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The cathedral chapter on Monday rejected the Roman list of three with three moderate candidates. The diocese of Chur is now waiting for a new bishop.
Very little anchored in the Roman Catholic Church (from left): Mauro-Giuseppe Lepori, Vigeli Monn and Joseph Bonnemain.
Photos: Martin Jehnichen (KNA), PD, Spital Limmattal
Even the canons speak of an unprecedented and unique process in the election of a bishop: this did not take place at all. On Monday morning, the 22 canons met in the knights’ room of the episcopal castle of Chur to elect the new bishop from a Roman list of three.
In the so-called Terna were the names of three moderate clergy: Joseph Bonnemain, episcopal and judicial vicar of the diocese, Abbot Vigeli Monn von Disentis and Ticino Mauro Giuseppe Lepori, the former abbot of Hauterive and current abbot general of the Cistercians in Rome .
As the Tamedia editorial team knows from a reliable source, the candidates for the conservative majority in the cathedral chapter are too moderate and not well anchored in the Roman Catholic Church. The hardliners and Vicar General Martin Grichting suggested at the meeting not to enter the list or the elections.
Does the Pope have the last word?
All three candidates are likely to have been included on the list by Pope Francis himself. They are considered quite moderate, but in no way rebellious or progressive. Joseph Bonnemain even belongs to the extremely conservative Opus Dei organization and has been part of the leadership of the Diocese of Chur for decades. The clergyman, who lives and works in Zurich, evidently aroused anti-Zurich resentments among the canons of Central Switzerland and Graubünden. According to insiders, he doesn’t like Grichting at all. In the end, the canons suggested that Pope Francis should now only determine the Bishop of Chur.
Therefore, the appointment of a new bishop is prolonged. The former bishop of Chur, Vitus Huonder, retired from office in May 2019 after almost twelve years. For a year and a half, the diocese of Chur has been led by transitional bishop Peter Bürcher.
