Einsiedeln Abbey

Reading about Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland because of a news item in The Tablet - Call for debate to re-energise Church ...

A senior and influential figure in the Swiss Church has issued a potentially incendiary appeal for church reform with a string of proposals to empower the laity. The ideas, put forward in a pamphlet by Abbot Martin Werlen of Einsiedeln, include appointing women and young people as cardinals and arranging regular meetings for them with the Pope. He also proposes giving laypeople greater say in the choice of bishops, discussion of priestly celibacy and Communion for remarried divorcees .....

Abbot Werlen deplores the lack of courage, vision and creativity in the Church. In particular, he says too many problems are swept under the table and discussion of too many issues is forbidden. “Not taking a situation or a person seriously is an act of disobedience. When those in authority in the Church do not fulfil their duty and are therefore disobedient, initiatives are started as emergency measures and cries for help which can lead to schisms or people leaving the Church,” he writes, adding that his community wants to take a different approach. He points out that his Abbey of Einsiedeln is in dialogue with both the Lefebvrist Society of St Pius X and the radical Catholic theologian Hans Küng ...

Here are some photos of the Abbey, from Wikipedia Commons ...



The interior ...



The abbey has been breeding horses for centuries ...



It's also connected to the beautiful Einsiedlerhaus Rapperswil (Hermit House) ...





It looks like a nice place to visit. I've just been once to Switzerland and only to Lucerne.