Charles Morerod has been named the new bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg. The 50 year old replaces Bernard Genoud, who died last year. The appointment was officially announced at a media conference in Fribourg on Thursday.
"To be honest, I had hoped it wouldn't be me," Morerod said of his appointment. But although the responsibility was heavy "there are grounds to be joyful", he said.
A member of the Dominican order, Morerod currently teaches at the philosophical faculty of the [pontifical] university in Rome [i.e. The Angelicum]. He previously taught at Fribourg University.
A member of the Dominican order, Morerod currently teaches at the philosophical faculty of the [pontifical] university in Rome [i.e. The Angelicum]. He previously taught at Fribourg University.
Morerod has risen rapidly through the ecclesiastical ranks, finding favour with Pope Benedict XVI.
The diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg comprises around 690,000 Catholics out of a population of 1.58 million, spread across the cantons of Vaud, Geneva, Fribourg and Neuchâtel.
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Of note: Fr. Charles serves as the chair of the Holy Father's International Theological Commission and sits on the Vatican side of the talks with the SSPX.
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Of note: Fr. Charles serves as the chair of the Holy Father's International Theological Commission and sits on the Vatican side of the talks with the SSPX.
Did I once read, or have I misremembered or confabulated that Jordan of Saxony said to group of friars, "I would sooner see you lying in your grave than sitting on a bishop's throne"?
ReplyDeleteHis Vita also relates that when a group of hierarchs complained that bishops from the new Order were not very satisfactory, he replied that that while in the Order they could be monitored and constrained but since they were chosen not by the Order or in consultation with it, but by others, out of personal favor or kinship, their unsatisfactory behavior was those people's problem, not his or the Order's. (He loved a good laugh, but he was blunt and no fool.)
BTW, no personal aspersions implied at all about the new bishop; I know nothing of him. It just sparked these memories in my hyperlinked brain.