Catholic Church names new bishop
Charles Morerod has been named the new bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg. The 50 year old replaces Bernard Genoud, who died last year.
The appointment was officially announced at a media conference in Fribourg on Thursday.
“To be honest, I had hoped it wouldn’t be me,” Morerod said of his appointment. But although the responsibility was heavy “there are grounds to be joyful”, he said.
A member of the Dominican order, Morerod currently teaches at the philosophical faculty of the papal university in Rome. He previously taught at Fribourg University.
Morerod has risen rapidly through the ecclesiastical ranks, finding favour with Pope Benedict XVI.
The diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg comprises around 690,000 Catholics out of a population of 1.58 million, spread across the cantons of Vaud, Geneva, Fribourg and Neuchâtel.
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