In the presence of royalty, a bishop says goodbye

Bishop van Luyn at the start of his final Mass as ordinary of Rotterdam.

In the presence of HRH Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima, hundreds of faithful, and dozens of priests and bishops, Bishop Adrianus van Luyn bade farewell to the diocese which he headed for more than 17 years. The retiring bishop did so with a Mass at the cathedral of Sts. Lawrence and Elisabeth in Rotterdam. The crown prince and his wife, who reside within the Diocese of Rotterdam, were not the only dignitaries present today. The Queen’s Commissioner for Zuid-Holland, Mr. Jan Franssen, mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb, former Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers and Secretary for the Interior Piet Hein Donner were also in attendance – an indication of the connections that Bishop van Luyn made in this most urbanised of Dutch dioceses.

The emeritus bishop’s homily, katholieknederland.nl reports, extensively referred to papal encyclicals and his motto: Collabora Evangelio, which comes from the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy: “So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to our Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but share in my hardships for the sake of the gospel” (1:8). He also made mention several times of the witness of Rotterdam’s patron, Saint Lawrence.

I hope to be able to read and translate the homily for this blog, but I have as yet been unable to find it online.

After this official farewell, Bishop van Luyn literally leaves Rotterdam behind him. He will be relocating to a Salesian centre in Bonn, Germany, where he is to continue his work with young people, which played such a prominent part in his time in Rotterdam, especially the homeless. Msgr. van Luyn will stay on as president of COMECE, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community, until the end of March 2012. Likewise, he will also remain chairman of the Dutch Bishop’s Conference until after the installation of his successor, Msgr. van den Hende, as bishop of Rotterdam, when the bishops will elect a new chairman.

With vicar general, Fr. Dick Verbakel, at his side, Bishop van Luyn shakes hands with HRH Princess Máxima. The crown prince at the far left.

Photo credit: Christian van der Heijden