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A few days before the abdication of Queen Beatrix and the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, Pope Francis has sent the royal couple his best wishes and assures them of his prayers fo them and their family. This was announced today by the Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam, which will host a special inauguration Mass on Sunday in Amsterdam’s Basilica of St. Nicholas. The Holy Father has also expressed his closeness to the faithful at that Mass.
A major celebration, the Mass will feature Mozart’s “Krönungsmesse” and Handel’s “Alleluia”, performed by the Capella Nicolai of the basilica and the Bavo choir of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Bavo in Haarlem.
“Sold out” within hours, the Mass will be open to some 600 faithful, including several politicians, military officials and the Queen’s Commissioner for the province of Zuid-Holland. The royal house will be represented by the Grand Mistress of Her Majesty the Queen. Church representations come in the form of Cardinal Simonis and Nuncio Archbishop Dupuy, as well as representatives of the Orders of Malta and the Holy Sepulchre.
The Mass will be broadcast live on Dutch public television.
Photo credit: The future King and Queen with Pope Francis shortly after his election/Reuters.
Next Saturday’s consecration of Msgr. Jan Hendriks as auxiliary bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam will be one of the two final achievements of our current nuncio. Having reached the age of 75 in September, Archbishop François Bacqué will soon have his resignation accepted, and the Dutch Church and state may get ready for a new official papal representative. The only other appointment prepared under his guidance is that of Breda’s Bishop Liesen, whose installation will take place on 28 January.
Nuncio Bacqué with Emeritus Auxiliary Bishop Jan Van Burgsteden and Bishop Jos Punt
The general impression of Saturday’s ceremony, then, is that of a farewell to the nuncio, an impression further strengthened by his reception by the bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam a week ago. There, Bishop Punt made a point of expressing his appreciation for Archbishop Bacqué’s work for the Dutch Church.
And that is quite a body of work. Perhaps the most visible job of a papal nuncio is preparing the appointment of new bishops. The nuncio not only announces new appointments, but also works with diocesan clergy, the bishops’ conference, the Congregation for Bishops in Rome and ultimately the pope in making the right choice. The nuncio has a key role in investigating the priests nominated as possible new bishops and forwards his conclusions to Rome, where the Holy Father ultimately makes the decision.
Archbishop Bacqué was appointed as Papal Nuncio to the Netherlands on 27 February 2001, the 11th papal representative in an unbroken line since the future Cardinal Tacci Porcelli arrived on these shores in 1911. Only one of the nine men between these two had a longer time here: the wartime nuncio Paolo Giobbe (1935-1959). In the 11 years that Archbishop Bacqué represented the Holy See and Father here, he has been responsible for no less than twelve appointments, listed below:
- 11 April 2001: Gerard de Korte as Auxiliary Bishop of Utrecht and Titular Bishop of Caesarea in Mauretania
- 21 July 2001: Jos Punt as Bishop of Haarlem
- 9 September 2006: Hans van den Hende as Coadjutor Bishop of Breda
- 11 December 2007: Wim Eijk as Archbishop of Utrecht
- 18 June 2008: Gerard de Korte as Bishop of Groningen-Leeuwarden
- 7 December 2009: Theodorus Hoogenboom as Auxiliary Bishop of Utrecht and Titular Bishop of Bistue
- 7 December 2009: Herman Woorts as Auxiliary Bishop of Utrecht and Titular Bishop of Giufi Salaria
- 15 July 2010: Jan Liesen as Auxiliary Bishop of ‘s Hertogenbosch and Titular Bishop of Tunnuna
- 15 July 2010: Rob Mutsaerts as Auxiliary Bishop of ‘s Hertogenbosch and Titular Bishop of Uccula
- 10 May 2011: Hans van den Hende as Bishop of Rotterdam
- 25 October 2011: Jan Hendriks as Auxiliary Bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam and Titular Bishop of Arsacal
- 26 November 2011: Jan Liesen as Bishop of Breda
Archbishop Bacqué holds up the papal bull that appointed Bishop van den Hende to Rotterdam
Saturday’s consecration will certainly be the last one resulting from Archbishop Bacqué’s work, and that body of work will leave a lasting impression on the Dutch Church. The current episcopate in the Netherlands is young and has been almost completely overhauled in the past decade. We may yet be surprised by future developments, but the time of new appointments will be over for the foreseeable future. For now, most dioceses are led by bishops appointed following Archbishop Bacqué’s advice. The only exceptions are the ordinaries of ‘s Hertogenbosch and Roermond, Bishops Antoon Hurkmans and Frans Wiertz, and the latter diocese’s auxiliary, Bishop Everard de Jong.
Archbishop Bacqué’s work here will finally be recognised in part by the presence of all Dutch bishops (barring one or two emeriti), the rectors of several seminaries, the abbot of St. Adalbert Abbey, Syrian Orthodox Archbishop Polycarp, representatives of the Order of Malta and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, and, on behalf of the government, defence secretary Hans Hillen, at the coming consecration of Msgr. Hendriks.
Photo credits:
[1] Bisdom Haarlem-Amsterdam
[2] Bisdom Rotterdam
Members of a ceremonial civic guard guild arrive at the church of St. James the Greater in The Hague
I wrote earlier that the Dutch bishops’ delegation to the beatification was a bit slim – only Cardinal Simonis was in Rome, while the other bishops concelebrated a Mass to mark the sixth anniversary of the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Now I understand that sometimes things are planned in advance, before other major events are scheduled elsewhere, and no one is to blame, of course, of the date that the pope was elected. So the fact that bishops have prior engagements is only understandable. Add to that the fact that I was not completely correct in saying that all the other bishops would be in The Hague for said Mass – Bishop de Korte and Bishop Woorts were in Lourdes, the former in his function as honorary chaplain of the Order of Malta, and the latter with a group of pilgrims from the archdiocese.
Be that is as all may, Bishop Ad van Luyn, Apostolic Administrator of Rotterdam, managed to combine both events into a homily (English translation here) which focusses on the personal encounter and relationship with Christ as the right way towards the true meaning and destiny of our human existence. He extensively uses the two parts of Pope Benedict’s ‘Jesus of Nazareth’, as well as his encyclical Deus Caritas Est and Blessed John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte.
Archbishop Bacqué, the Apostolic Nuncio, reveals a street sign that temporarily changes the name of the square in front of the church to 'Pope John Paul II Square'
Photo credit: Peter van Mulken
