Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:
Hundreds of deregistrations from the Roman Catholic Church
Updated: 25 Mar 2010, 10:29
Surprisingly many Roman Catholics have resigned from the church during the last three weeks. The Dutch Bishops’ Conference says there were 550 more resignations than usually. The resignations probably have to do with sexual abuse within the Catholic church and Catholic institutions.
The recent statements by Cardinal Simonis may also have played a role. He said this week in the Pauw and Witteman TV show that bishops were not aware of the abuse and he used the controversial words:
in German; not in Dutch
Wir haben es nicht gewusst [We did not know].
These five words were the standard lame excuse in Germany after the downfall of the Hitler regime in 1945; the subterfuge by people who did know about the nazi crimes or would have known if they would have tried, but did nothing against those crimes. If someone says “Wir haben es nicht gewusst”, then he presumably lies.
That quote led to indignation inside and outside the church.
September 2018: of 3.5 million Dutch Roman Catholics, only 173,500 go to church regularly.
Punish Pope, Other Church Officials: Sex-Abuse Victim: here.
Related articles
- German Roman Catholics resign because of bishop’s financial scandal (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
- ‘Indefensible mistakes’ by Catholic Church (news.theage.com.au)
- 1,000 Catholic churches in Holland to close by 2025, Pope warned (mumbailaity.wordpress.com)
- Pope Francis sets up committee to fight child abuse in the Catholic Church (rawstory.com)
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Catholics miss out on Easter services through lack of priests
Tuesday 26 March 2013
A shortage of priests will lead to fewer church services this Easter, with some churches unable to hold any services at all, reports Trouw.
Catholic congregations may have to attend a different church if they want to celebrate Easter, the paper says.
The Catholic church says Easter services must take the form of the eucharist – the taking of bread and wine – and this can only be administered by a priest.
With the falling number of priests over the past decades, many parish churches have allowed deacons or pastoral workers to take the eucharist. However, bishops are now insisting the ceremony must now be led by a proper priest, the paper says.
© DutchNews.nl
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Reblogged this on Christian Spook.
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Very important and moving blog. Thank you, Barbara
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Thank you so much, Barbara! Best wishes for you, your blog and your health!
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Reblogged this on The Iniquitous Church Crimes.
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