Posted on 05/08/2002 4:51:08 PM PDT by Shermy
The body of murdered Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is to lie in Rotterdam Cathedral the day before his funeral, the Dutch Catholic Church has said. Church spokesman Peter van Zoest told BBC News Online: "It is the wish of the family and it is very unusual. There will be a lot of people."
Funerals of even high officials in the Netherlands are often private affairs. It is believed that the last time a body lay in state in the Netherlands was in 1962 when Queen Wilhelmina died.
Mr Van Zoest said it was unclear if the body of the controversial anti-immigration politician would be on view, but he expected the coffin to be closed.
He said Fortuyn - who was openly gay - had been a very religious Roman Catholic.
Rotterdam Cathedral - which was Fortuyn's parish church - will also hold his funeral on Friday.
Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok and the leaders of most leading political parties are expected to attend the service, which will be conducted by Bishop Adrian van Luyn.
The funeral will be preceded by a procession through Rotterdam.
After the ceremony, Fortuyn's casket will be taken to the town of Driehuis-Westerveld, on the north-west Dutch coast, where it will be interred briefly in the family vault.
Silent march
It will then be taken for a second funeral and burial at Pordemone in the north of Italy where Fortuyn had a holiday home.
The Mayor of Rotterdam, Ivo Opstelten, led about 15,000 people in a silent march through the city on Tuesday.
The square in front of Fortuyn's villa in Rotterdam is covered with flowers, flags and messages of condolence.
Those wishing to pay their respects to Fortuyn on Thursday can visit Rotterdam Cathedral between 1500 and 2200 (1300-2000 GMT).
Uhh, what?
And to be buried in Italy (Pordenone). Interesting style.
IN MEMORIAM
PIM FORTUYN
1948 - 2002
They don't have the decency to remove the warning labels even in death.
Hey KN, you going?
Analysis: How will Fortuyn be remembered?
It's a disgusting hit piece, establishment "push" journalism telling you how you should feel he should be remembered. The writer tries to group Fortuyn (and Le Pen, who I don't like) as "archtypal" right-wingers. This is his "analysis" (no joke):
Whatever his public statements, he shared most of Mr Le Pen's views, except on the question of Israel....He had the same frank, sarcastic humour as Mr Le Pen, and there was a similar air of menace to some of his younger supporters, as there is to some of Mr Le Pen's. ...
His deputy was a black immigrant from the former Portuguese colony of Cape Verde; Mr Le Pen has also had prominent black candidates in his entourage. ...
The Pim Fortuyn List was his personal vehicle, just as the National Front is Mr Le Pen's.
Yep, that proves he's Le Pen! The most unspoken item in these articles I've noticed is Fortuyn hostility to the EU and bureaucracy - big points in his actual campaign. But to raise these ideas in the minds of the local sheep, well, isn't cricket.
He did not like the fact that they would not assimilate. There is also considerable thought that the Moslems want to eventually create a Moslem court and even a Moslem State right in the heart of Europe.
He would be a big threat if he was allowed to alert the populace of what was happening.
I suspect that homosexuality is a disease of some type of hormonal imbalances having to do with the brain. But in this politically correct world no research is being done in that area. We seem to be more concerned in curing aids so people can be eventually safely profligate in their fornication. That money would be better spent on finding a cure for the causes that turn people into deviant sexuality. Whether it is genetic, hormonal or hwat have you.
In any case, he at least was headed in the right direction. Let us hope that his assasination has the opposite effect of what the leftists wanted to achieve and inspire the right to victory.
A politition even after death.
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