Traditionalist bishop in Liechtenstein rebuffs the pope and the synodal process

Archbishop Wolfgang Haas, a traditionalist prelate who heads the Principality of Lichtenstein’s sole diocese, has refused to implement the synodal process that Pope Francis has instructed to be carried out in all local Churches around the globe. 

All Catholic dioceses were expected to open a local consultation last Sunday to prepare for the Synod of Bishops’ next general assembly on synodality. The aim is to include the voices of all the baptized and promote a “more open” Church.

But Archbishop Haas, who is notorious for taking controversial positions, announced last Friday that the Archdiocese of Vaduz – which is the only Catholic circumscription or diocese in Lichtenstein – would not be participating in the exercise. 

"A so-called 'synodal process'"

"The pope has launched a so-called 'synodal process'," Haas said mockingly in a statement posted on the archdiocese's website.

 The 73-year-old archbishop claimed the process risked creating an "ideological division" in the Church.

He also said synodal reflection was unnecessary in the archdiocese. 

German-speaking Lichtenstein is squeezed between Austria and Switzerland and is Europe’s fourth-smallest country. 

According to the latest Vatican statistics, roughly 74% of the principality’s 38,000 inhabitants are Catholic.

Archbishop Haas said the synodal procedure would be "complex and even somewhat complicated" for such a "small" diocese that only has 10 parishes. 

He insisted there are "close relations in the parishes” that “allow for quick and simple mutual contact between pastors and laity". 

He claimed the type of synodality the pope is promoting is "already real" in the Church of Liechtenstein.

The archbishop said he had read of the Vatican's Vademecum (or handbook) on implementing the synodal process and promised to "listen" to those who contact him.  

But he made it clear he has no intention of opening up a debate or even discussion with Catholics in the archdiocese.  

A contested bishop

Archbishop Haas has long been at the center of controversy and the subject of fierce opposition. 

He was born in Vaduz in 1948 and ordained to the presbyterate in 1974 for Chur, a diocese in Switzerland that then included all of Liechtenstein. 

Haas eventually became chancellor of the diocese. And when John Paul II appointed him coadjutor bishops of Chur in 1988, people and priests of the diocese protested.  

When Haas was officially named diocesan ordinary two years later the protests grew louder because the late Polish pope had bypassed the longstanding Swiss tradition that the cathedral chapter selects the bishop.

Haas was not even on the chapter’s short list.  

Tensions only mounted and in 1993 the Vatican appointed two auxiliary bishops to help calm the situation. But it was of no use.

Instead, John Paul II created a brand new archdiocese in Liechtenstein and made Haas, a native son, the ordinary.   

"He surrounded himself with priests from various countries, often candidates rejected by other dioceses, even priests who had broken away," the Swiss Catholics website cath.ch said of Archbishop Haas.  

The conservative prelate fiercely opposed efforts in 2011 to introduce into law the separation of Church and State in the principality. 

According to the constitution, Catholicism is the official State religion and “as such shall enjoy the full protection of the State”. 

But clashes over contentious issues such as abortion and homosexuality led some lawmakers and civil officials to push for the separation, to no avail.  

Opposition to Pope Francis

Archbishop Haas also faces opposition from Catholics in Vaduz who are part of an association "for an open Church".

"It is a pure lie to say that Church dialogue works in our small country," said Günther Boss, the group’s theological adviser.

"People see the clergy here as unwilling to discuss, and the archbishop and vicar general also refuse dialogue when it would be necessary," he told cath.ch.

Boss said Catholics in Vaduz were also left out of the preparatory reflection for the Synod of Bishops’ assembly in 2014, which focused on the family.

Archbishop Haas was among those who signed an appeal in 2015 that urged Pope Francis to protect the family, while firmly stating their refusal to offer communion to remarried divorcees and to recognize any form of homosexual union.

Boss warned that, by his "publicly rejecting the synodal process, and thus openly opposing Pope Francis", the archbishop has taken a further step in challenging the type of Church the pope is promoting.