Until recently, the Swiss Diocese of Chur was a refuge of Catholic orthodoxy. Her bishops faithfully guarded doctrine against progressive distortions. However, in 2019 the already deceased Bishop Vitus Huonder had to resign from office due to age. With his departure, the local Church noted a drastic decrease in the number of seminarians.
The German-speaking portal kath.net addressed a question to the ruling since 2021 by Bishop Bonnemain of the Diocese of Chur about the number of her candidates for priesthood. It turns out that in fresh years – while changing the local line of the Church to progressive – it has fallen dramatically.
According to the consequence the average received from the bishopric, 4 seminarians are presently educated in the diocese. Even 7 years ago, in the last year of the office of Bishop Huonder, there were 25 candidates for the priesthood.
According to rumours, a crucial decrease in the number of clerics was caused straight by changes in the authorities of the diocese. Indeed, the fresh bishop completely broke off with the orthodox line of predecessors and became known for respective painful irregularities.
In consequence to the question of the origin of the crisis, the diocese stated: “The number of seminarians in the Diocese of Chur has unfortunately fallen significantly, as in most dioceses in Europe. Therefore, we must pray intensely for vocations. At the same time, the criteria for admission to the seminar should stay strict (...)".
In correspondence with kath.net, the bishop added that there is no information about whether, according to the rumours of many seminarians, they went to, among others, the Brotherhood of the Priesthood of St Peter. If that were the case, it should be considered that they chose this due to their attachment to the pre-fellow liturgy, as indicated by the clergyman.
After his resignation from office, Bishop Huonder joined the Priesthood of St. Pius X. In turn, the Diocese of Chur now leads a progressive hierarch. Bishop Bonnemain took office only in 2021 – after long disputes between the conservative clergy of the diocese and the Holy See.
Source: kath.net
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