Roman Catholic 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 2014)
1,136,000
1,091,000 (96%)
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Rite Latin Rite
Established 12 May 1559 (re-established 4 March 1853)
Cathedral Cathedral of Saint Christopher in Roermond
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop Frans Wiertz
Metropolitan Archbishop Cardinal Wim Eijk
Auxiliary Bishops Everardus Johannes de Jong
Map

Location of the Diocese of Roermond
Website
www.Bisdom-Roermond

The Diocese of Roermond is a diocese of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands. The diocese is one of the seven Roman-Catholic dioceses suffragan to the Archdiocese of Utrecht. Originally established on 12 May 1559, the diocese was suppressed during the Napoleonic era. It was re-established by the Holy See in 1853. The territory of the diocese covers the Province of Limburg.

During the sixties of the twentieth century, the relatively strong demarcation between the Catholic south on one side and the Calvinist west and north on the other side of the Netherlands started to diminish. In the second half of the twentieth century a rapid secularization and strong loss of religious affiliation have taken place in Limburg.

Limburg is mostly Roman 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. Research among Dutch Catholics in 2006 shows that only 27% of the Dutch Catholics can be regarded as a theist, 55% as an ietsist / agnostic theist and 17% as agnostic.[1]

Its seat is the Cathedral of St. Christopher[2] in Roermond. The diocese has roughly 817,000 registered Roman Catholics (about 72.3% of the population of Limburg). Roughly 3 percent of the population in the Diocese Roermond attends Mass on Sundays[3] (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.

Its main pilgrimage sites are Kapel in het Zand and Valkenburg.

The Dean of Roermond is responsible for the parishes in that city and a few other municipalities in the diocese.

List of bishops

Bishops of the first diocese Bishops after 1853
  1. Willem Damasus Van der Lindt (1562–1588)
  2. Hendrik van Cuyk (1596–1609)
  3. Jakob van den Borgh (1611–1639)
  4. Andreas Creusen (1651–1657)
  5. Eugène, Count d'Allamont (1659–1666)
  6. Lancelot de Gottignies (1670–1673)
  7. Reginald Cools, O.P. (1677–1700)
  8. Angèle, Count d'Ongnies et d'Estrees, O.F.M. Cap. (1701–1722)
  9. François-Louis Sanguessa, O.F.M. (1722–1741)
  10. Jan-Baptist de Castillion (1742-1743)
  11. Joseph Anselme François Werbrouck (1743–1746)
  12. Jean-Antoine de Robiano (1746–1769)
  13. Jan Hendrik van Kerens, S.J. (1770–1775)
  14. Philippus, Empire Count van en tot Hoensbroeck (1775–1793)
  15. Jan, Baron van Velde tot Melroy en Sart-Bomal (1794–1801)
  1. Jan Augustus Paredis (1853–1886)
  2. Frans Boermans (1886–1900)
  3. Jozesh Hubertus Drehmans (1900–1913)
  4. Lorenz Schrijnen (1914–1932)
  5. Jozef Hubertus Willem Lemmens (1932–1958)
  6. Jan Michiel Jozef Antoon Hanssen (1958-1958)
  7. Pieter Jan Antoon Moors (1959–1970)
  8. Jan Baptist Matthijs Gijsen (1972–1993)
    1. Alphons Castermans, auxiliary from January 16, 1982 till May 3, 1997
  9. Frans Jozef Maria Wiertz (1993- )
    1. Eberhard Jan de Jong, auxiliary since 1998

See also

References

  1. ↑ God in the Netherlands' (1996-2006), by Ronald Meester, G. Dekker, ISBN 9789025957407
  2. ↑ nl:Sint-Christoffelkathedraal
  3. ↑ 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

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