Pope Francis retires Liechtenstein archbishop, who refused to participate in Synod on Synodality

Pope Francis accepted on Wednesday the resignation of the conservative Church leader of Liechtenstein, Archbishop Wolfgang Haas, while naming a heterodox interim bishop who has been described as Haas’ “polar opposite.” The Holy See press office announced September 20 that the Pope accepted Haas’ resignation shortly after it was submitted, per Church custom, following his 75th birthday.  The Archdiocese of Vaduz, based in the capital of the microstate of Liechtenstein, was created specifically for Haas in 1997 after a “breakdown of relations” within the Swiss Diocese of Chur, which previously included Liechtenstein. As John Allen Jr. noted in the National Catholic Reporter in 1999, Haas was known as a conservative, while Switzerland and its neighboring areas are marked by a “progressive brand of Catholicism.” Read more…