Bishop Benno Elbs told theVorarlberger Nachrichten newspaper on Sunday that both politicians and priests had succeeded in calming tempers. He sees no potential for conflict at the moment.
"The priests are very correct. I now know everyone who works in Liechtenstein. A good relationship has developed with some of them, but not with all of them."
Elbs is the bishop of the neighbouring Austrian diocese of Feldkirch and was also appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Vaduz by Pope Francis last year. He thus temporarily replaced Archbishop Wolfgang Haas of Vaduz, who had offered his resignation for reasons of age.
Haas was considered conservative and polarising. The archbishopric was established in 1997 by Pope John Paul II from the Liechtenstein parts of the Swiss diocese of Chur. Prior to this, there had been massive criticism of Haas' conservative leadership in Chur. The creation of the new archbishopric made it possible to transfer Haas away from the bishop's see in Chur.
Disentanglement of church and state postponed
Following Haas' resignation, the future of the archdiocese, which covers the entire territory of the Principality of Liechtenstein and consists of ten parishes with almost 30,000 Catholics, is uncertain. It is a special situation in terms of church politics. "Of course there are people who would like to return to Chur.
However, the majority are already of the opinion that it makes sense to retain independence," continued Elbs. He sees three possibilities: reintegration into the diocese of Chur, the appointment of a new archbishop or co-supervision by another bishop. Should this solution come about, Elbs is against continuing to look after Vaduz from Austria: "It would probably make more sense for the Bishop of Chur to do this."
In Liechtenstein, a reform of relations between the state and the church is currently on the agenda. Until now, the Catholic Church has been a national church and financially closely intertwined with state bodies.
A new Religious Communities Act is intended to remove this interdependence. Elbs had successfully asked the state parliament to wait until after his term of office to discuss the law: "After all, I am only a temporary solution. The future bishop should be involved in this discussion."