Åke Gabriel Bonnier (born 11 December 1957) is a member of the

Bonnier family The Bonnier family is a Sweden, Swedish family, originally of History of the Jews in Germany, German Jewish descent, who since the beginning of the 19th century has been active in the book/literature industry and later also in the mass media indus ...

who was

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Skara Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18,580 inhabitants in 2013. Despite its small size, it is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. O ...

in the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

from September 2012 to 2024. Through inheritance, he is a

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

and the second largest owner of the

Bonnier group Bonnier AB (), also the Bonnier Group, is a Privately held company, privately held Swedish media conglomerate, media group of 175 companies operating in 15 countries. It is controlled by the Bonnier family. Background The company was founded in ...

Early life

Bonnier was born and grew up in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

where his father, Gerard Bonnier, belonged to the wealthy

.Evelina Myrbäck (15 November 2012
Åke Bonnier valde ett annat liv

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...

. Retrieved 2 January 2013 His father was of partly Jewish descent and his mother was a member of the Church of Sweden, while his maternal grandmother converted from the Church of Sweden to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He was baptised as child, but did not have a religious upbringing. His interest in Christianity started in his youth: he cites a book by Stockholm's bishop Ingmar Ström as an inspiration which led him choose to be

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on of hands. Catholicis ...

in the Church of Sweden.Annika Sjöqvist Platzer
Han längtar till sitt nya stift
Svenska Kyrkan. Retrieved 2 January 2014 He says of his wealth: "It is a great pleasure to belong to the Bonnier family, and at the same time a responsibility to have this money. The managerial responsibility is also an issue for us as Christians".

Career

After having been involved in and leader of the Church's youth organisation Kyrkans unge and volunteering a year in Church of Sweden, he started studying theology and was ordained priest in

Storkyrkan Storkyrkan (, ), also called Stockholms domkyrka (Stockholm Cathedral) and Sankt Nikolai kyrka (Church of Saint Nicholas), is the oldest church in Stockholm. Storkyrkan lies in the centre of Stockholm in Gamla stan, between Stockholm Palace and ...

in 1984. He subsequently held various pastoral positions in the Church of Sweden; from 1986 to 2006 in the Congregation of

Lidingö Lidingö (), also known in its definite form Lidingön and as Lidingölandet, is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, northeast of Stockholm, Sweden. In 2023, the population of the Lidingö urban area on the island was 48,162. It is the ...

. He served as dean of Stockholm from 2006 to 2009. Bonnier was one of the officiants at the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling in 2009 and at the baptism of Princess Estelle.Storstadens son längtar efter att bli biskop
Skövde Nyheter. 7 April 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2014 He was ordained bishop by Archbishop Anders Wejryd in

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral () is a cathedral located between the University Hall (Uppsala University), University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in t ...

in August 2012.

Crown Princess Victoria Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland (Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée; born 14 July 1977) is the heir apparent to the Swedish throne, as the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf. If she ascends to the throne as expect ...

attended the ceremony. Bonnier is on the Board of Directors of

Gustavus Adolphus College Gustavus Adolphus College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans led by Eric Norelius and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Gustavu ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. He also belongs to the

Focolare Movement The Focolare Movement is an international organisation of spiritual and social renewal and Christian new religious movement that promotes the ideals of unity and universal brother/sisterhood grounded in the Golden Rule. It was founded by then e ...

and has been chairman of the Friends of the

Thiel Gallery The Thiel Gallery () is an art museum in the Djurgården park area of Stockholm, Sweden. Represented are the members of the Artists Association (''Konstnärsförbundet'') from the early 1900s as well as one of the world's largest collections of ...

Views and theological profile

Bonnier has been a member of the

since 1988.Curriculum Vitae
Svenskakyrkan.se. Retrieved 2 January 2014 He has attended

Stockholm Pride Stockholm Pride (styled as STHLM Pride) is an annual LGBT pride festival held in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. Since the start in 1998, Stockholm Pride has grown. In 2014, some 60,000 participated and 600,000 followed the parade at the stre ...

and believes the LGBT movement should have a place in the church. He became member of the leadership for the yearly march Jesusmanifestationen (English: The Jesus manifestation) in 2008, but left the leadership in 2009 citing concern about his participation among Evangelical Christians who had criticized him for defending the art exhibition Uppenbar(a)—which showed controversial art with Christian motives—and for being liberal on LGBT issues. Having moved from Stockholm to

as a result of being appointed bishop, Bonnier criticized Swedish authorities in 2013 for discriminating against people outside large cities by providing insufficient public services and infrastructure in these areas and offering fewer jobs in the public sector there.

Personal life

Åke Bonnier is married to Kristina Gustafsson Bonnier who is a social worker and has two daughters, one of which is . He is the second biggest owner of the

Bonnier Group Bonnier AB (), also the Bonnier Group, is a Privately held company, privately held Swedish media conglomerate, media group of 175 companies operating in 15 countries. It is controlled by the Bonnier family. Background The company was founded in ...

.Sveriges 119 mmiljardar 60–69
''Veckans Affärer''. Retrieved 2 January 2013 He was listed by ''

Veckans Affärer ''Veckans Affärer'' (, lit. "the week's business") was a Swedish business magazine published on a weekly basis in Stockholm, dealing in all business-related matters both within and outside Sweden. It was in circulation between 1965 and 2019. ...

'' as the 64th richest man in Sweden in 2012 with a fortune of 2.1 billion Swedish kronor (US$345 million as of January 2014). His siblings Eva, Pontus, and Karl-Otto Bonnier, have top positions in the Bonnier group.Isaac Pineus (1 February 2005
Doldisarna som styr bakom Braun
''Affärsvärlden''. Retrieved 2 January 2014 .

Recognition

*Knight of the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great (; ) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of the five Papal order of knighthood, orders of knighthood of th ...

(2008)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnier, Aake Bishops of Skara Businesspeople from Stockholm Swedish people of Czech-Jewish descent 21st-century Lutheran bishops Uppsala University alumni 1957 births Living people Ake Marcus family