The cathedral church of St. Catherine is to remain the seat of the archbishop of Utrecht. After several months in which the local parish explored possibilities and eventually concrete steps towards secularisation and sale of the mediaval church, the archbishop, Cardinal Willem Eijk, has now requested that that process be stopped and keep the cathedral open.
In a statement released by the parish today, it is acknowledged that the plan for secularisation and sale, within the context of a larger building plan, was “understandable and also well though-out.” Were there no other mitigating circumstances, that would be enough for the archbishop to decree the secularisation and sale of the church. But the concerns and complaints which arose after it became known that the parish was planning to close the cathedral played their part and were reason for Cardinal Eijk to decide against it. The “more than regional import of the cathedral for the whole of the Netherlands, as metropolitan seat” was a deciding factor.
This decision is in line with Cardinal Eijk’s policy of handling requests from parishes to secularise church buildings. He never takes that initiative, but only considers requests, and when those are well supported and necessary for the future (financial) wellbeing of the parish, he usually agrees with what the parish has concluded is the right of action. In this case, the protests were serious enough for him to decide against secularisation. The depiction of Cardinal Eijk as a prelate ordering the closing of churches across his archdiocese is nonsense, then.
This does leave the parish council with financial concerns, however. They had come to the conclusion that the cathedral had to go because they were unable to maintain two church buildings. They now need to find other forms of income. Cardinal Eijk sees this as reason to achieve a fast-track merger of the three city parishes of St. Salvator, St. Ludger and St. Martin. The parish council is also seeking increased cooperation with the adjacent Catherijneconvent museum to allow for improved public access and furhter integration of the cathedral in the monastic complex owned by the museum (the cathedral was originally the monastery church). There had been rumours that the cathedral would be sold to the museum for a symbolic sum.
In 2014, Pope Francis 
It must be added that no decision to actually secularise and sell the cathedral of St. Catherine has yet been made. But the parish council has seemingly announced its plan to ask the archdiocese to allow the secularisation and sale of the ancient church, in order to solve the financial dire straits the parish, which encompasses all of the inner city of Utrecht, finds itself in. The final decision lies with the archbishop, Cardinal Willem Eijk, who usually agrees with such requests if the parish’s reasoning is sound. In this context, before anyone accuses the cardinal of willfully closing churches, even his own cathedral, it must be recalled that the archdiocese does not own her churches: the parish usually does, and they must finance the upkeep of sometimes ancient and monumental buildings in a time of decreasing church attendance and financial support from faithful.
As announced by the Nuncio yesterday, the retirement of Bishop Friedhelm Hofmann will begin today. The bishop of Würzburg, who celebrated his 75th birthday in May, has been at the helm of the diocese for 13 years.
Würzburg is the second diocese, after Hildesheim, to fall vacant after a brief spell in which every German diocese had a bishop at its head. When the retirement of Bishop Hofmann begins, at noon today, auxiliary bishop Ulrich Boom will be in charge until the cathedral chapter has chosen an administrator to oversee current affairs until a new bishop has been appointed. Würzburg is the northernmost diocese in Bavaria and a part of the Church province of Bamberg.
Tomorrow, Pope Francis will create his fourth batch of cardinals. A small group of five this time (the smallest since Blessed Paul VI’s creation of four cardinals in 1977), but one unique in its variety, both in the places the new cardinals call home and in their hierarchical positions among the world’s bishops: One is an archbishop of a major metropolitan see, the other an auxiliary bishop; one runs a diocese covering an entire country, the other a sparsely-populated stretch of mountains and jungle, while another resides in a mostly Muslim society.
This consistory, like others before it, comes with its own developments. This time, it is Archbishop Jean Zerbo of Bamako, Mali, who is at the centre of attention. Yesterday, the news 
On Thursday, the traditional first Mass of the new cardinals with the Pope will be combined with the Mass for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, after which the pallia for the past year’s new metropolitan archbishops will be distributed. Under Pope Francis’ new rules, the actual imposition of the pallia will take place in the archbishops home dioceses. It is not mandatory for the new archbishops to attend and collect their pallia themselves, but it is expected that most of this year’s 34 will do so.
Pope Francis at work
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In Caelo et in Terra 