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Dutch Cardinal: Almost All Churches In Utrecht Archdiocese Will Be Closed Down

Over the next decade, Utrecht archdiocese will close down most of its 280 churches. Less than 15 churches will remain, according to Cardinal Wim Eijk.

Talking to Gelderlander.nl (September 15) Eijk disclosed that 1 in 10 of his parishes is already insolvent.

After Second Vatican Council, the Netherlands were considered by the liberals as the example to emulate in realising the "Church of the Council". Now about 173,500 out of 3.5 million nominal Catholics attend Sunday Mass. Almost all of them are elderly.

In 2014 Eijk still believed that by 2028 less than 30 of his parishes would remain. Four years later it became clear that he was too optimistic.

Picture: © Kotomi_, Flickr, CC BY-NC, #newsSyijaljvfk
Prayhard
A good Churchman, critical of some of the odder Bergoglian statements. Retrieving the aftermath of the onetime epicentre of pre and post V2 Modernism, is a thankless task. Unlike Belgium, at least the Dutch have reasonable leadership now.