- Feb 5, 2002
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S-HERTOGENBOSCH, The Netherlands – Growing work pressure, parish mergers and church closings are causing stress for parish priests in the Netherlands, sometimes even leading to clergy feeling overwhelmed.
Spokespeople for several Dutch dioceses acknowledge the problem, according to the Dutch Catholic weekly Katholiek Nieuwsblad, but they deny that there has been an increase in burnout among their priests.
The Netherlands is one of the most secularised countries in Europe, and for years the number of practising Catholics has been in steep decline.
Although about 3.5 million nominal Catholics still live in the 17.5 million-strong Western European country, the number of active churchgoers has fallen from nearly 400,000 to less than 100,000 over the past two decades, according to figures from Nijmegen University’s KASKI Institute.
Therefore, in the seven dioceses in the Netherlands, a radical process of parish mergers and church closures has been underway. This is causing unrest among parishioners, but the process is also taking a heavy toll on priests.
Katholiek Nieuwsblad published interviews with several priests who have experienced burnout. Common denominators in their stories are a high workload due to parish mergers and the feeling of being made the bogeyman in church closings.
“There is so much negativity,” said Fr Eugène Jongerden, parish priest in Amstelveen, a town near Amsterdam.
“People are telling me: ‘You are going to close our church!’ No, it’s a thing we’re doing together. But in their perception I am the angry manager who has to close things down by order of the bishop,” he said.
Continued below.
catholicherald.co.uk
Spokespeople for several Dutch dioceses acknowledge the problem, according to the Dutch Catholic weekly Katholiek Nieuwsblad, but they deny that there has been an increase in burnout among their priests.
The Netherlands is one of the most secularised countries in Europe, and for years the number of practising Catholics has been in steep decline.
Although about 3.5 million nominal Catholics still live in the 17.5 million-strong Western European country, the number of active churchgoers has fallen from nearly 400,000 to less than 100,000 over the past two decades, according to figures from Nijmegen University’s KASKI Institute.
Therefore, in the seven dioceses in the Netherlands, a radical process of parish mergers and church closures has been underway. This is causing unrest among parishioners, but the process is also taking a heavy toll on priests.
Katholiek Nieuwsblad published interviews with several priests who have experienced burnout. Common denominators in their stories are a high workload due to parish mergers and the feeling of being made the bogeyman in church closings.
“There is so much negativity,” said Fr Eugène Jongerden, parish priest in Amstelveen, a town near Amsterdam.
“People are telling me: ‘You are going to close our church!’ No, it’s a thing we’re doing together. But in their perception I am the angry manager who has to close things down by order of the bishop,” he said.
Continued below.
Decline of faith in Netherlands leaves priests 'burnt out' and demoralised - Catholic Herald
S-HERTOGENBOSCH, The Netherlands – Growing work pressure, parish mergers and church closings are causing stress for parish priests in the Netherlands, sometimes even leading to clergy feeling overwhelmed. Spokespeople for several Dutch dioceses acknowledge the problem, according to the Dutch...
catholicherald.co.uk
