This national event that took place autonomously in the aftermath of Vatican II and which is compared by commentators to the German Synodal Path is considered to have been a catalyst for the massive de-Christianization of the country in recent decades.
Cardinal Willem Eijk, shown speaking at a press conference at Friezenkerk, the Dutch Church near St. Peter’s Square, on Oct. 23, 2015, told the Register this mont, ‘Christ has become a virtually unknown figure to most Dutch people today.’ (photo: Bohumil Petrik / CNA)
The latest reports and statistics from the Netherlands concerning religious practice leave little room for optimism.
Indeed, data published ahead of the Dutch bishops’ ad limina visit in November estimated the number of practicing Catholics in the country at only 2.7% for 2022.
And, according to data from the “World Values Survey” analyzed in January by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Mass attendance in the Netherlands ranks the lowest among 36 countries with large Catholic populations, with only 7% of self-identified Catholics attending Mass weekly.
While this trend is part of a European context of widespread de-Christianization, the country seems to be suffering from a deeper disaffection with the Catholic faith than in neighboring countries. Some experts see this freefall of faith as a direct consequence of the national “Pastoral Council” held in the 1960s in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, led by clerics and theologians who aimed to modernize the Church by changing its doctrine.
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