Jesuit congratulates Opus Dei bishop for radiating "natural virility"

Congratulations from a Zurich Jesuit to the Bishop of Chur

Franz-Xaver Hiestand congratulates Bishop Joseph Bonnemain on his 75th birthday. Since he has been bishop, "there is a different, uplifting tone in our diocese". Hiestand thanks him for his great commitment. And surprises with his statement on Bonnemain's "natural virility".

"Dear Bishop Joseph Maria

Today you are celebrating your 75th birthday; on a well-deserved holiday. Surely there will not be a mass homage as there was at the 75th birthday of Max Frisch, who from today's point of view behaved more like a parson than many a present Swiss bishop and whose court behaved more clerically than many of your present staff.

"I think that Opus Dei, of which you are a member, still has some history to work through worldwide."

My congratulations as a Jesuit come a little way from next door. I find that Opus Dei, to which you belong, still has some histories to work through worldwide. Just as the Jesuit Order, to which I belong, needs to face dark chapters of its past and present even more.

Since you accepted the episcopate, there is a different tone in our diocese, a more uplifting tone. And the dioceses are working more closely together again. For this you deserve lasting thanks. It is hard to imagine what would have happened if you had said "no" in the election. I regret that some people have lost sight of the possible consequences of your "no".

"You build bridges where you can."

You build bridges wherever you can. For as heterogeneous as your diocese is between Poschiavo and Sankt Moritz, Hergiswil and Erstfeld, Rafz and District 5 in sociological terms; as globalised as it is at the ETH and as obdurate as it is in a side valley south of Siebnen; as fissured is your diocese also in ecclesiastical terms. At the same time, people live there who are spiritually at home in the 19th, 20th or 21st century. And by no means are only the people from the 21st century the really constructive ones.  

We know that you have been involved in the work on "Sexual Assault in Pastoral Care" for many years. Witnesses tell us that on the part of the Church it was you who really and persistently got involved in these incriminating dossiers. For this, too, you deserve great thanks.

By the way, has anyone ever said to you that you are probably the first Bishop of Chur in a long time who radiates a natural virility? Perhaps this has something to do with your sporting side. In any case, you always show impressive qualities as a taker.

"The human being is the way of the Church"

Bishop Joseph Bonnemain's motto

Your episcopal motto is: "The human being is the way of the Church". The sentence remains somewhat obscure after the first reading. Eva-Maria Faber reads from it that you are ready to listen and to be "attentive to people". You have proven both again and again in the past years in a huge workload and in a sometimes amazingly winning way.

For the coming years, I wish you health, presence of mind, the blessing of the One who dries all tears, and as many bridge builders as possible at your side. Also so that your motto can shine even more."

Franz-Xaver Hiestand is a Jesuit and director of aki, the Catholic university community in Zurich. As an observer of church and social conditions, he congratulates the incumbent bishop, as it were from religious to religious.