Minjae Doe

Fr. Poels and the Origins of Modernism in the Netherlands

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Black-and-white portrait of a middle-aged man wearing clerical clothing, looking at the camera.

Towards the end of Leo XIII’s pontificate, the errors of modernism started to pose a danger to the Catholic Church. Particularly at academic institutions such as the Institut Catholique in Paris and the Catholic University of Leuven, the field of exegesis was compromised by the errors of historical criticism. In the Netherlands, … Read more

The Affections and Tensions between Pius IX and the Dutch Episcopate

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The Affections and Tensions between Pius IX and the Dutch Episcopate

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Catholic Church in the Netherlands experienced a revival that was at least on par with France and perhaps stronger than anywhere else in the world. At that time, the Dutch Bishops had the reputation of being Ultramontane, even though they avoided controversies and … Read more

The Rise and Fall of Liberal Catholicism in the Netherlands

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The Rise and Fall of Liberal Catholicism in the Netherlands

Before Pius IX had restored the episcopal hierarchy in 1853 with the papal bull Ex Qua Die (1853), Catholics in the Netherlands were forbidden by law to publicly manifest their Faith. The Church was reduced to scattered groups, which would secretly gather for Mass celebrated by fugitive priests inside sheds, attics and … Read more