Archdiocese of Utrecht

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Situated in theNetherlands, includes the Provinces ofUtrecht, Friesland, Overyssel, Drenthe, Groningen, the larger part of Gelderland, and a small part of NorthHolland. In 1911 the archdiocese contained 17 deaneries, 282parishes, 578secular priests, 390churches andchapels, and 383,000Catholics. Thecathedral chapter consists of aprovost and 8 canons; the Government has no part in thenomination of thearchbishop. Thearchiepiscopalseminary is divided into two sections: one at Driebergen with five professors, the other at Culenberg with twelve. Thereligious orders and congregations are: Augustinians,Carmelites,Capuchins,Dominicans,Franciscans,Trappists,Redemptorists, Brothers of Mercy, Brothers of Our Lady of the Sacred heart, andBrothers of St. John of God, with altogether 15 houses; Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, Tertiaries of St. Francis, Tertiaries ofSt. Dominic, Sisters of Konigsbusch, Sisters of the Society of Jesus ofBois-le-Duc,Sisters of St. Joseph,Benedictine Nuns of the Perpetual Adoration,Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo, Sisters of the Good Shepherd,Carmelite Nuns of the Strict Observance, Daughters of Mary and Joseph, Sorores Matris Boni Succursus, Poor Sisters of the Child Jesus, Poor School Sisters,Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, andUrsuline Nuns; altogether about 80 houses. The principal church of thediocese is theCathedral of St. Catherine, built in theGothic style in 1524; the formerCatholicCathedral of St. Martin, built 1251-67 inGothic style, now belongs to theschismaticJansenists.

The founding of the Diocese of Utrecht dates back to theFrankish era. In 695St. Willibrord wasconsecrated atRomeBishop of the Frisians. Towards the close of the seventh century, with the consent of theFrankish king, he settled at the market-town ofUtrecht and built two churches there, theChurch of Our Saviour, and that of St. Martin. The conversion of the Frisians toChristianity, though, progressed very slowly. After Willibrord's deathSt. Boniface repeatedly gave his attention to theChurch ofUtrecht without, however, being itsbishop. Under the guidance of his friend St. Gregory, theschool founded bySt. Willibrord became a noted centre ofChristianeducation for the northern part of theFrankish kingdom. During the early years of its existence the diocese suffered greatly from the incursions of theheathen Frisians, and in the ninth and tenth centuries from the plundering expeditions of the Normans, who traversed the territory robbing and burning as they went. Better times appeared during the supremacy of the Saxon emperors, who esteemed the Bishops ofUtrecht highly, and frequently summoned them to attend the imperial councils and diets. Through the grants of land and privileges bestowed by these emperors the Bishops ofUtrecht became secular princes, and were among the most powerfulfeudal lords of the northwestern part of the empire. In this way, like the other Germanbishops, they became involved in the quarrels of the emperors andpopes. Bishop William (1057-76) was an unswerving partisan of theEmperor Henry IV during the Strife of Investitures. He took part in the synod of Worms which pronounced the deposition of Pope Gregory VII, and signed thedecree of deposition directly after theArchbishop ofMainz. His successor Konrad (1078-99) was also azealous adherent of the emperor. The Concordat of Worms (1122) annulled the emperor's right of investiture, and thecathedral chapter received theright to the free election of thebishop. It was, however, soon obligated to share this right with the four other collegiate chapters which existed in the city ofUtrecht. The Counts ofHolland and Geldern, between whose territories the lands of the Bishops ofUtrecht lay, also sought to acquire influence over the filling of theepiscopal see. This often led to disputes at the election of thebishops, and it was but seldom that capable and worthy men gained theSee of St. Willibrord. Consequently theHoly See frequently interfered in the election, and after the middle of the fourteenth century repeatedly appointed thebishop directly without regard to the five chapters.

TheGreat Schism of the West in the latter quarter of the fourteenth century also affected the Diocese of Utrecht. Bishop Arnold II of Horn (1371-78) was opposed by a rivalbishop, Floris of Wevelinkhofen (1378-93). The latter was generally recognized when Arnold, in return for a large sum of money, renounced his claims to Utrecht, and was raised to theSee of Liège. During the episcopate of Floris, Gerhard Groote, who traversed the diocese as a preacher of repentance, was very successful in his efforts to bring about reforms. Floris was succeeded by one of the bestbishops ofUtrecht, Frederick of Blankenheim (1392-1423). Frederick's excellent administration was followed by aschism that lasted twenty-five years.Pope Martin V would not recognize Rudolph of Diepholz (1423-55), who had been elected by the chapters, and appointed Rabanus,Bishop ofSpeyer, asbishop, and, after his resignation, thecathedralprovost ofUtrecht, Zweder of Culenberg. After Zweder's death in 1433 his brother, Walraf of Mors, was appointedbishop byPope Eugene IV. As the neighbouring secular rulers took part in the quarrel over thediocese, the country suffered terribly until the general recognition of Rudolph put an end to theschism. After his death the chapters elected Gijsbrecht of Brederode, but Philip ofBurgundy was able to obtain atRome the appointment of hisillegitimate son David. During the entire period of his episcopate David (1457-94) maintained himself with difficulty against his enemies, namely theknights of thediocese and the city ofUtrecht. He was succeeded by Frederick of Baden (1496-1516) a protégé of Maximilian ofAustria, and Philip ofBurgundy (1518-24), who did much for the encouragement of art and to improve church discipline. Henry ofBavaria (1524-28) who was alsoBishop of Freising and Worms, resigned thesee in 1528 with the consent of the chapter, and transferred hissecular authority toCharles V, who was also Duke of Brabant and Count ofHolland. Thus Utrecht came under the sovereignty of the Hapsburgs; the chaptersvoluntarily transferred their right of electing thebishop toCharles V, andPope Clement VII gave his consent to the proceeding. The firstbishop appointed by Charles, Cardinal William Enckevorst, died in 1533 without having ever entered hisdiocese.

In 1550 at the instance of Philip II, the church organization of theNetherlands was entirely changed by forming newdioceses and reorganizing the old ones. Utrecht was taken from Cologne, of which it had been a suffragan, and raised to the rank of an archdiocese andmetropolitansee. Its suffragandioceses were Haarlem,Bois-le-Duc, Middleburg, Deventer, Leeuwarden, and Groningen. But the newecclesiastical province had not a long existence. During the administration of the firstarchbishop, Frederick Schenk of Toutenberg (1561-80),Calvinism spread rapidly, especially among the nobility, who viewed with disfavour the endowment of the newbishoprics with the ancient and wealthyabbeys. When the northern provinces of theNetherlands revolted, the archdiocese fell, with the overthrow of the Spanish power. As early as 1573, under the supremacy of theCalvinists, the public exercise of theCatholicfaith was forbidden. Proof of thepersecution which theCatholics suffered is given by the death of the nineteenmartyrs of Gorkum. The two successors appointed bySpain did not receive canonical confirmation, neither could they enter their diocese on account of the opposition of the States-General. From the end of the sixteenth century their place was taken byvicars Apostolic for the UnitedNetherlands, who, however, were generally driven from the country by the States-General and forced to administer their charge from abroad. Although, in addition to this, there was a great lack ofpriests, still a very large part of the population of theNetherlands remained loyal to theCatholic religion. Among thesevicars Apostolic, who were generally made titulararchbishops, was John of Neercassel (1662-86), a friend of theJansenists Arnold andQuesnel, who had fled fromFrance and was inclined toJansenism himself. His successor, Petrus Cobde (1688-1704), was suspended in 1702 byClement XI on account of hisJansenistic opinions and his stubborn opposition to thepapal see, and in 1704 thepope deposed him. Thecathedral chapter ofUtrecht, though, illegally elected first avicar-general (1706), then in 1723 with the approval of the States-General chose theparishpriest ofUtrecht, Cornelius Steenhoven, asarchbishop. Steenhoven wasexcommunicated byPope Benedict XIII. This was the origin of theJansenistic Church ofUtrecht, which, however, was joined by only a very small part of theCatholicclergy andlaity, although the state favoured it entirely. As the pro-vicars appointed by thepope were not permitted by the Government to enter the country, both theCatholicChurch ofUtrecht and that of the entireNetherlands was administered until theFrench Revolution bypapal internuncios of Cologne andBrussels.

Owing to the occupation ofHolland by the French in 1795, theCatholics obtained somewhat more freedom. Still, there was no proper organization of church affairs, not even after the uniting of theNetherlands withBelgium by the Congress ofVienna in 1815. The concordat made with thepope in 1827 was not carried out. In 1833 a vicar for theNetherlands was appointed once more. The Constitutions of 1848 granted theCatholics at last complete parity with the other confessions, and gave the church authorities almost unlimited freedom in purely religious matters and in the administration of theproperty of the Church. Thepope could now plan the restoration of theecclesiastical hierarchy in theNetherlands. After long negotiations the most essential regulations of the Concordat of 1827 were put into force. TheBull "Ex qua die" of 4 March, 1853, organized theChurch of theNetherlands anew. Utrecht was raised once more to anarchbishopric, and received the four suffragandioceses ofHaarlem,Bois-le-Duc,Breda, andRoermond. John Zaijsen was appointed the firstarchbishop; as administrator he also ruled the Diocese of Bois-le-Duc. Thearchbishop took up with great energy and caution the organization of the newdioceses, the division into deaneries, the settling of the boundaries of the individualparishes. The administration of the lands of theparishes, of the lands of theChurch, and the management of the benevolent institutions. By numerous excellent decrees he provided for the improvement of church discipline, for the encouragement of orders and of church associations, for the training of a competentclergy (1857, aseminary forpriests was opened), for the establishment ofCatholicschools independent of the State, for the improvement of the Press, etc. In 1858 thecathedral chapters of thedioceses were organized and in 1864 the first provincial synod was held. In 1868 thearchbishop resigned the archdiocese on account of age, retaining only the direction of the Diocese of Bois-le-Duc. His successors were Andreas Ignatius Schaepman (1868-82), during whose administration the largearchiepiscopal museum was established; Petrus Matthias Snickers (1883-95), and Henry van de Wetering (since 1895).

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