“The number of practicing Catholics is diminishing very quickly,” he said. “In the 1950s 90 percent of Catholics still went to church every Sunday. Now, it’s only five percent.”
This mass exodus has hit the bishops hard in their bank accounts. “The Dutch Church,” the cardinal said, “does not have a subsidy from the state but depends on voluntary contributions of the faithful. Therefore, we are forced to close many churches.”
He quoted figures from the Dutch Office for National Statistics that said in 2010 that just under 16 percent of the population identified themselves as Catholic, adding that this number is expected to drop to about 10 percent by 2020. The same office estimates that Islam will become the second largest religion in the Netherlands by the same year, with only about four or five percent expected to be Protestant Christians.
Cardinal Eijk said that the visiting bishops had given this report to the pope, who replied, “You must not give up. You must keep courage and above all the hope that Christ has given us. This hope never disappoints.”
via Dutch bishops tell Pope the Church is collapsing as they face hundreds of closures | LifeSiteNews.com.
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