A Swiss court has ruled that a Catholic bishop has no authority to remove a rebel priest from his parish post under Switzerland's labor laws.
The Basel Country cantonal court decided that Father Franz Sabo will remain at the parish of Röschenz as a parish administrator, despite the countervailing orders from Basel Bishop Kurt Koch.
Fr. Sabo has been supported by the majority of Röschenz parishioners, whom he served as pastor from 1998-2005. Fr. Sabo was removed from his pastorate in 2005 after he publicly reviled Bishop Koch and repudiated essential Catholic teachings on marriage and homosexuality.
When Bishop Koch took steps to extricate Fr. Sabo from Röschenz entirely, the parish took him to court saying they rejected "the dictate of the bishop" and would continue to contract Fr. Sabo as a parish administrator.
The judges ruled in favor of the parish, saying the diocese had authority only to revoke Fr. Sabo's teaching authority or canonical mission. However the matter of Fr. Sabo's complete dismissal was also ruled to violate Swiss labor laws and as such the Catholic Church must permit Fr. Sabo to resume activities as parish administrator at Röschenz.
In August 2003 Fr. Sabo blasted Bishop Koch in the Basler Zeitung newspaper calling the bishop "heartless" and the Church out of touch with the pulse of the times and with his diocese. Fr. Sabo denounced Bishop Koch's directive banning defrocked priests from offering Mass, but also tore into the Vatican's defense of traditional marriage and teachings against homosexuals living together.
After two ensuing discussions, Bishop Koch decided to remove Fr. Sabo's canonical mission in September 2005, and then revoked the rebel priest's license that October after he refused to leave the parish.
The Swiss court's deliberate intrusion in the Catholic Church's disciplinary matters and self-governance not only renders Bishop Koch powerless to oversee the proper teaching of the Catholic faith within his diocese, but sets a precedent that may carry ramifications for other bishops in Switzerland and Europe dealing with dissident priests and parishes.
