CNA Staff, Nov 25, 2020 / 09:30 am
A Swiss Catholic diocese that elects its own bishop from a shortlist drawn up by the Holy See has rejected all three candidates proposed by Pope Francis, according to local media.
The Swiss daily newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported that the cathedral chapter of the Diocese of Chur failed Monday to choose a new bishop from the pope's list.
CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner, said it was unable to confirm reports that the cathedral chapter deemed the three candidates unsuitable. But it said that sources in the diocese accused other Swiss dioceses of attempting to interfere in the election of a new bishop.
Pope Pius XII established the present rules for the selection of bishops in Chur diocese in the 1948 decree "Etsi salva," which accorded the cathedral chapter the privilege of electing a bishop from among three priests proposed by the Holy See.