ZURICH, September 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Swiss court has ruled that a Catholic bishop has no authority to remove a rebel priest from his parish post under Switzerland’s labour laws.
The Basel Country cantonal court decided that Father Franz Sabo will remain at the parish of Röschenz as a parish administrator, despite the countervailing orders from Basel Bishop Kurt Koch.
Fr. Sabo has been supported by the majority of Röschenz parishioners, whom he served as pastor from 1998-2005. Fr. Sabo was removed from his pastorate in 2005 after he publicly reviled Bishop Koch and repudiated essential Catholic teachings on marriage and homosexuality.
When Bishop Koch took steps to extricate Fr. Sabo from Röschenz entirely, the parish took him to court saying they rejected "the dictate of the bishop" and would continue to contract Fr. Sabo as a parish administrator.
The judges ruled in favour of the parish, saying the diocese had authority only to revoke Fr. Sabo’s teaching authority or canonical mission. However the matter of Fr. Sabo’s complete dismissal was also ruled to violate Swiss labour laws and as such the Catholic Church must permit Fr. Sabo to resume activities as parish administrator at Röschenz .
In August 2003 Fr. Sabo blasted Bishop Koch in the Basler Zeitung newspaper calling the bishop "heartless" and the Church out of touch with the pulse of the times and with his diocese. Fr. Sabo denounced Bishop Koch’s directive banning defrocked priests from offering Mass, but also tore into the Vatican’s defense of traditional marriage and teachings against homosexuals living together.
10 comments
Ah the very principle of unjust gov’t: you can revoke its authority, but you may not remove it from power.
Clearly the spirit of Calvin is alive and well in Switzerland. The next step I suppose is excommunication…it’s sad that things get to this point. Amazing that something you would think would happen in China is instead happening in Italy’s back yard.
Let us pray that this bishop is prepared to stand up for the faith. What an image the Swiss would have to deal with if they dragged a Catholic bishop off to jail because he refused to compromise on the faith!
This has to do with the infamous Swiss Church-State system. By the law the Church tax goes to the parish administration, which is made up of laity, who then hire a priest to be pastor and pay the bishop.
Bishop Haas who tried to make the diocese Catholic, was mobbed out of the diocese of Chur, because the responsible people simply refused to pass any money to him. The Vatican caved in and created the Archdiocese of Vaduz (which consists of 12 parishes and less people than an large american or german parish) for him.
Many Catholics in Switzerland agree that large parts of the Church there can hardly be called Catholic any more. It is no coincidence that Switzerland has the highest density of SSPX chapels in the world. Many people that go there don’t want to be schismatics, they simply don’t see any other way to stay Catholic.
Switzerland also features the only diocese in the World where the pope has no say whatsoever in who gets bishop. The bishop was elected by these guys (scroll down).
Maybe we should think twice before criticizing bishops and the Vatican for not cracking down on dissent. This article shows that they may not be able to accomplish the purge we so long for.
Remind me again why separation of Church and State is a bad thing…
Yes, but the Archbishop (very arch indeed)of Los Angeles is free to evict elderly nuns into the street.
I was just in Switzerland last week, and my friend and his family confirm that Church there is decidedly liberal, but there are some islands of true faith, this Einsiedeln Abbey where I visited there was great. Google it.
Bishop Koch should have placed all members of the parish administration under interdict as soon as they challenged him in court. Closing the parish in a similar way to the St. Stanislaus Kostka in St. Louis will, sadly, likely be the only option left to him. Bishop Koch and all bishops in Switzerland are in need of our prayers.
I read this article with great sadness, and a feeling of impotence.
I wish there was something we could do …besides pray