Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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ROME - Despite the challenges of secularization, a Dutch cardinal encouraged Catholics from his country and from all parts of the world to be a “creative minority” in society.
Cardinal Wilhelm Jacobus Eijk, archbishop of Utrecht, recently spoke with CNA in Rome, while giving a presentation on euthanasia. Eijk studied medicine before becoming a priest, and wrote a doctoral dissertation on euthanasia.
The cardinal, however, identifies euthanasia as only one of many issues the Church is facing amidst a secularizing society.
Between 2003 and 2013, the Catholic population of the Netherlands declined by 589,500. Catholics now represent just 22.9 percent of population, according to 2015 data.
The country underwent a rapid period of secularization during the 1970s and ’80s, and religious groups now find it difficult to identify their place in public life.
Euthanasia is one of the most obvious symptoms of this problem, Eijk said. The Netherlands legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2002. The cardinal noted that Dutch “society is marked by abortion and euthanasia.”
The situation is similar in Belgium, the Netherlands’ neighbor. There, the cultural push toward euthanasia has affected hospitals owned by the Brothers of Charity religious order, whose lay-majority board recently voted to allow euthanasia to be performed in their facilities under certain conditions.
Dutch cardinal: Don't underestimate power of Catholics as a 'creative minority'
That is a pretty small group there.
Cardinal Wilhelm Jacobus Eijk, archbishop of Utrecht, recently spoke with CNA in Rome, while giving a presentation on euthanasia. Eijk studied medicine before becoming a priest, and wrote a doctoral dissertation on euthanasia.
The cardinal, however, identifies euthanasia as only one of many issues the Church is facing amidst a secularizing society.
Between 2003 and 2013, the Catholic population of the Netherlands declined by 589,500. Catholics now represent just 22.9 percent of population, according to 2015 data.
The country underwent a rapid period of secularization during the 1970s and ’80s, and religious groups now find it difficult to identify their place in public life.
Euthanasia is one of the most obvious symptoms of this problem, Eijk said. The Netherlands legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2002. The cardinal noted that Dutch “society is marked by abortion and euthanasia.”
The situation is similar in Belgium, the Netherlands’ neighbor. There, the cultural push toward euthanasia has affected hospitals owned by the Brothers of Charity religious order, whose lay-majority board recently voted to allow euthanasia to be performed in their facilities under certain conditions.
Dutch cardinal: Don't underestimate power of Catholics as a 'creative minority'
That is a pretty small group there.
