Jozef Marianus "Jos" Punt (born 10 January 1946) was the

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 ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of Haarlem-Amsterdam 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 ...

from 2001 to 2020.

Early life

Joseph Marianus Punt was born on 10 January 1946 in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

. In his years as a student of

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Punt distanced himself from the Catholic religion of his youth and was more involved in

esotericism Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people ...

and

Rosicrucianism Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking its ...

. Upon discovering the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

however, he began considering a career in the priesthood. He went to the south of the country where at the time there existed the only Catholic Dutch Seminary. In 1973 he obtained a doctoral degree in economics from the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

Roman Catholic Church

In 1979 he became a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

, ordained by

Bishop of Roermond The Roman Catholic Diocese of Roermond 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 Roman Catholic Archd ...

Joannes Gijsen Joannes Baptist Matthijs Gijsen (October 7, 1932 – June 24, 2013) was a Dutch bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. After being Bishop ( emeritus) of Roermond, Limburg, the Netherlands, he became Bishop ( emeritus) of the Diocese of Reykjavík ...

. In the Seminary he taught the Social Teachings of the Church, and he got also his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in that field from

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Pope John Paul II appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Haarlem 1995; he was ordained by the local ordinary, bishop

Henny Bomers Henny is a Scandinavian and Dutch male and female first name, nickname and surname. It may refer to: Female given name * Henny Backus (1911–2004), Broadway showgirl in the 1930s * Henny Lindorff Buckhøj (1902–1979), Danish film actress * Hen ...

. Punt was also appointed as apostolic administrator for the

Military Ordinariate A military ordinariate is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church, of the Latin or an Eastern church, responsible for the pastoral care of Catholics serving in the armed forces of a nation. Until 1986, they were called "military v ...

. In 1998 Bomers died suddenly after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. Punt was appointed

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

. On 21 July 2001 he was appointed bishop of Haarlem. He was assisted by auxiliary bishop

Johannes Gerardus Maria Hendriks Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...

, who was appointed coadjutor bishop in December 2018 and succeeded him as bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam in 1 June 2020. Punt was the 13th bishop of the diocese, which was established in 1559. Due to the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

there was no bishop in Haarlem, or the

, for 300 years, until 1853.

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

accepted his resignation on 1 June 2020. He had previously announced he hoped to retire before the usual age of 75 for health reasons.

Religious views

Bishop Punt has indicated a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary because he took as his motto ''Sub tuum praesidium'', the opening phrase of a Marian hymn. He supports a proposal of the Lourdes Foundation of Amstel to construct a pilgrimage church modeled on

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

to be built in honor of ''Maria Vrouwe van Alle Volkeren''."Bishop Jos Punt wants a monumental pilgrimage church in Amsterdam", Kirknet. May 26, 2016
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References

External links

Bisdominformatie
at the website of Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam
De huidige bisschop: mgr. Punt
at the website of Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam
Bishop Joseph Maria Punt
at the website

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punt, Jos 1946 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Netherlands 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Netherlands People from Alkmaar Roman Catholic bishops of Haarlem-Amsterdam University of Augsburg alumni