In Holland, There's No More Room for the Child Jesus

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This is the most depressing thing I’ve read in a long time. And I spend a lot of my time reading depressing things.

chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1341594?eng=y

An excerpt:

The survey reproduced below is a snapshot of the current profile of the Catholic Church in Holland. A country in which today 41 percent of the population say that they have no religious faith, and 58 percent no longer know what Christmas is. A Church in which there are Dominicans and Jesuits who are theorizing and practicing Masses without priesthood or Christian sacrament, in which those present “consecrate” collectively, around a “table that is also open to people of different religious traditions.”
 
Given that Amsterdam is today’s Sodom and Gomorrah, this is not surprising. This seems to be the trend of Western Europe, in general.
 
This seems to be the trend of Western Europe, in general.

Agreed. I’m an American and American society runs counter to European. The common thought in Europe has been that as society becomes more educated and therefore more advanced technologically it will become more secular. As a result God has been squeezed out. Yet, the U.S. is still predominantly a nation of believers while still being the most advanced society. We can thank our founding fathers deciding that there would be no State religion. I think that in a society like Europe, where state and religion were often indistinguishable (Ireland, England, Spain, etc.) people may feel like they are throwing off a heavy yoke when they shed religion.
 
Up in my living room, I have a relic of the True Cross. It came from the Archdiocese of Utrect where it had resided in a now closed parish church.

I was able to get it because Utrect had decided that the diocese no longer needed or desired it.

I was in the Diaconate program and I was looking for old style dialmatics that were being offered by churches and diocese that no longer had a use for them. I came across this relic in the process. Leveraging my status a diaconal student, as well as a relationship I had within my archdiocese’s own Chancellory office.

But it was really, really sad that it was offered up in the first place, that Cardinal Simonis did not see a place or need for it within his own diocese.
 
During this past Advent one of the readings was regarding the fact that eventually there will remain but a “remnant” of the faithful, acting as a light in a world grown dark. The Lord foretold us of a time of hardened hearts and love grown cold, yet we seem shocked as we witness these things being made manifest in our own age. It is a time for preparedness, so that we might belong to that “remnant”. Those who now spurn Christ are making a grave error and we must passionately remind them of this, for these are the modern day “lost sheep” he so longs to gather to Himself.
 
unafraid said:
During this past Advent one of the readings was regarding the fact that eventually there will remain but a “remnant” of the faithful, acting as a light in a world grown dark. The Lord foretold us of a time of hardened hearts and love grown cold, yet we seem shocked as we witness these things being made manifest in our own age. It is a time for preparedness, so that we might belong to that “remnant”. Those who now spurn Christ are making a grave error and we must passionately remind them of this, for these are the modern day “lost sheep” he so longs to gather to Himself.
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So true.

But still, it is a tragedy to see a country / continent self destructing. And to see the same signs here in the USA. God help us.
 
Brendan said:
Up in my living room, I have a relic of the True Cross. It came from the Archdiocese of Utrect where it had resided in a now closed parish church.

I was able to get it because Utrect had decided that the diocese no longer needed or desired it … But it was really, really sad that it was offered up in the first place, that Cardinal Simonis did not see a place or need for it within his own diocese.
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This is very sad. I should be more shocked to hear it, but I’ve seen so much destructive behavior like this that I’m not as suprised as I should be. (So many sacred things are lost in church closings simply because people do not care).

At the same time – while it is very good that you rescued the relic and you are keeping it safe in with reverent care, at some point I hope you will be able to find a public home for it again. It’s a very public relic and should be preserved in a church and available for the faithful to honor.

Now the crazy part is that we would normally think that a cathedral in the Archdiocese would be the safest, most reverent and honorable place for this amazing relic … but you learned first hand that the living rooms of the simple faithful are safer and more reverent – at least during this time of crisis.

With that in mind, I’m very glad that you preserved this precious item.
 
ricmat said:
This is the most depressing thing I’ve read in a long time. And I spend a lot of my time reading depressing things.

chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1341594?eng=y
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Aside from the overall depressing quality, that is a great article and interview. Thanks for posting it. The intro by Sandro Magister was very insightful also:

A few days ago, just before Christmas, another great symbol of this Catholicism died at the age of 95 in Nijmegen, Dominican theologian Edward Schillebeeckx, Flemish by birth, Dutch by choice.

However, this is a symbol not of the flourishing but of the astonishing deterioration that the Church of Flanders and of Holland has experienced over the past half century.

Schillebeeckx reflected this metamorphosis in his own life as a theologian. In the years of Vatican Council II and of the period immediately after the council, he was a star of worldwide impact, a champion of the new theology in step with the dominant culture. But then he was almost forgotten, even by the Catholics who had acclaimed him.

The disregard that fell over him went hand in hand with what was happening in the meantime in Dutch Catholicism, increasingly more forgetful of itself, increasingly secularized, increasingly in danger of disappearing

That says quite a lot about dissenting, liberalized theology as embodied by Fr. Schillebeeckx. It started as a wildly popular trend. Theology “in step with the culture”. But in a short time, he was almost totally forgotten (thankfully, in many ways). The secularizing, post-modernist theology was “successful” in driving people out of the Church, but ended up killing itself because there are fewere people who to both be a Catholic and also attack the Pope and the Magisterium.
 
they’ve all gone. Rotterdam has an even higher percentage of Muslims, and a Muslim mayor. One American newspaper has called it the “Eurabian nightmare.”
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there was a deal just signed, I think, in which the Meditteranean us going toward an economic trade zone.
Eurodollars and Arabian culture, definitely no room at that inn for Jesus. Mary’ll have to find a date tree to deliver, as far as Europe is concerned.
 
Well look at holland: legal incest over age 18, legal bestiality, legal drugs legal prostitution.
 
Lemonbeam, Satan abhors a vacuum. The thing that is so discouraging about this current European apostasy is that it succeeds without offering even an alternative dogma, however heretical it may be. That speaks volumes to the decades long paucity of inspired, faithful, and trully devout clerics at work on the continent. The clerics are complicit in this as they offered no stiff resistence, and in so many case they have aided in this transformation. Last century, with its wars, political and philosophical upheavals, has seemed to have led Europe to a place where it rejects everything attached to its past and replaces it with existential nothingness. What an iniquitous trade for the youth of Europe. At least they haven’t mastered you, Lemonbeam. Bravo!
 
From article: “the Dutch Church entered a profound crisis. The generation of the 1950’s is gone, and it forgot to educate its children.”
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How telling… the exact same thing happened to the people of Israel so long ago and God punished them. All it takes is one lazy generation and the generation after that will grow up not knowing their faith and turn towards wickedness. The turnover happens quite quickly.

“And there arose another generation after them, that knew not Jehovah, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel. And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim; and they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves down unto them: and they provoked Jehovah to anger. And they forsook Jehovah, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.” (From Judges 2)
“that we would have nothing to fear from Islam, if we were Christians. And it often seems that today the Dutch are afraid of everything: of having children, as they are of immigrants. But fear is the exact opposite of faith.”
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“The fool has said in his heart, there is no God above. Their deeds are corrupt, depraved, not a good man is left. All have left the right path, depraved, every one. See how they tremble with fear without cause for fear, for God is with the just. You may mock the poor man’s hope, but his refuge is the Lord.” (Paraphrased from Psalm 14)

History repeats itself as usual…

If there’s any hope for these places the Church must wake up to the fact that they are facing the same problem that Paul did, a population of people who haven’t the faintest idea about what Christianity is. Just preaching the Gospel of Christ will not work. They must lay down the entire foundations of Christianity starting from the beginning in Genesis and the proof of God’s creation and demonstrate the reliability of the Old Testament, only then can they understand the need for Christ and the redemption of the Cross.

What is happening in Europe will inevitably happen in North America if we don’t wake up.
 
It is no surprise to me that all this is happening today in Europe. 450 years of fight against the CC by protestants this is pretty much the result of it. weather you believe it or not, to me this is true. so many opposition from protestants has its fruits long coming.

the CC has understimated the power of their opposition and it is reaping its fruits today.

take for example Brazil a Catholic country for many years. today with the growing number of protestants the Church is loosing its place in society and people are becoming more and more against the Church. it wont be long for Brazil to be one more antiCatholic country. lets see things for what it is and not close our eyes and live as if everything is fine.

Pray for the Church everyday.
 
I think we should be careful not to be too smug about what’s happened in Holland and Europe in general without looking to see what has happened in our own back yards.

It’s better to pray for these people/countries than to parade here about how scandalized we are and how much better things are in our own back yards.

There are many faithful Catholics in Europe that will be praying and holding on to the faith.
 
The magnitude of World War II has had such a profound effect on all things “European” since its end that I wonder about how much of the dwindling of their Church can be directly attributed to the aftermath of that devastating war. I believe that Europe as a whole is still in the throes of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Transport those six years of total war onto our nation, replete with its civilian bombings, massive casualties, population dislocations, and then imagine the effects this would have had upon our future culture and civilization. In truth, we fought a bloody civil war and seethed and convulsed regarding race as a people until the Civil Rights Movement brought some closure (almost a century later). Who is to say that sixty-four years is sufficient time for Europe to be fully convalesced from a war of unsurpassed scope and brutality. May God have mercy on our European brothers and sisters, for it was by his divine plan and will that they were placed in their current state. May his plan be fulfilled.
 
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