Five Brothers and a War

Religion in Holland

While Holland was a religious country at the beginning of the 20 th Century, it rapidly became one of the most secular countries, beginning after World War II and gaining speed until about 1960. Even within the Catholic Church, Holland has been considered to be renegade by the Vatican. Recently, the Dutch Catholic Church convinced the pope not to visit Holland, because a reasonable turnout among the country’s “parishioners” could not be guaranteed, and the visit could become a huge embarrassment. Dutch church leaders have long been considered to be radical in their liberalism, and have clashed frequently with those in upper church governance. In the beginning of the 20 th Century, Holland was 60% Protestant and 40% Catholic.

Catholic 40%

Protestant 60%

By 1947, 44% were Protestant and 39% were Catholic. The balance of 17% were non religious.

holland

Catholic 39%

Protestant 44%

Non Religious 17%

Today, Holland is 24% Catholic, 15% Protestant, 6% Muslim, 1% Buddhist and 1% Hindu. Of the Catholics, only 27% actually believe Catholic doctrine, while 55% are iets -ists (from the Dutch word iets , meaning something—as in, “I don’t believe the Church, but there must be something,” and the rest are agnostic.

Five Brothers and a War

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