Swiss bishop purges exorcist post

Exorcisms are now only performed in one German-speaking diocese in Switzerland after Chur called time on the practice. Keystone / Arno Balzarini

A Catholic diocese in Switzerland, once dubbed the ‘Eldorado of exorcisms’, has decided not to fill its vacant exorcist post, as it seeks to keep up with the times.

The last exorcist of Chur died in 2020 after reputedly lifting a number of possessions during his career in southeast Switzerland.

But the diocese’s new bishop, Joseph Maria Bonnemain, will not advertise for a replacement. “We don’t have to look for unusual causes for most problems,” he told Swiss public television, SRF.

“In most cases, people are simply suffering mental or psychological stress. They need support, prayers, a blessing or other appropriate services – but not necessarily a major exorcism,” added Bishop Bonnemain, who is also a qualified doctor.

Ongoing disputes

Bonnemain was appointed by Pope Francis last year with a mandate of solving ongoing disputes between conservative and liberal Catholics in the diocese.

For years, Chur attracted people from neighbouring countries because it was one of the few places in the wider region that performed exorcisms.

“You could say that the diocese of Chur is the Eldorado of exorcism in the German-speaking world – almost a place of pilgrimage for people looking for exorcisms,” Swiss religious scholar Georg Schmid told SRF in an interview five years ago.

Basel is now the only Catholic diocese in German-speaking Switzerland that continues to perform exorcisms – which it refers to as ‘liberations’.