Faced with controversy in his diocese, Bishop Gerard de Korte of ’s-Hertogenbosch has reluctantly withdrawn permission for his cathedral to host an ecumenical prayer service as part of the Dutch Gay Pride events. The event took place instead in the city's main Protestant church on 24 June.
"A Pink Saturday service seems for a number of believers and priests to still be a bridge too far," he told Dutch Radio. "I tried to explain that gays and lesbians are all creatures of God and that I do not bless all relationships, but I did not succeed. This feels like a kind of failure."
De Korte raised eyebrows in early June by announcing in his Pentecost letter that he had agreed with the pastoral team of St John's Cathedral to hold the service there as long as nothing said contradicted the teaching of the Catholic Church. He was also due to attend the ceremony.
In a second letter, de Korte said many parishioners’ religious feelings had been offended by the plan. Dutch Catholics live in a secular culture that has different ideas about sexuality, which often leads to misunderstanding and even anger, he wrote.
"As a bishop, I will keep looking for a proper form of dialogue, both internally and externally, no matter how difficult and thankless that may often be. People of any orientation should always find in our Catholic community kindness, security and friendship.”
De Korte said he had received critical calls and emails daily after his initial letter. Several dozen of the diocese's 200 priests had also protested, he said.
The cathedral's parish priest took part in the service but de Korte did not attend. Erica Scheenstra, pastor of the Protestant church that hosted the ceremony, said: "This is disappointing ... I would decide differently, but I'm a Protestant and not a bishop, so I respect his choice.”
PICTURE: The Dutch city of Utrecht turned pink during the celebration of the first 'Canal Pride' in the city on 17 June
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