Lay parliament to help pick new Swiss bishop

The St. Gallen system of selecting a bishop is unusual, to say the least

One of the Catholic world’s most unusual episcopal selection processes is underway in the Swiss Diocese of St. Gallen, involving cathedral canons and a lay parliament, as well as the pope, of course.

The Collegiate Church of St. Gall and Otmar, the cathedral of the Diocese of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Andreas Praefcke via Wikimedia (CC BY 3.0).

The  St. Gallen diocese, in northeastern Switzerland, announced Aug. 15 that Pope Francis had approved the start of the process to find a new bishop after incumbent Bishop Markus Büchel submitted his resignation upon turning 75.

The diocese, which dates back to 1847, is known to Catholics worldwide thanks to the St. Gallen Group, an informal circle of senior churchmen unhappy with the direction of the Church under John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Their discussions were hosted by St. Gallen’s then Bishop Ivo Fürer, who was succeeded by Büchel in 2006.

Büchel tendered his resignation on his Aug. 9 birthday. Five days later, on Aug. 13, Archbishop Martin Krebs, the apostolic nuncio to Switzerland, indicated that the search for a new bishop could begin. 

In a break with custom, Büchel will remain in office until the appointment of his successor, meaning there will be no vacancy period in which the diocese is run by an administrator. 

St. Gallen, which serves roughly 250,000 Catholics, is one of several dioceses in the German-speaking Catholic world where the cathedral chapter plays an important role in selecting new bishops.

Under the terms of an 1845 concordat and the 1847 bull Instabilis rerum humanarum natura, the Bishop of St. Gallen is appointed after a free election by the cathedral chapter within three months of a vacancy. 

Candidates must be diocesan priests over the age of 35 with more than five years of priestly service. They must also have experience of administration or pastoral care in the diocese. Around 60 priests are currently eligible, with local attention focused largely on the 13 members of St. Gallen’s cathedral chapter.

Following the pope’s signal, the 13 canons have three months to prepare for the election of Büchel’s successor.

The process will begin with a three-week survey of Church groups, led by the Swiss Institute of Pastoral Sociology (SPI) in St. Gallen. Groups will be asked to identify the qualities needed in a new bishop. Consultations were also held during the last two changes of episcopal leadership.

After reviewing survey responses, the cathedral chapter will create a shortlist of six priests, which will be sent to Rome via the nuncio. The Vatican will scrutinize the list, vetting the candidates individually, before returning it to the cathedral chapter through the nuncio when they have finished.

The chapter will then schedule an election day in collaboration with the Catholic College (Katholische Kollegium), a lay parliament covering the Canton of St. Gallen, one of the 26 member states of the country officially known as the Swiss Confederation.

The lay parliament is a peculiarity of Swiss Catholicism, which operates under what is known as “the dual system.” In addition to the normal diocesan structure, the Catholic Church in Switzerland also has democratically organized regional bodies known as cantonal churches. The regional bodies have their own synods, or parliaments, with elected members.

The Catholic Church in St. Gallen consists not only of the diocese but also a body called the Catholic Denominational Section of the Canton of St. Gallen (Katholischer Konfessionsteil des Kantons St. Gallen).

The body is recognized as a corporation under public law and has its own constitution.  It is responsible for the construction and maintenance of buildings, payment of Church staff salaries, and ensuring that financially buoyant communities support struggling ones, among other tasks. 

The lay parliament, the body’s legislature, oversees matters such as the creation of an annual Church budget and the approval of annual accounts. It has 180 elected members who meet twice a year.

The parliament could play a significant role in the election of St. Gallen’s new bishop because it can declare that three of the six candidates identified by the cathedral chapter and scrutinized by Rome are “less favorable,” resulting in their elimination from the list.

The cathedral chapter then holds a ballot. After the chapter selects a new bishop, the candidate has a week to accept or decline. If he agrees, Pope Francis is expected to formally appoint the candidate as the new Bishop of St. Gallen.

The St. Gallen diocesan website said the cathedral chapter was “both well prepared and surprised at how quickly Pope Francis has initiated the new election.” 

“On behalf of the entire cathedral chapter, [cathedral dean] Guido Scherrer would like to express his thanks for the trust and prayers that will accompany his work in the coming weeks,” it said.

“All members are aware of the great responsibility and are working seriously and respectfully in this important phase to find valid candidates to succeed Bishop Markus Büchel.”