A Swiss Catholic bishop has announced that he is appointing lay people in place of episcopal vicars in his diocese.
Bishop Charles Morerod, who has led the Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva, and Fribourg since 2011, revealed the decision in a May 25 interview with the Swiss Catholic Church’s website kath.ch. The Dominican prelate said that he had chosen two lay people and a deacon as his “lay representatives,” replacing three episcopal vicars.
“By virtue of baptism, lay people have an active role in the life of the Church and should not only take care of administrative matters, but also be active in pastoral care,” he said.
“This cooperation is a positive thing. It already exists, but we can further develop it positively.”
CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, reported that the three vicariates concerned will now be known as “diocesan regions.”
According to the bishop, his representatives will take care of “local issues” and discuss them with him at the diocesan level.
The Code of Canon Law, the body of ecclesiastical laws for the Latin Church, says that “In each diocese the diocesan bishop is to appoint a vicar general to assist him in the governance of the whole diocese.”