Diocese of Roermond
| Diocese of Roermond Dioecesis Ruremundensis Bisdom Roermond | |
|---|---|
Saint Christopher Cathedral
| |
| Location | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Territory | Limburg |
| Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Utrecht |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 2,209 km2 (853 sq mi) |
| Population Total Catholics |
(as of 2020) 1,131,930 1,086,540 (96%) |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 12 May 1559 (re-established 4 March 1853) |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of Saint Christopher in Roermond |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Bishop | Ron van den Hout |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Wim Eijk |
| Auxiliary Bishops | Everard de Jong |
| Bishops emeritus | Frans Wiertz |
| Map | |
| Location of the Diocese of Roermond | |
| Website | |
| bisdom-roermond.nl | |
The Diocese of Roermond (Latin: Dioecesis Ruremundensis) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, located in the Netherlands. The diocese is one of the seven suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Utrecht. The territory of the diocese covers the Province of Limburg.
Its cathedral episcopal see is the Cathedral of St. Christopher in Roermond.
Its main pilgrimage sites are Kapel in 't Zand and Valkenburg.
The Dean of Roermond is responsible for the parishes in that city and a few other municipalities in the diocese.
History
Originally established on 12 May 1559, on territories split off from the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cologne (Keulen, now in Germany) and Diocese of Liège (Luik, now in Belgium).
During the Napoleonic era, on 15 July 1801 it lost territory to establish the Apostolic Vicariate of Grave–Nijmegen. On 29 November 1801 the diocese was suppressed, its territory being divided between the above vicariate and the establishment of the (German) Diocese of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle).
It was re-established in 1840 by the Holy See as (pre-diocesan) Apostolic Vicariate of Limburg. In 1853 it was promoted as Diocese of Roermond and gained territory from the Belgian Diocese of Liège.
During the 1960s, the relatively strong demarcation between the Netherlands' Catholic south and its Calvinist northwest began to diminish. Since the second half of the twentieth century, a rapid secularization and strong loss of religious affiliation have taken place in Limburg.
Statistics and population
The diocese has roughly 817,000 registered Catholics (about 72.3% of the population of Limburg). Roughly 3 percent of the population in the Diocese Roermond attends Mass on Sundays[1] (as per official Church (KASKI) data). The Roermond diocese is one of the two in the Netherlands that is in a majority-Catholic region, as per the most recent KASKI data.
As per 2014, it pastorally served 1,091,000 Catholics (96.0% of 1,136,000 total) on 2,209 km² in 303 parishes with 471 priests (219 diocesan, 252 religious), 71 deacons, 1,210 lay religious (440 brothers, 770 sisters) and 24 seminarians.
Limburg is mostly Catholic by tradition and still uses the term and certain traditions as a base for its cultural identity, though the vast majority of the population is now largely irreligious in practice. According to research among Dutch Catholics in 2006, 27% of the Dutch Catholics can be regarded as theist, 55% as ietsist/agnostic theist and 17% agnostic.[2]
Episcopal Ordinaries
- Suffragan Bishops
- Willem Damasus Van der Lindt (1562–1588)
- Hendrik van Cuyk (1596–1609)
- Jacobus a Castro (1611–1639)
- Andreas Creusen (1651–1657)
- Eugène, Count d'Allamont (1659–1666)
- Lancelot de Gottignies (1670–1673)
- Reginald Cools, O.P. (1677–1700)
- Angèle, Count d'Ongnies et d'Estrees, O.F.M. Cap. (1701–1722)
- François-Louis Sanguessa, O.F.M. (1722–1741)
- Jan-Baptist de Castillion (1742–1743)
- Joseph Anselme François Werbrouck (1743–1746)
- Jean-Antoine de Robiano (1746–1769)
- Jan Hendrik van Kerens, S.J. (1770–1775)
- Philippus, Empire Count van en tot Hoensbroeck (1775–1793)
- Jan, Baron van Velde tot Melroy en Sart-Bomal (1794–1801)
- Apostolic Vicar of Limburg
- Joannes Augustus Paredis (1840.12.18 – 1853.03.04 see below), Titular Bishop of Hirina (1840.12.18 – 1853.03.04)
- Suffragan Bishops
- Jan Augustus Paredis (see above 1853.03.04 – death 1886.06.18)
- Frans Boermans (1886–1900)
- Jozesh Hubertus Drehmans (1900–1913)
- Lorenz Schrijnen (1914–1932)
- Jozef Hubertus Willem Lemmens (1932–1958)
- Jan Michiel Jozef Antoon Hanssen (1958-1958)
- Pieter Jan Antoon Moors (1959–1970)
- Jan Baptist Matthijs Gijsen (1972–1993)
- Alphons Castermans, auxiliary (1982–1997)
- Frans Jozef Maria Wiertz (1993–2017)
- Everard de Jong, auxiliary (1999–)
- Harrie Smeets (2018–2023)
- Ron van den Hout (2024–present)
See also
Canonical status and jurisdiction
Roman Catholic Diocese of Roermond is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.[3]
- Part of: Ecclesiastical Province of Utrecht
External links
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Diocese of Roermond — (RUBAEMUNDENSIS).
Diocese in Holland; suffragan of Utrecht. It includes the Province of Limburg, and in 1909 had 332,201 inhabitants, among whom were 325,000 Catholics. The diocese has a cathedral chapter with 9 canons, 14 deaneries, 173 parishes, 197 churches with resident priests, an ecclesiastical seminary at Roermond, a preparatory seminary for boys at Rolduc, about 70 Catholic primary schools, 2 Catholic preparatory gymnasia, 1 training college for male teachers, 24 schools for philosophical, theological, and classical studies, 35 higher schools for girls, about 60 charitable institutions, 45 houses of religious (men) with about 2400 members, and 130 convents with 3900 sisters. Among the orders and congregations of men in the diocese are: Jesuits, the Society of the Divine Word of Steyl, Brothers of the Immaculate Conception, Redemptorists, Marists, Reformed Cistercians, Dominicans, Benedictines, Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Brothers of Mercy, Poor Brothers of St. Francis, Conventuals, Calced Carmelites, Missionaries of Africa, Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Brothers of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Brothers of St. Francis, Brothers of St. Joseph, the Society of Mary, the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Congregation of the Divine Spirit, and the Congregation of Missions. Among the female orders and congregations are: Benedictines, Brigittines, Ursulines, Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo, Sisters of Tilburg, Sisters of the Child Jesus, Sisters of St. Francis, Sisters of the Divine Providence, Sisters of Mercy etc.
The Diocese of Roermond was established in 1559, during the reign of Philip II, when after long and difficult negotiations with the papacy the dioceses of the Netherlands were reorganized. By these negotiations all jurisdiction of foreign bishops, e.g. that of the Archbishop of Cologne, came to an end. In this way the Diocese of Roermond, the boundaries of which were settled in 1561, became a suffragan of Mechlin. The reorganization of the dioceses, however, met with violent opposition, partly from bishops to whose territories the new dioceses had formerly belonged, partly from a number of abbots whose abbeys were incorporated in the new bishoprics. Much difficulty was also caused by the rapid growth of Calvinism in the Netherlands. In Roermond the first bishop, Lindanus, who was consecrated in 1563, could not enter upon his duties until 1569; notwithstanding his zeal and charitableness he was obliged to retire on account of the revolutionary movement; he died Bishop of Ghent. The episcopal see remained vacant until 1591; at later periods also, on account of the political turmoils, the see was repeatedly vacant. In 1801 the diocese was suppressed; the last bishop, Johann Baptist Baron van Velde de Melroy, died in 1824.
When in 1839 the Duchy of Limburg became once more a part of the Netherlands, Gregory XVI separated (2 June, 1840) that part of Limburg which had been incorporated in the Diocese of Louvain in 1802, and added to this territory several new parishes which had formerly belonged to the Diocese of Aachen, and formed thus the Vicariate Apostolic of Roermond, over which the parish priest of Roermond, Johann August Paredis, was placed as vicar Apostolic and titular Bishop of Hirene. In 1841 a seminary for priests was established in the former Carthusian monastery of Roermond, where the celebrated Dionysius the Carthusian had been a monk. Upon the re-establishment of the Dutch hierarchy in 1853 the Vicariate-Apostolic of Roermond was raised to a bishopric and made a suffragan of Utrecht. The first bishop of the new diocese was Paredis. In 1858 a cathedral chapter was formed; in 1867 a synod was held, the first since 1654; in 1876 the administration of the church property was transferred, by civil law, to the bishop. During the Kulturkampf in Germany a number of ecclesiastical dignitaries driven out of Prussia found a hospitable welcome and opportunities for further usefulness in the Diocese of Roermond; among these churchmen were Melchers of Cologne, Brinkmann of Munster, and Martin of Paderborn. Bishop Paredis was succeeded by Franziskus Boreman (1886-1900), on whose death the present bishop, Joseph Hubertus Drehmann, was appointed.
Gallia Christiana, V, 371 sqq.: Neerlandia catholica seu provinciae Utrajectensis historia et conditio (Utrecht, 1888), 263-335; ALBERS, Geschiedenis van het herstel der hierarchie in de Nederlanden (Nymwegen, 1893-4); MEERDINCK, Roermond in de Middeleeuwen; Onze Pius Almanak. Jaarboek voor de Katholiken van Nederland (Alkmaar, 1910), 338 sqq.
References
- Back to citation Rapportnr. 590 Kerncijfers 2008 uit de kerkelijke statistiek van het Rooms-Katholiek Kerkgenootschap in Nederland door drs. Joris Kregting en Jolanda Massaar-Remmerswaal, augustus 2009
- Back to citation God in the Netherlands' (1996-2006), by Ronald Meester, G. Dekker, ISBN 9789025957407
- Back to citation Roman Catholic Diocese of Roermond, official website
External links
- GCatholic.org - data for all sections
- Website of the diocese of Roermond
- Roermond - Catholic Encyclopedia article
- Wikipedia page in Dutch about the cathedral