Eastern Switzerland Hundreds of postcards from the church base for the Bishop of St. Gallen

The Bishop of St. Gallen, Markus Büchel, has received over 800 postcards with wishes and requests. The campaign is based on the "Reforms now" initiative by St. Gallen Catholics, which was launched in 2023 in response to the study on sexual abuse in the church.

874 questions, requests and feedback were collected as part of the postcard campaign, according to a press release issued by "Reforms Now" on Wednesday. The postcards had been distributed throughout the diocese since April and the responses collected. They were handed over to the bishop in person on Monday.

The evaluation of the concerns shows that the discrimination of women is of concern to many people. Most of the responses dealt with this topic. The second most popular request was for the Catholic Church to become more modern. In third place came criticism of power structures and the handling of abuse cases

Scope is being exhausted

During the handover, the bishop emphasized that the local church already makes many things possible for women. The scope of canon law is being exhausted.

Compared to other dioceses, German-speaking Switzerland is actually further ahead, according to the press release. Here, for example, non-ordained theologians are allowed to preach, which is not possible in the dioceses of Germany and Austria.

The "Reforms now" movement was founded last September by Catholics from St. Gallen. So far, four specific demands for change have been submitted. The most recent was the abolition of compulsory celibacy. A statement from the Bishops' Conference is expected in mid-August.

SDA