Healing in Utrecht and TLM news

From a reader… interesting.  Remember that Summorum Pontificum was about healing.

Today, the recently appointed Archbishop of Utrecht (Netherlands), Wim Eijk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Eijk ) announced the Archdiocese had achieved reconciliation with the ‘St.Willibrord Apostolate’ in the selfsame city.
The Apostolate came into being in the 1960’s, during a period of great upheaval in the Dutch church. A closed church-building was bought by Fr. Winand Kotte, an Assumptionist priest, and his supporters who consequently began to hold their own services, including Masses in the Tridentine Rite.
A noted supporter of Fr. Kotte was Joseph Luns, former Dutch Foreign Minister and 5th Secretary-General of NATO.
The Archbishop of Utrecht attempted to have Fr.Kotte suspended in 1975, an action which was annulled by the Holy See in 1978. Fr. Kotte always insisted he was loyal to both the Church and the Magisterium, including the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
He died, unsuspended but with the conflict with the Archdiocese unresolved,  in 2006, where after the Apostolate’s board sought out the services of Fr.Klos, who had, however, been suspended.
Eventually, the Archdiocese and the Apostolate came to an agreement and the Apostolate, by realigning with the Archdiocese, now seems to have dissociated itself from Fr.Klos.
The Apostolate will be reassigned as a non-territorial rectorate church under the auspices of the Vereniging voor Latijnse Liturgie (Association for Latin Liturgy) and will be devoted to the celebration of Latin masses in both the OF and EF.
The press release, in Dutch, is to be found here: http://www.aartsbisdom.nl/nws.php?id=356
Puella Paschalis translated the text of the press release, attached to this note.
(http://puellapaschalis.wordpress.com/)
A few pictures of the monumental church can be found here:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sint-Willibrordkerk,_Utrecht
 
If you see any possibility to, we would be much obliged if you could draw attention to this wonderful development in one of your blogposts.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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25 Comments

  1. puella says:

    A translation of the news item on the Archdiocese of Utrecht’s website can be found here, for those who are interested.

  2. Maureen says:

    Sing the Te Deum!

    Man, that Te Deum is getting a workout lately, d’you notice? Good news of great joy is croping out everywhere in the Church — though sadly, it’s in counterpoint to a lot of the bad news coming from the world.

  3. Maureen says:

    “cropping”.

  4. puella says:

    Maureen: oh yes, believe me, there’s a fair number of people here who are really, REALLY happy about this! St. Willibrord’s is a very beautiful church and having another place in the country where Latin has pride of place in the liturgy (the FSSP have the charge of St. Agnes’ parish in Amsterdam) is a shot in the arm and a half!

  5. Anja says:

    Yes finally some good news from our little country! A couple of weeks ago a catholic church in Amsterdam was “given” to the FSSP, a couple of very liberal “catholic” movements complaining in the media about how “orthodox catholic youth” are taking over the churches and now this! Finally something to feel proud about in the Netherlands!

    Keep praying for our country though, God knows we need it! Thanks to Father Z for posting this great news :)

  6. Paul Waddington says:

    Could this be an indicator of how things will turn out with Fr Lawler at Allerton Bywater in Yorkshire in England?

  7. puella says:

    Mr. Waddington: no clue. The Diocese of York is a very different place to the Archdiocese of Utrecht. The bishops are very different types of gent and the respective situations in the UK and the Netherlands are much further apart than the North Sea would lead you to believe.

    If anything else, I hope Fr. Lawler does not have to wait as Fr. Kotte did.

  8. Peter Karl T. Perkins says:

    I wonder if a correspondent for the Netherlands could enlighten us a bit more. Will or will not this new apostolate in the Archdiocese of Utrecht celebrate the Gregorian Mass on an every-Sunday basis? That is all I wish to know, as I keep careful records of our movement and compile the statistics as we go. I am not opposed to their use of the New Mass in Latin, which is also being said there. But will the Traditional Mass be celebrated every Sunday?

    Sincerely,

    Peter Karl T. Perkins

  9. Brian2 says:

    Peter K.T. Perkins,

    Do you have any plans to update the Gregorian Mass blog? I’ve only seen one entry.

  10. Aine says:

    Thanks for the translation puella. I had a look at the pictures which are stunning. It’s difficult to believe the Archdiocese wanted to demolish it. God bless Fr. Kotte and may he R.I.P.

    Your news and Ania’s are very encouraging.

    God Bless the Netherlands.

  11. puella says:

    Mr. Perkins,

    as far as I understand, the EF is a very real and distinct possibility in the future of St. Willibrord’s, but not at the present time. Once the church has been re-consecrated by Abp. Eijk in January we can likely expect a Novus Ordo Mass in Latin each Sunday, but it may take a while before the EF arrives there.

    Information about where the EF is offered in the Netherlands (and, I think, Belgium) can be found on this website. There’s also an embedded Google map showing actual locations. I’m not sure how up-to-date the information is, and as the webmaster(s) are in Rome partying it up with the FSSP at the moment, there might be a slight delay in responses to emails.

    Aine,

    you’re welcome! I’ve been there once for Mass, in the middle of the renovations. It is indeed a stunning place. Please don’t be too harsh (this goes for many people though, not just your good self) in your estimations of the decisions (arch)dioceses take or have taken. The gents responsible have the toughest time balancing everything. I’m very glad I’ll never be a cleric!!

    Thank you for your prayers: we definitely need support :)

  12. English Catholic says:

    …now if only some of that good news can start seeping over the border into Belgium!

  13. Jay Jay says:

    From the site of the new Willibrord the services listed now are all OF Latin
    Masses. The Archdiocese of Utrecht’s states the following:

    “De Latijnse liturgie in de Willibrordkerk zal in beginsel de Nieuwe Orde
    volgen van Vaticanum II. Maar ook kan in de kerk liturgie worden gevierd
    volgens de buitengewone (Tridentijnse) vorm van de Romeinse ritus.”

    (The Latin liturgy in the Willibrord church will be, in principle, celebrated
    according to the Novus Ordo of Vatican II. But it will also be possible
    for the Extraordinary (Tridentine) Form to be celebrated.

    The situation is of course very much ‘in flux’ and all measures now seem
    to me to be more or less temporary. I suppose we’ll have to wait to see how
    things go. The fact that the Archdiocese advertises the fact they’re seeing
    a ‘possibility’ for the EF to be celebrated leaves us something to look
    forward to!

  14. porys says:

    I’ve heard that FSSP has to come to Utrecht.

  15. Taquoriaan says:

    I certainly hope the FSSP will come to Utrecht. It makes it much easier for me to participate in a EF Mass. I went to a FSSP Mass in Bayerisch Gmain in Bavaria (Germany) during my vacation there and it was just SPLENDID. If I was able to, I would go to EF Masses only.

  16. puella says:

    If FSSP were in Utrecht as well as Amsterdam then we’re all doing really, really well! :D

  17. porys says:

    2 weeks ago general of FSSP f. John Berg told me this info. I supose young Polish priest – f. Andrzej Komorowski FSSP will work in Utrecht.

  18. Thomas says:

    Indeed, wonderful news! I am living in Utrecht, and it would be great to have the opportunity to go to an EF mass here. And yes, this church is *the* place for it, it’s so beautiful. Good to see this news mentioned here!

  19. Done. Photos from NH shall be loaded before the end of the next news cycle.

  20. Peter Karl T. Perkins says:

    Thank you Puella and others for your fascinating responses. I am aware of the standard listing sites quoted here. I would certainly like to see the F.S.S.P. in Utrecht too. Since “Summorum Pontificum” was published, the progress in the Netherlands has been very disappointing. We have actually lost one of our two every-Sunday sites, the one at Delft, in the Diocese of Rotterdam. It is true that we now have new sites in the Dioceses of Roermond, s’Hertogenbosch, and Breda, and in the Archdiocese of Utrecht itself, but not on the every-Sunday basis–at least not yet.

    In regard to the blog one kind gentleman put up for me, I do intend to add to it but this is a very busy time for me. However, I will certainly be reacting there to the major news stories affecting tradition, such as the efforts of nefarious semi-traditionalist forces in the Church to compromise our Mass with that Vatican II thingy.

    P.K.T.P.

  21. Trillium says:

    Maybe someone of this blog is smart enough to clear up a few things about Utrecht. There’s a fella using the name Fr. Andrew Wingate who thows around the word “Utrecht” a lot when people question his legitimacy when he appears on late night call in show’s like Art Bell’s “Coast to Coast” or “The Scizone” hosted by Bill Boshears. Always says they were reconciled. Claims to have offered Mass with JP2 (in Latin), shows pictures of the two of them together etc.

    Here’s the website he gives out.

    http://www.trumpetersmission.com/

    Is he legit or a charlatan?

    Thanks

    TBP

  22. puella says:

    Trillium: I’ve never heard of him, but then I know very little. It’s possible that he’s associated with the Old Catholics in Utrecht, though. You could ask the Archdiocese.

  23. Thomas says:

    Trillium: hmmm, I’ve never come across that name here in Utrecht, and a dutch google search doesn’t lead me anywhere.

  24. Jay Jay says:

    A strange website, the gentleman claims to have been ordained by a bishop
    ‘Jacque Jones’. This bishop isn`t listed at catholic-hierarchy.org . My guess
    is he acquired some kind of ordination from an ‘Independent Catholic’
    jurisdiction of somesort. This might explain why he bandies around the
    word ‘Utrecht’ as many independent orders are derived from the Old Catholics
    over there.

  25. bill says:

    Here’s a legitimate visionary who reconciled with Rome. See pics of him with John Paul the Great on his site if you doubt

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