The new bishop of Chur has the task of ending the trench warfare between conservatives and reformers. After a little more than a year in office, he has already turned both sides against himself.
Bishop Joseph Bonnemain’s assumption of office was associated with great hopes. But the tensions in the Diocese of Chur remain high.
How Much Reform Can the Catholic Faith Take? Not too much, said the former bishop of Chur, Vitus Huonder. Together with Vicar General Martin Grichting, who was considered arch-conservative, and the dazzling press spokesman Giuseppe Gracia, he kept his diocese on the path of Rome. The efforts of the reform-oriented Catholics from Zurich and central Switzerland came to nothing.
Showdown between conservatives and reformers continues
Hope was high among reformers when Pope Francis appointed Opus Dei leader Joseph Maria Bonnemain as the new diocesan bishop last year. The trained doctor and former chaplain was seen as open and willing to engage in dialogue. As secretary of the commission charged with investigating sexual abuse in the church, he had also worked to ensure that the victims of assault received compensation.
But the new chief shepherd has not yet brought peace. The showdown between conservatives and reformers continues. A few weeks ago it was announced that Bishop Bonnemain had submitted a code of conduct to the clergy. The paper contains largely uncontested instructions, such as a ban on taking young people to the sauna. But it also shows traits of political correctness that can bring devout Catholics into trouble of conscience. For example, the Code states that “generally negative assessments of allegedly unbiblical behavior based on sexual orientation” are to be avoided.
In other words, those who believe little or nothing about marriage for everyone must remain silent. There are no longer any words for the church’s teaching on homosexuality, as recorded in the catechism. The code also stipulates that clerics are not allowed to actively address sexuality issues in pastoral discussions. In any case, you would have to refrain from offensive questions about intimate life and the status of your relationship.
The Chur priests’ circle, an association of conservative clergymen, criticized that the code leads to institutionalized double standards and hypocrisy. If the code is implemented one-to-one, a pastor may no longer ask the spouses, for example, whether they understand marriage as a sacramental communion of life and love between a man and a woman – in other words: according to papal teaching, they want to commit themselves to fidelity and the procreation of children.
“You don’t implement reforms or you do them very slowly”
But even in the progressive camp, Bonnemain, who came forward with the aim of reconciling the diocese, not only has friends. As the online portal kath.ch reported the Winterthur hospital chaplain Veronika Jehle resigned and informed her bishop in an open letter why she was giving him back the missio, the episcopal commission.
Literally she writes:
“As bishops, I believe you are refusing to take decisive action to bring about the necessary changes to the man-made, structural and canonical constitution of our church. You don’t implement reforms or implement them very slowly. As individuals, as a quorum, and united to the Bishop of Rome, you perpetuate discrimination and opportunities for abusive action. »
Specifically, she criticizes the fact that women still have no access to office. According to Jehle, married men also have no access to office in the full sense. In addition, non-heterosexual and non-celibate people do not have equal rights. “The sexual morality of the Magisterium and the Church’s understanding of marriage and partnerships have lost touch with the realities of our lives and scientific findings.”
Jehle, who became known as the spokeswoman for the program “Wort zum Sonntag”, is also resigning in protest against the personnel policy in the diocese. “The bishop’s and vicar general’s policy on awarding missions is discriminatory,” she says to kath.ch. Anyone who stands by their homosexual relationship must expect not to receive a missio. Even those who remarry after a divorce cannot raise their hopes. Honesty is not rewarded in the Catholic Church, she says. She also thinks it is encroaching that the church, as an employer, wants to know about private and intimate life. When she was hired, she was asked by Vicar General Josef Annen that she was living in a concubinage relationship.
Encouragement from Cassis – and from the Pope
In an interview with the NZZ, Bonnemain once described himself as a priest who feels passion, affection and love for all people: “That means that you can’t be closed or one-sided.” But this openness and his efforts to reconcile the opposing currents in the Catholic Church have apparently not yet helped him on his mission. A little over a year after he took office, the trenches in Chur are still open.
The bishop received encouragement for this from the highest level: Federal President Ignazio Cassis said at the beginning of May after an audience in Rome that Pope Francis was “very satisfied” with Joseph Bonnemain.