Cardinal dismisses petition against church closure plan

­Cardinal Willem Eijk has said a group that assembled 12,000 signatures on a petition against his plan to close many underused churches and consolidate parishes is “not a serious interlocutor” for the hierarchy, writes Tom Heneghan.

The cardinal, who is Archbishop of Utrecht and president of the Dutch bishops’ conference, says two-thirds of the country’s current churches will have to shut by 2025 because of falling attendance, income and vocations.

His critics, who the cardinal says wilfully misrepresent his views, claim his plan for Utrecht Archdiocese will close 300 churches and leave only 20 central churches for worship. They urge him to let lay people take over churches to keep them functioning. “We are concerned with the proclamation of the person of Jesus Christ. For this, a church building is not necessarily essential,” Eijk said on local television.