Marc de Beyer in St. Michael's church in De Bilt, where several parishes have combined.
Posted on 12/23/2011 1:01:02 AM PST by bruinbirdman
A drastic exodus from the church is underway in the Netherlands. With two churches shuttered each week, one man has become the country's top advisor on how to repurpose the once holy buildings. Some are demolished, while others find new life as mosques, stores and even recreation centers.
Marc de Beyer in St. Michael's church in De Bilt, where several parishes have combined.
Marc de Beyer is an art historian in Utrecht, located about a half an hour by train from Amsterdam, but one could also call him a liquidator. He's a man who shuts down churches. When a parish is dissolved, when a church is shuttered, de Beyer is there. And he has a lot to do.
Some 4,400 church buildings remain in the Netherlands. But each week, around two close their doors forever. This mainly affects the Catholics, who will be forced to offload half of their churches in the coming years.
"And that's just the beginning," says de Beyer . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
This what happens when the theology of Schillebeeckx, the influential Dutch dissident Cathoilic, takes root: it ends in emptiness of all sorts, especially empty pews.
This is what happens when the theology of Schillebeeckx, the influential Dutch dissident Catholic, takes root: it ends in emptiness of all sorts, especially empty pews.
Catholic ping
That plus the Dutch gay priest and child molestation crisis.
“Last Friday, Archbishop of Utrecht Wim Eijk held a press conference to apologize for the abuse of tens of thousands of children in Catholics institutions in the Netherlands. The abuse was documented in a report that covered the year 1945 onward.”
“While Catholics form only a minority of 27% in the largely secular Netherlands, it appears that their institutions are responsible for a high proportion of the country’s sexual abuse.”
“According to a report released yesterday, 86% of the population in the heavily Catholic province of Brabant have lost virtually all their faith in the institution.”
Priests have done more damage to the faith than anything else. They betrayed a sacred trust by abusing children and by leadership covering it up.
Sickening.
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