Pierre Bürcher (born 20 December 1945) is a Swiss

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who is currently serving as apostolic administrator of the

Diocese of Chur The Diocese of Chur is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Switzerland. It extends over the Swiss Cantons of Graubünden (Grisons), Schwyz, Glarus, Zurich, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri. The modern Cat ...

. He was Bishop of Reykjavík,

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, from 2007 to 2015.

Biography

Pierre Bürcher was born on 20 December 1945 in

Fiesch Fiesch is a municipality in the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Nearby Fiescheralp is administered by Fiesch and is accessible by the Eggishorn lift. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site for its view o ...

, Switzerland. He was ordained a priest on 27 March 1971. After filling a variety of pastoral assignments, he spent the year 1989–90 studying clerical formation and then became rector of the major seminary of the Lausanne Diocese from 1990 to 1994. On 3 February 1994,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed him

Titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

of Maximiana in Byzacena and auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Lausanne, Genève and Fribourg. He received his episcopal consecration on 12 March. His tenure as episcopal vicar for the

Canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms ...

was marked by a longstanding dispute about personnel as the authorities with financial control did not support the staffing his pastoral program required. The bishop of the Diocese eventually relieved him of his responsibilities for the Canton. On 30 October 2007,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

appointed him Bishop of Reykjavík. John Paul had made him a member of the

Congregation for the Oriental Churches The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches ( la, Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus), is a dicaste ...

in 2004, and Pope Francis confirmed his membership for another five-year term in 2014. In 2010 he participated in the Synod of Bishops on the Church in the Middle East.

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

accepted his resignation on 18 September 2015, at the age of 69, because of health problems linked to volcanic dust. In retirement he lived in Jerusalem and spent part of the year accompanying pilgrimages. On 20 May 2019, Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the

, Switzerland.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Church in Iceland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burcher, Pierre 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Switzerland 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Iceland 1945 births Living people Roman Catholic bishops of Reykjavík

Biography

See also

References

External links