The Roman Catholic Diocese of Roermond is a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of the

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, located in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The diocese is one of the seven suffragan dioceses in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

of the Metropolitan

Archbishop of Utrecht List of bishops and archbishops of the diocese and archdioceses of Utrecht. Medieval diocese from 695 to 1580 Founders of the Utrecht diocese * * * * * Bishops * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

. The territory of the diocese covers the Province of Limburg. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

episcopal see is the Cathedral of St. Christopher in Roermond. Its main

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

sites are 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 1801.07.15 it lost territory to establish the

Apostolic Vicariate of Grave–Nijmegen The Apostolic Vicariate of Grave–Nijmegen was a short-lived (1801 - 1851) pre-diocesan Latin Catholic jurisdiction in southern parts of the present Netherlands (in North Brabant viz. Gelderland). History Established on 22 March 1803 as Apost ...

, on 1801.11.29 the diocese was suppressed, its territory being divided between the above vicariate and to establish the (German) Diocese of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle). It was re-established in 1840 by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

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 Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

. During the sixties of the twentieth century, the relatively strong

demarcation Demarcation is the act of creating a boundary around a place or thing. Demarcation may also refer to: *Demarcation line, a temporary border between the countries *Demarcation problem, the question of which practices of doing science permit the re ...

between the Catholic south on one side and the

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

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.

Statistics and population

The diocese has roughly 817,000 registered

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

s (about 72.3% of the population of Limburg). Roughly 3 percent of the population in the Diocese Roermond attends

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

on Sundays (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

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 Ietsism ( nl, ietsisme () – "somethingism") is an unspecified belief in an undetermined transcendent reality. It is a Dutch term for a range of beliefs held by people who, on the one hand, inwardly suspect – or indeed believe &ndash ...

agnostic theist Agnostic theism, agnostotheism, or agnostitheism is the philosophical view that encompasses both theism and agnosticism. An agnostic theist believes in the existence of one or more gods, but regards the basis of this proposition as ''unknown or in ...

and 17% as

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

.God in the Netherlands' (1996-2006), by Ronald Meester, G. Dekker,

Episcopal Ordinaries

;''Suffragan Bishops (first diocese) * Willem Damasus Van der Lindt (1562–1588) *

Hendrik van Cuyk Hendrik van Cuyk or Henricus Cuyckius (1546–1609) was the second bishop of Roermond from 1596 until his death in 1609.J.-J. Thonissen, "Cuyck, Henri van", ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique''vol. 4(Brussels, 1873), 601–605. Life Cuyk was born i ...

(1596–1609) *

Jacobus a Castro Jacob van der Borgh, ( Latinized: Jacobus a Castro; 1560 – 1639) was the third bishop of Roermond, in the Netherlands. Life Jacobus a Castro was born in Amsterdam in 1560, the son of Gerard Pietersz. van der Borgh and Anna Janssen du Bois. He ...

(1611–1639) *

Andreas Creusen Andreas Creusen (1591–1666) was a Dutch Catholic clergyman who became bishop of Roermond (1651–1657) and Archbishop of Mechelen (1657–1666). Biography Creusen was born in Maastricht and studied at the Latin school and the Jesuit college o ...

(1651–1657) * Eugène, Count d'Allamont (1659–1666) *

Lancelot de Gottignies Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...

(1670–1673) * Reginald Cools, O.P. (1677–1700) * Angèle, Count d'Ongnies et d'Estrees, O.F.M. Cap. (1701–1722) *

François-Louis Sanguessa François-Louis or François Louis may refer to: *François Louis, Prince of Conti (1664–1709), French nobleman *François Louis, Count of Harcourt (1623–1694) French nobleman *François Louis, inventor of the aulochrome, a musical instrument P ...

, O.F.M. (1722–1741) * Jan-Baptist de Castillion (1742-1743) * Joseph Anselme François Werbrouck (1743–1746) *

Jean-Antoine de Robiano Jean Antoine is a French given name. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Antoine Alavoine (1778–1834), French architect * Jean Antoine de Baïf (1532–1589), French poet * Jean-Antoine Carrel (1829–1891), Italian mountain climber * ...

(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 A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Hirina Hirina (Hirena) was a city and bishopric in southern Tunisia, known only through ecclesiastical records, which became a Latin titular bishopric. Nothing is known of the city, the name of which may have been Hirina, Hiren or Iren., except that it ...

(1840.12.18 – 1853.03.04) ;''Suffragan Bishops (present diocese) *

Jan Augustus Paredis Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

(''see above'' 1853.03.04 – death 1886.06.18) *

Frans Boermans Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is ''Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diplomat ...

(1886–1900) * Jozesh Hubertus Drehmans (1900–1913) *

Lorenz Schrijnen Lorenz is an originally German name derived from the Roman surname Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum". Given name People with the given name Lorenz include: * Prince Lorenz of Belgium (born 1955), member of the Belgian royal family by h ...

(1914–1932) *

Jozef Hubertus Willem Lemmens Jozef or Józef is a Dutch, Breton, Polish and Slovak version of masculine given name Joseph. A selection of people with that name follows. For a comprehensive list see and .. * Józef Beck (1894–1944), Polish foreign minister in the 1930s * J ...

(1932–1958) *

Jan Michiel Jozef Antoon Hanssen Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numbe ...

(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-) * Hendrikus Smeets (2018–present)

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org - data for all sections

Website of the diocese of Roermond

-

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

article * Wikipedia page in Dutch about the cathedral {{DEFAULTSORT:Roermond, Roman Catholic diocese Roman Catholic dioceses in the Netherlands Roman Catholic dioceses established in the 16th century Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century Culture of Limburg

History

Statistics and population

Episcopal Ordinaries

See also

References

Sources and external links