Sunday view: Bishop Bonnemain, Christmas is the feast of love. Who have you fallen in love with before?
Joseph Maria Bonnemain: I was very much in love with a woman named Blanca. I was young then. I was convinced that we would marry Blanca and have as many children as possible.
What has love become?
I made a different choice and partnered with the whole world. This is the basic message of Christianity: to love all, not just one person.
Your name is Joseph Maria. How much Christmas is in it?
Christmas is not a sweet, romantic story. It is an unexpected and enigmatic decision of Allah not to solve the problems of the world, but to integrate with the problems. Not just to create a more beautiful world, but to become one with everything that is dark, empty and painful in this world.
Why did he choose this path?
We humans will never fully understand that God didn’t just do magic and create a fairy tale world. That would be easy. But falling in love with all that has been damaged and not yet made up for – that’s what Christmas is. It’s about a God who doesn’t look for cheap solutions, who integrates with people’s realities.
You have experienced this reality closely in your work.
I worked as a hospital chaplain for 37 years and dealt with many suffering, insane and dying people. And I presided over the episcopal court for 40 years. There I was confronted daily with broken marriages and injustices in the church. Since 2002, I have served as secretary on the Swiss Bishops’ Conference’s expert committee on sexual assault in the church setting, and since my appointment as bishop I have been the departmental director of the Bishops’ Conference for this body. In this context, I deal with horrific crimes.
Do you still trust people?
These experiences have not taken away my trust in people. On the contrary, they strengthened it. Man is a wonderful thing in all its depth. So big that God decided to become human.
What can I learn from the Christmas story as an atheist?
Anyone who is convinced that we can give up the infinity dimension, given the mysteries of life, defies boundaries. Who doesn’t have a never-ending longing for love in their heart? For an untruthful truth? I think we all carry that inside of us. This third dimension is the search for God. A belief of pure openness and security is, in any case, an adolescent belief.
What does this mean for Christmas?
The solution to many of the problems we face is not the use of force. It does not lie in political or economic structures. It’s good that we took care of all this. But the decisive turning point lies in a love ready to shrink, be penniless and powerless. This is the turning point that God brought at Christmas.
The Church promises us the Savior and peace on earth. What should the people of Ukraine think about this?
Hopefully, despite what they’re going through right now, they’re convinced that the solution is to follow the Savior. It means living in the best possible way the way he shows us how to do it.
Why does God allow war and suffering?
Why do you think you did this?
I think you are better at defending God.
Isn’t that basically the case where I have to defend people? Humans are not programmed to be good. He is free to choose. In contrast, God did not choose evil from man. It gave people the opportunity to create a better world for themselves. This includes our risk of destroying our world.
Switzerland remains neutral in the face of the war. The church too?
It depends on what you call neutral. Neutrality in the sense of indifference is never good. But objectivity makes sense when it enables us to work for the good. We are trying to make an impact so that peace is possible. In this context, Vatican diplomacy is mentioned. The Pope speaks daily against the war in Ukraine. At the same time, it tries to keep all options open in order to intervene correctly. This is a tightrope walk.
Will Vladimir Putin go to hell?
I hope he doesn’t go to hell. We must have this hope for every human being until the end. I hope Vladimir Putin turns things around and changes his behavior.
The war led to a worldwide energy crisis and inflation. In Switzerland, too, people feel pressure on their wallets. Despite this, they’re still spending a lot of money on Christmas gifts this year. Why is that?
I hope they assume they will make others happy with this. But I must consider the words of Pope Francis. He said that given the suffering in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world this week, we must remain humble and donate to these people.
Do you give special gifts?
Very little. Also, I don’t get many gifts. You can’t buy really valuable gifts. What we really need is compassion, warmth and peace.
Jesus was born in a manger. Where would he be born today?
Just as it was then in a distant place, in bad conditions. To show us that the usual solutions we seek in the world are not necessarily the right ones.
You were born in Barcelona. His father was from Jurassic and his mother was Catalan. You were born with divisiveness. Are any of these stuck?
So far, yes. The rebellion still continues. I don’t like ready-made solutions. The message of Jesus is an absolute revolution.
However, the church is a conservative organization. Maybe that’s why he’s already 2000 years old.
I don’t think that’s the reason. On the contrary, I am convinced that it is God’s powerless, selfless attitude that gives strength and endurance to the church.
What is a church anyway?
It is a group of people inspired by and following Jesus Christ. This community had neither great resources nor influence. Yet it changed our world. Many of the beliefs that emerged at that time still shape our society today – humility, humility, compassion for the poor and the weak.
It does not look like a solid organization.
For me, the church is not primarily an institution, but a community that travels this world. A song in Spanish means: The road is made on foot. The church is a living, creative thing. We must not content ourselves with just occupying a position and building structures, but must have the courage to act.