Mystery: Swiss Bishop Resigns at Age 59
The why is a great mystery. Lazzeri was appointed in 2013. He seems to be in good shape, but apparently suffers from "stress problems" and is resigning "for personal reasons," according to media reports.
Lazzeri has faced many problems. In 2018, he closed overnight the last remaining Swiss "Catholic" daily newspaper owned by Lugano diocese.
A former rector of Lugano's Theological Faculty, was arrested in February 2021. Another priest was sentenced to prison for embezzling CHF900,000 to support a male lover. A third priest, who was involved in an altercation in a discotheque after groping a girl, was only suspended after he was stopped at the Swiss-Italian border in May 2022 for being completely drunk at the wheel of a car.
Lugano Diocese ended 2020 with a deficit of almost CHF1 million. A deficit of CHF1.5 million is expected for 2021.
Fribourg Auxiliary Bishop Alain De Raemy will likely become the episcopal administrator in Lugano, a sign that there are problems in the diocese.
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