it concerns important questions. At the same time the abbot maintains his authority which he cannot delegate.\u201d The abbot recalled that, according to canon law, the faithful have the right and obligation to express their opinions to their shepherds. \u201cThis is a good statement of intention. But when no implementation stipulations exist, it\u2019s worth absolutely nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The abbot returned to his main point: \u201cI emphasize forcefully that the important question of bishops\u2019 selection is primary and absolutely must be regulated differently. In terms of church history and theology, the process now in force in the church stands on weak footing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIn our church we have serious structural problems. The problem is that bishops achieve their position through this system, and consequently they have no interesting in questioning the current system. The church thus becomes a closed system. Perhaps it eventually has to collapse or fall apart before anything happens.” – Benedictine Abbot Peter von Sury<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1081],"tags":[2391,2444,1637,2148,2445,2447,2375,3019,2446,1196,2392,389],"class_list":["post-17257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-reform","tag-abbot-martin-werlen-osb","tag-abbot-peter-von-sury-osb","tag-authority","tag-benedictine-order","tag-bishop-vitus-huonder","tag-bishop-wolfgang-haas","tag-church-governance","tag-church-reform","tag-diocese-of-chur","tag-kipa","tag-swiss-bishops-conference","tag-switzerland"],"yoast_head":"\nSwiss Abbot Harshly Criticizes Church Structures, Calls for Reform in the System of Naming Bishops - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/15\/swiss-abbot-harshly-criticizes-church-structures-calls-for-reform-in-the-system-of-naming-bishops\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Swiss Abbot Harshly Criticizes Church Structures, Calls for Reform in the System of Naming Bishops - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIn our church we have serious structural problems. 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