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 HAARLEM

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HAARLEM

From the seconfl half of the seventeenth century the persecution began to abate; it became more and more apparent that the Cathohc Faith could not be exter- minated, and the exigencies of trade were decidedly opposed to extreme measures. The Catholic barn and house-chapels were connived at, and the priests were tolerated on payment of a pecuniary fine. In this manner the number of Catholics remained very con- siderable in most towns, and even predominated in many villages. In the beginning of the eighteenth century occurred the Jansenist schism, long since pre- pared for l:>y the jealousy and quarrels between the secular and regular clergy. In the old Haarlem Dio- cese the principal secular priests, the so-called Chapter of Haarlem, shrank from excommunication and schism, and the great majority of clergy and laity re- mained faithful to Rome. In consequence of the dis-

The New Catholic Cathedral of St. Bavo, Haarlem

turbances, the mission was, in 1721, placed directly under the papal nuncio at Brussels, who exercised his functions under the title of vice-superior, until the nunciature was abolished in 1794. On the whole the Catholics were for the greater part of the eighteenth century allowed to exercise their religion without much hindrance, provided they obtained the consent of the government and worshipped in churches not outwardly recognizable as such; however, their exclu- sion from all public offices was rigorously maintained. The Netherlands revolution of 1795 was to bring some change in this inequality between Catholic and non- Catholic citizens. In 1796 the supreme authority of the Batavian Republic, the National Assembly, declared the Calvinistic State Church abolished, de- creed equal rights in the exercise of religious worship to all creeds, and granted equality before the law to all citizens of the State. These articles were subse- quently embodied in the fundamental law of 1798.

Nevertheless, a great many years were still to elapse before Catholics could obtain in fact the full enjoy- ment of the rights guaranteed to them. At that time the mission was governed, with authorization of the Propaganda, by Luigi Ciamberlani (1794-1828), who was at first oljliged to reside in Miinster. In 1799, this vice-superior, making use of the legal rights con- ferred, founded a .seminary in Warmond near Leyden, which still flourishes as the grand seminary of the present Diocese of Haarlem. King Louis Bonaparte (1806-1810) did much for the Catholics of Holland. In his residential city — first The Hague, afterwards Amsterdam — he had his own chapel, to which he ad- mitted the public, and faithfully assisted at the reli- gious services of his two chaplains, both excellent men and prcires non annerinentcs (priests who had re- fused to take the oath required by the French govern- ment). He contributed large funds to enable the Catholics to build and restore their churches; he

requested the vice-superior to take up his permanent abode in the royal residence of Amsterdam, and ad- mitted some Catholics to the higher government offices. He even intended to have Amsterdam se- lected as an archiepiscopal see, but the constant oppo- sition of his brother. Emperor Napoleon, obliged him to abdicate in 1810. Under the direct reign of Napo- leon from 1810-1813 the Catholics of the old diocese shared to a great extent in the financial losses caused by his commercial policy (Continental blockade) and his financial operations (lier(age), but with regard to religion they were left in peace. The Archpriest of Holland and Zeeland, who under the vice-superior in Amsterdam directed the affairs of the mission in these provinces, repeatedly obtained from the minister of worship exemption from military service for the theological students of Warmond.

The reign of King William I (1815-1840) was not favourable to the Catholics. Although the con- stitution of 1815 granted them equal rights with the Protestants, the kmg listened too much to counsellors who grudged the Catholics the enjoyment of this lib- erty. In 1817 a preparatory seminary, called Hageveld and destined for the education of the future aspirants to the priesthood in Holland and Zeeland, was opened near Velsen. In 1847 it was transferred to Voorhout near Leyden, and though, of course, much enlarged, still serves for the same purpose. Though much admired as a seat of virtue and learning, William ordered it to be closed, in 1825, because he wished to force on the future priests the unclerical education of his Philosophical College at Louvain. He akso con- tinued to exclude the Catholics completely from offi- cial positions. In 1827 he concluded a concordat with Leo XII, by which Amsterdam was again selected as one of the two episcopal sees of Northern Nether- lands, but this was never put into execution, mainly in consequence of the subsequent revolt of Belgium. His successor, the generous William II (1840-1849), was much more favourably inclined towards the Catholics; yet intolerance was too powerful to allow even this liberal-minded monarch to put the con- cordat into execution. However, in 1848 a revision of the constitution in a liberal sense w-as taken in hand, and this was destined to advance rapidly the influence of the Catholics, as was proved in the same year by the arrival of the newly-appoint«d vice- superior, Monsignor Belgrado, at The Hague as the first permanent papal legate to William II. In the follow- mg years several addresses were sent to Rome, re- questing the pope to restore to the Catholics of the Netherlands episcopal government, as necessary for their spiritual and social development and not opposed by any laws of the State.

The New Diocese.— On 4 March, 1853, Pius IX acceded to the fervent wishes of the numerous Dutch Catholics, and by his Brief "Ex qua die arcano" re- stored the ecclesiastical hierarchy to the Netherlands. For the sake of tradition Utrecht was again maile an archdiocese, but the Diocese of Haarlem was now made much larger than in 1559, the whole of South Holland and the islands of the Province of Zeeland being added to it. It numbered then 199 churches and chapels, served by 317 priests, secular and regular, whilst the laity were reckoned at 259,577 souls. The following bishops have since occupied the See of Haar- lem: (1) F. J. van Vree (1853-1861), a man of exceji- tional organizing talents. In the seven years of his episcopate he erected a chapter, circumscribed the boundaries of the parishes, some of which were as- signed to regulars, drew up regulations for vestry- men and guardians of the Catholic poor, took special care of neglected children and fallen women, and prepared a catechism for use in his diocese. (2) G. P. Wilmer (1861-1877). In 1867 he called together a diocesan synod, the first after three centuries, in which the provisional settlement of the diocese as