At Chiesa, the blog of Sandro Magister, there is an interview with Cardinal Adrianus Simonis, the emeritus Archbishop of Utrecht. Back in the 1970s, Catholics who were dismayed by the direction that had been taken by the Church in the Netherlands, were delighted by the appointments of two strongly orthodox bishops: Bishop Simonis to Rotterdam (1970) and Bishop Gijsen to Roermond (1972). Both were highly controversial in the Netherlands and Pope Paul emphasised his support for the restoration of orthodoxy in the Dutch Church by himself consecrating Bishop Gijsen, and insisting that Cardinal Alfrinks should be the first co-consecrator.Bishop Simonis succeeded to the Archdiocese of Utrecht in 1983 (elevated to Cardinal in 1985) and resigned two years ago upon reaching the age of 75. His reflections in the interview show that it has been a long and hard road. After the virtual collapse of the Church, he witnessed the rapid growth of secularism, with the Dutch being pioneers in the legalisation of euthanasia and gay marriage, for example. He says:
I am convinced, like Bishop Punt, that the Dutch Church is truly called to be missionary. Two generations have been lost. It is a matter of starting over from the beginning, and within a culture that is indifferent to Christianity, among less than friendly media.There seems to be a certain weariness in Cardinal Simonis and one can understand this from a man who has seen so much moral and spiritual devastation. Nevertheless, there is certainly a revival of life in the Dutch Church albeit on a small scale at the moment. The Haarlem seminary has 45 students, and I saw for myself the enthusiasm of young Dutch Catholics for solid formation. (See: "To God who gives joy to my youth")
In fact, the Cardinal himself wryly bears witness to this new growth of faith:
Q: Did you know, Your Eminence, that a short time ago in the little town near here, Drunen, I saw a hundred children come out from the Catholic church where there had been a Christmas ceremony?For the full interview and accompanying article by Marina Corradi, see: In Holland, There's No More Room for the Child Jesus. Or Then Again, There Is
A: It must be that young priest who just arrived, who's hard at work ..."
4 comments:
Before the War Dutch Church punched way above its weight, certainly in terms of mission work. I suspect the War and the post-Nuremberg consensus damaged it severely. Then the Council killed it off completely as it has done elsewhere. The Dutch were just ahead of the curve.
Many years ago The Legion of Mary (Soutrhwark) went on missionary work to Rotterdam - Perigrination pro Christo. Bishop Simonis received us and ceelebrated Mass for us. Afterwards before we left he asked us to recite the Rosary with him. During the rosary he started crying. Later I asked what hadhappened. He said he was sad because while it was a joy, he said, to recite the rosary with people, he could not get one priest of his diocese who would recite the rosary with him, aand that made him very sad, for his people. Three of that group from Southwark later became priests.
Fr. Tim,
It's important to remember that Calvinism was traditionally the main Christian influence in the Netherlands -- the Calvinists always outnubered the Catholics.
I wonder if the collapse of Dutch Catholicism had something to do with the fact that the post-Conciliar "opening" of the Church simply removed the protective ramparts from around the Church, allowing protestantizing influences, effectively, to calvinize the Catholics. Holland may be one country where "vernacularization" simply helped the Catholic Church to go native in an anti-Catholic culture.
Francis ~ certainly those countries where the Church was a minority suffered badly. The impact the Council would have on Catholics within the WASP world (as in our) was simply not understood at the time. My own understanding is that things were falling apart in Holland before 1962. Elements of the emerging chaos can also be seen in the UK with post-War church architecture. It was Heenan who oversaw the bulding of Liverpool Cathedral not Worlock for example.
I think the link between the Council and the cult of WWII and Nuremberg is simply not understood or explored sufficiently. (The SSPX see the link!).
In retrospect, the Council was, at best, a monumental waste of time. What annoys me is that the priests of the CMOC generation won't admit this.
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