Wolfgang Haas

Wolfgang Haas (born 7 August 1948) is a Liechtenstein-born prelate of the Catholic Church who was the first archbishop of the newly established Archdiocese of Vaduz in Liechtenstein from 1997 to 2023. He was Bishop of Chur in Switzerland from 1990 to 1997, after two years there as coadjutor.

Early years Haas was born in Vaduz on 7 August 1948. He lived with his family in Mauren until he moved to Schaan, where his family ran a ceramics business. He graduated from the Collegium Marianum in Liechtenstein in 1968 and then studied philosophy and theology at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He was ordained a priest and incardinated in Chur, Switzerland, on 7 April 1974. disregarding the traditional right of the canons of Chur to select their bishop from three candidates proposed by the Holy See. Many Catholics in Chur rejected Haas for his conservative positions and what they considered his irregular appointment.

Haas received his episcopal consecration on 22 May 1988 from the bishop of Chur, Johannes Vonderach. The invitation-only ceremony was held in the cathedral but not open to the public. Invitees had to step over demonstrators, organized by theology students and priests, who lay on the ground in front of the entrance. The bishop of Basel, Otto Wüst, and 11 of the cathedral's 24 canons and a variety of other church officials did not attend.

In March 1995, the president of the Synodal Council, Eugen Baumgartner, said, "We have been waiting for a long time for the removal of Wolfgang Haas. I simply cannot understand it any more and ask myself how long must we wait for a decision from Rome. If ever there were a bishop who could not unite his diocese, it is Wolfgang Haas."

Archbishop of Vaduz On 2 December 1997, Pope John Paul erected the Archdiocese of Vaduz in Liechtenstein, covering territory formerly part of the diocese of Chur, and named Haas its first archbishop. The archdiocese is not part of any national bishops conference and has no suffragan sees. When erected, Vaduz was among the smallest archdioceses in the world, with just 12 parishes and 23 priests. Some observers believed that Haas' transfer to the new archdiocese had been negotiated by the Apostolic Nuncio to Switzerland and Liechtenstein Archbishop Karl-Josef Rauber and that the archdiocese itself was made to remove him from his previous diocese. He called any recognition of same-sex relationships "a scandal".

In Vaduz, Haas has demonstrated strong support for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), frequently ordaining its members. As a result, tensions continue between Haas and non-traditionalist Catholics in Liechtenstein.

He installed a gold episcopal throne in the cathedral at his own expense, and later, at a cost to the archdiocese of 130,000 Swiss francs, three vaults for episcopal tombs in the nave, which proved controversial.

In October 2021, Haas announced that Vaduz would not participate in the Synod on Synodality, the worldwide program of synods inaugurated by Pope Francis, in his archdiocese. He called the process complex and said it might prove ideological. He said communication in the archdiocese was easy and available, and that his listening as a bishop did not require long debates. A local theologian and critic of Haas called this characterization "a pure lie". A local organization of Catholics initiated its own synod instead. In response, some local Catholics formed the Association for an Open Church to conduct their own version of a synod.

After parliament passed a motion asking the government to draft legislation to legalize same-sex marriage, Haas announced in December 2022 that he would cancel a Mass traditionally held on New Year's Day at the opening session of parliament. Haas said same-sex marriage "runs counter to natural sensibility, to natural law in accordance with reason and, in particular, to the Christian concept of the human being".

There was speculation that with Haas due to tender his resignation in 2023, the archdiocese might disappear, given that it was created for him and is extremely small, isolated from national bishops' organizations. Hereditary Prince Alois has expressed his hope that the archdiocese continue to exist and criticized Haas' decision to cancel the annual Mass for the opening of parliament. Archbishop Paul Gallagher of the Vatican's Secretariat of State indicated during an April 2023 visit to Vaduz that the archdiocese would continue to exist.

Pope Francis accepted Haas' resignation as archbishop of Vaduz on 20 September 2023, naming Bishop Benno Elbs of Feldkirch, a neighboring diocese in Austria, as apostolic administrator of Vaduz. Haas has announced he will not speak to the media and plans to retire to the monastery of Schellenberg in Liechtenstein.