Pope accepts resignation of accused Swiss abbot; 29-year-old prior assumes governance
July 01, 2025
Pope Leo has accepted the resignation of Abbot Jean César Scarcella, 73, from the office of ordinary abbot of the Territorial Abbey of Saint-Maurice, Switzerland. The abbot is a member of the Congregation of St. Maurice of Agaune, part of the Confederation of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine.
The historic abbey is akin in some ways to a tiny diocese, with five parishes entrusted to its care. In 2024, an independent commission found “at least 67 cases of sexualized violence, mostly against minors, perpetrated by at least 30 religious” since 1960; the Swiss government, citing the allegations, took control of the abbey’s school.
Abbot Scarcella was installed in 2015. While remaining abbot, he temporarily stepped back from exercising governance in 2023 after being accused of sexually harassing a teenager. His interim successor, Father Roland Jacquenoud, was then accused of having sexually abused an adult novice.
In November 2023, Pope Francis appointed Abbot Jean-Michel Girard, CRB, as the abbey’s apostolic administrator. Abbot Girard is a member of a similar but distinct religious institute: from 2014 until April 2023, he was the superior general of the Canons Regular of the Hospitaller Congregation of Great Saint Bernard.
In March 2025, Abbot Scarcella resumed governance of the abbey after Swiss prosecutors, citing the statute of limitations, halted their investigation. The Vatican, in turn, halted its canonical proceedings against him.
Abbot Scarcella told his confrères on June 26 that he was offering his resignation “in complete spiritual freedom.” The prior of the abbey—Father Simone Previte, who was born in 1996—has temporarily assumed governance until the election of a new abbot.
“The abbey council has received the decision of our abbot Jean calmly and fraternally,” said Father Previte. “Our community is grateful for the fatherliness he knew how to cultivate.”
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Further information:
- Resignations and Appointments, 28.06.2025 (Holy See Press Office)
- Abt Scarcella vom Kloster Saint-Maurice tritt «aus freiem Willen» zurück (kath.ch)
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