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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, MAY 31, 1985
PAGE 11
LUBBERS: The mere fact that Rome tells us Dutchmen something is
enough forus�respondnegatlVely. ITthe pope said tomorrow
chat every Outen priest should marry, even that would bring an
outcry of disgust. We Dutch are just very independent minded.
It has nothing to do with chauvinist feelings, but the Dutch hate
anybody telling them what to do. When OPEC put pressure on Eu
rope, it was assuiii"e<rwe'"'"'woufaail give in. The Dutch were the ex
ception. We didn't want to be pushed around••••
Q. Vatican officials say that Holland is a prosperous nation in
danger of losing its soul:--lS"o you agree?-
A. No. In Holland criticism sometimes reflects struggles within
the church. Rome has to admit that.
At the Hague, Mr. Lubbers, who is Catholic, improvised on his prepared
statement to tell the Pope, "In Holland, we are tolerant toward people who
are diff erent or who think diff erently." The clear message was that the
Pope was not. "To be quite frank," Lubbers added, "simply the word Rome
makes some. people uneasy, if not downright suspicious."
A further insight into the controversy generated by the papal trip to the
Netherlands appe�red in the May 23 NEW YORK TIMES:
Two themes emerged clearly in conversations with Vatican off i
cials during the Pope's journey. The first was that one of the
biggest problems the Pope sees with liberal Dutch Catholics is
their failure to use the same moral yardsticks as Rome. "Others
are at least willing to acknowledge that they're sinners," said
one
nigli-ranking Vatican official. "The Dutch � not."
The second is that the Pope understands that one of the prices he
wi 11 pay for his outspoken public reassertion of traditi onal
values is outspoken public opposition. "He can accept that,"
said another Vatican official, adding that this did not imply
that the Pope is willing to change his views. This has important
implicati ons for the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops the Pope
called for this November to re-examine the results of the Second
Vatican Council•••• The Pope has always called himself a strong
advocate of Vatican II. But in an address to Belgian Bishops on
Saturday, the Pope made clear that he shares the misgivings of
many conservatives who believe that liberals have pushed the
"spirit of the Council" too far••••
The Pope sees one of the tasks of this November's meeting as
rooting out certain "secular"--some would say liberal--ideas that
have grown up inside the Church since the time of the Council in
the early 1960s. Such Catholics in the Netherlands and Belgium
say that the Church can update its views on many matters without
losing its Christian or specifically Catholic identity.
The
Pope, however, has said many times that this process can amount
to nothing more than "calling good, evil; and evil, good."
On his arrival in Rome on Monday, in advance of his elevation to
Cardinal Saturday, Archbishop John J. O'Connor of New York said