Reformed President Gottfried Locher resigned on Wednesday.
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Tomas Wüthrich / 13 photo
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An external investigation is underway to investigate allegations against him. It is obviously a question of “crossing borders”.
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Manuela Matt
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Pastors criticized the church in an open letter. The former television pastor Sibylle Forrer co-signed him.
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AP
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Locher had met Pope Francis in 2016.
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The day before the churches in the country were allowed to hold services again after more than two months of corona lockdown, there was a bang on Wednesday with the Reformed. Gottfried Locher (53), President of the Swiss Evangelical Reformed Church (EKS), resigned immediately. He was the country’s top Reformed for nine years.
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The background of the abrupt departure is nebulous. There are allegedly serious indications that Locher committed “border violations”. One such clue is the departure of another senior Reformed in April. Church council member Sabine Brändlin (46) was responsible for the prevention of border violations and sexual assaults on the committee. Now she is gone. Both parties remain silent about the reasons for this.
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His image of women caused outrage
What exactly happened is speculated wildly within the church. According to the “Daily scoreboard” there is said to have been an incident with a former Lochers employee. In mid-April, she filed a complaint with the Church through her lawyer. Brändlin allegedly had to work on this, but encountered great resistance – which is why she finally left. Locher had made headlines several times in the past with highly controversial statements about women. For example, he is quoted in a book saying that satisfied men are “more peaceful men”. “That’s why I say we should be grateful to the prostitutes.”
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At the request of BLICK, the Reformed Church has now announced that the complaint is about an incident that occurred almost ten years ago. Criminal proceedings are not ongoing. The church has now commissioned a law firm to conduct an external investigation. “We want complete clarification,” said EKS spokeswoman Katharina Dunigan.
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Allegation that the church is playing for time
However, doubts about this will have arisen in recent weeks. At first, the EKS only wanted to conduct an internal investigation. And only under pressure from several cantonal churches. These had criticized that the lack of information would lead to speculation and damage to the reputation.
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The church then announced that it would provide answers – in June 2021. Pastors shook their heads in disbelief. Twelve of them, including well-known theologians such as the former television pastor Sibylle Forrer (39), wrote to the EKS in an open letter. They accused her of playing for time and avoiding an independent investigation.
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«One should not be afraid of the truth»
Now lawyers are investigating. But the public still doesn’t know anything. The Reformed Parliament will meet next time in mid-June. The pastors hope that clarity will finally be created.
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Michel Müller (56), President of the Church Council of the Canton of Zurich, is disillusioned. It could happen that an official made mistakes. “But then you have to tackle it.” He was not sure whether the EKS would have acted without the pressure from the cantonal churches. “You shouldn’t be afraid of the truth – but of the veiling.”