On 3 February 2024, the friars of the Province of Switzerland and the delegate friars of the Province of France met in Fribourg with the Master of the Order, brother Gerard Francisco Timoner III, OP, to proceed with the suppression of the Province of Switzerland and the erection of the Vicariate of Switzerland of the Province of France.
After the reading of the decree of suppression of the Province of Switzerland and of the erection of the Vicariate, the Provincial of France, brother Nicolas Tixier, OP, instituted brother Didier Boillat, OP, as the first Vicar Provincial of the Vicariate of Switzerland. In his bilingual address, brother Nicolas warmly thanked brother Benoît-Dominique de la Soujeolle, OP, who had accompanied the Province of Switzerland in the preparation of this institutional change made necessary by the needs of the Order’s mission in Switzerland.
The Master of the Order gave thanks for the hundreds of Swiss brothers, sisters and lay people of the Order who for centuries have served the message of the Gospel by their word and their presence in this part of the world. He stressed that this change in status does not mean the end of the Order’s mission in Switzerland. On the contrary, the international experience of the Province of France will help to breathe new life into Dominican preaching in the confederation.
