Mourning for special Nuncio Zurbriggen
The Catholic Church in Austria mourns the loss of the Apostolic Nuncio in Austria, Archbishop Peter Stephan Zurbriggen. The Vatican diplomat, who was the representative of the Holy See in Austria from 2009 until his retirement in 2018, died on Sunday, one day after his 79th birthday, in his Swiss hometown of Brig, the Diocese of Sitten confirmed, according to Kathpress.
The priest was apparently found dead in his room after a fall. The burial will take place on September 5th in the parish of Brig. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, during his time as chairman of the bishops’ conference also the tenure of Zurbriggensfeld, paid tribute to the deceased as an experienced and at the same time cordial builder of bridges between Austria and the Vatican.
Acknowledgment by Van der Bellen
Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen is also affected. “As the doyen of the diplomatic corps, I got to know him as an accomplished diplomat and committed pastor,” the head of state told Kathpress. Van der Bellen says his thoughts are with Zurbriggen’s family.
Zurbriggen succeeded Lebanese-born Archbishop Edmond Farhat (1933–2016) as nuncio in 2009. Several bishops were appointed during his tenure, including those of Ägidius Zsifkovics (Eisenstadt, 2010), Benno Elbs (Feldkirch, 2013), Wilhelm Krautwaschl (Graz, 2015) and Hermann Glettler (Innsbruck, 2017). Zurbriggen was also involved in the appointments of military bishop Werner Freistetter (2015) and the Salzburg auxiliary bishop Hansjörg Hofer (2017). In addition, Franz Lackner moved from Graz to Salzburg (2014), Manfred Scheuer from Innsbruck to Linz (2016) and the long-time Gurk bishop Alois Schwarz, who was insulted by the Pope on the bishopric in St. Pölten. Zurbriggen spent his retirement in his native Switzerland.