Bishop Kurt Koch of Basel is to be the new President of the Swiss episcopate, says a statement put out by the Swiss Bishops’ Conference (SBC). Koch thus succeeds Amédée Grab, whose term of office ends on 31 December. Elected during the 273rd ordinary assembly of the SBC which ended at Ascona (diocese of Lugano) on 6 September, Koch, who is 56 years old, served as vice-president of the SBC for nine years, and currently fills the post as head of the departments for evangelization, ecumenical dialogue and relations with non-Christian religions. Norbert Brunner, bishop of Sion and member of the SBC presidium since 2001, has been appointed vice-president; he is currently head of the department for pastoral care and diakonia. The third member of the presidium, which will remain in office in the three-year period 2007-2009, is Bishop Bernard Genoud of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg, 64 years old, currently in charge of ecclesial services and ministries. The issues debated by the bishops during their assembly included the worrying situation in the Middle East, with regard to which the bishops pledge “their support for any initiative in favour of peace”, and the referendum planned for 24 September on the new laws on asylum and on foreigners, on which the bishops recommend “unanimous rejection”. The members of the SBC made their ‘ad limina’ visit to the Vatican in recent days.
