The Right Reverend Joseph Maria Bonnemain | |
---|---|
Bishop of Chur | |
Church | Catholic Church |
Diocese | Chur |
See | Chur |
Appointed | 15 February 2021 |
Installed | 19 March 2021 |
Predecessor | Vitus Huonder |
Orders | |
Ordination | 15 August 1978 by Franz Cardinal König |
Consecration | 19 March 2021 by Kurt Cardinal Koch |
Personal details | |
Born | |
Nationality | Swiss |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Joseph Maria Bonnemain (born 26 July 1948) is a Swiss prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the bishop of Chur since 2021.
Joseph Bonnemain was born on 26 July 1948 in Barcelona, the son of a Swiss father and a Spanish mother. He speaks Catalan, Spanish, French, German and Italian. After completing school in 1967, he studied medicine at the University of Zurich, completing his studies in 1975.
While in Barcelona, he established a connection with Opus Dei. He studied philosophy and theology in Rome. [1] On 15 August 1978 he was ordained a priest by Cardinal Franz König in Torreciudad and four years later incardinated into the personal prelature of Opus Dei. [2] In 1980, he completed a doctorate in canon law at the University of Navarre. During this time, he also worked as a chaplain for workers and farmers in the Navarre region.
From 1981 he worked at the diocesan curia for the Diocese of Chur as a judicial lawyer and from 1982 as vice official. From 1983 to 1991 he was a member of the Delegation of the Holy See to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva. In 1985, he was a chaplain at the Limmattal hospital in Schlieren in Zürich. In 1989 he was named an official of the Diocese of Chur. From 2002, he served as secretary for the Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church established by the Swiss Bishops' Conference. In 2003, he was named a canon of the Chur cathedral chapter. In 2008 he was made a member of the Bishop's Council and in 2009 he was appointed a Chaplain of His Holiness. From 2011, he worked as episcopal vicar for canon law and for the cantons of the Diocese.
After the cathedral chapter rejected all three of the candidates Pope Francis proposed as their new bishop, [3] [lower-alpha 1] the pope appointed Bonnemain the bishop of Chur on 15 February 2021. [5] His name had reportedly been rejected by the chapter because of his age. [6] Despite his age, he agreed to serve for at least five years. He received his episcopal consecration on 19 March from Cardinal Kurt Koch. Bonnemain had women play all the roles allowed in the service. He said he will not have a coat of arms: "The sign of the Cross of Christ is enough for me. And this, only this, I will use." [3]
In November 2022, he announced he would not fill the position of exorcist, saying "In most cases, people are simply suffering mental or psychological stress. They need support, prayers, a blessing or other appropriate services – but not necessarily a major exorcism." For years the Chur diocese attracted foreigners because it was one of the few in the region still performing exorcisms. [7]
A vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior. Linguistically, vicar is cognate with the English prefix "vice", similarly meaning "deputy". The title appears in a number of Christian ecclesiastical contexts, but also as an administrative title, or title modifier, in the Roman Empire. In addition, in the Holy Roman Empire, a local representative of the emperor, such as an archduke, could be styled "vicar".
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin praelatus, the past participle of praeferre, which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'prefer'; hence, a prelate is one set over others.
In some religions, an exorcist is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or performs the ridding of demons or other supernatural beings who are alleged to have possessed a person, or (sometimes) a building or even an object. An exorcist can be a specially prepared or instructed person including: priest, a nun, a monk, a witch doctor (healer), a shaman, a psychic or a geomancer.
Adam Joseph Maida is an American cardinal prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Maida served as the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan from 1990 to 2009, and was elevated to cardinal in 1994. Maida previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay in Wisconsin from 1984 to 1990.
The Diocese of Chur is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Switzerland. It extends over the Swiss Cantons of Graubünden (Grisons), Schwyz, Glarus, Zurich, Nidwalden, Obwalden, and Uri.
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gifts and ministries necessary for genuine unity.
José Horacio Gómez Velasco is a Mexican-born American prelate of the Catholic Church. He became the fifth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California in 2011. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Denver in Colorado from 2001 to 2004 and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio in Texas from 2004 to 2010.
Wolfgang Haas 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.
The Catholic Church in Switzerland is organised into six dioceses and two territorial abbeys, comprising approximately 2.9 million Catholics, about 33.8% of the Swiss population.
Paul Stephen Loverde is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. Loverde served as bishop of the Diocese of Arlington in Northern Virginia from 1998 to 2016.
The Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg is a Latin Catholic diocese in Switzerland, which is exempt.
The appointment of bishops in the Catholic Church is a complicated process. Outgoing bishops, neighbouring bishops, the faithful, the apostolic nuncio, various members of the Roman Curia, and the pope all have a role in the selection. The exact process varies based upon a number of factors, including whether the bishop is from the Latin Church or one of the Eastern Catholic Churches, the geographic location of the diocese, what office the candidate is being chosen to fill, and whether the candidate has previously been ordained to the episcopate.
The Diocese of Rome, also called the Vicariate of Rome, is the ecclesiastical district under the direct jurisdiction of the Pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Church. As the Holy See, the papacy is a sovereign entity with diplomatic relations, and civil jurisdiction over the Vatican City State located geographically within Rome. The Diocese of Rome is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Rome, an ecclesiastical province in Italy. The first bishop of Rome was Saint Peter in the first century. The incumbent since 13 March 2013 is Pope Francis.
The Swiss Bishops' Conference is the coordinating body of the Catholic dioceses in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 as the world's first Bishops Conference and is a member of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences.
Vitus Huonder is a Swiss prelate of the Catholic Church who was bishop of Chur from 2007 to 2019.
Alphonsus "Phonsie" Cullinan is an Irish Roman Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of Waterford and Lismore since 2015.
Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano was an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church who was Bishop of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, from 2004 to 2014.
Richard James Umbers is an Australian Catholic bishop. He is currently an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Sydney and the youngest Catholic bishop in Australia. He is also the first priest of Opus Dei to be appointed a bishop in Australia.
Amédée Grab, O.S.B. was a Swiss prelate of the Catholic Church who served as bishop of Chur from 1998 to 2007. He was an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Lausanne from 1987 to 1995 and then bishop there until 1998.
Marian Eleganti is a Swiss prelate of the Catholic Church who was an auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Chur from 2009 to 2021. From 1999 to 2009, Eleganti was Abbot of St. Otmarsberg Abbey.