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The Catholic parish of Zollikon-Zumikon ZH came to blows last week.
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The Catholic parish of Zollikon-Zumikon ZH has withdrawn its confidence in its leadership. Following criticism of the awarding of contracts and possible conflicts of interest, all previous members of the church council were voted out of office.
The Catholic parish of Zollikon-Zumikon filled all the seats on the church council at its parish assembly. All seven previous members failed to be re-elected. The seven new candidates, however, were elected. The chairmanship also goes to a new incumbent.
The decision was made at an exceptionally well-attended meeting with over 220 voters, reports the "Zolliker Zumiker Bote". The 2025 annual accounts were formally on the agenda. These were approved by a clear majority. However, the discussions focused primarily on the findings of the Audit Committee (RPK).
Among other things, the RPK criticized the awarding of the accounting management to a member of the church administration who is also the co-owner of a trust company. It also objected to various contract awards in the area of construction and painting work. Questions were raised about the transparency of the procedures and possible conflicts of interest.
The members of the church council concerned rejected the allegations. They stated that they had complied with the applicable rules on recusal. They also pointed out that no competent authority had found any misconduct to date. They also stated that the contracts had been awarded correctly.
Some participants at the meeting therefore also argued that the decision of the supervisory authorities should be awaited first. Others argued that it was not a question of criminal guilt, but of trust in the leadership of the parish.
After the secret ballot was completed, the result was known shortly before midnight. All seven new candidates were elected. The previous members did not achieve an absolute majority. The newly elected members interpreted the result to the "Zolliker Zumiker Boten" as a clear signal from the members. They had sensed that confidence in the previous leadership had suffered.
The case in Zollikon and Zumikon is already the second major church dispute in the past 12 months. It was only at the end of last year that there was a scandal in the reformed parish of Illnau-Effretikon. There, different camps argued about financial powers, real estate transactions and the role of the church council, among other things.
