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Diocese of Roermond Dioecesis Ruremundensis Bisdom Roermond | |
|---|---|
 Saint Christopher Cathedral | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Country |  Netherlands |
| Territory | Limburg |
| Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Utrecht |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 2,209 km2 (853 sq mi) |
Population
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|
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 12 May 1559 (re-established 4 March 1853) |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of Saint Christopher inRoermond |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Bishop | Ron van den Hout |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Wim Eijk |
| Auxiliary Bishops | Everard de Jong |
| Bishops emeritus | Frans Wiertz |
| Map | |
 Location of the Diocese of Roermond | |
| Website | |
| bisdom-roermond.nl | |
TheDiocese of Roermond (Latin:Dioecesis Ruremundensis) is adiocese of theLatin Church of theCatholic Church, located in theNetherlands. The diocese is one of the seven suffragan dioceses in theecclesiastical province of the MetropolitanArchbishop of Utrecht. The territory of the diocese covers the Province ofLimburg.
Itscathedral episcopal see is theCathedral of St. Christopher inRoermond.
Its mainpilgrimage sites areKapel in 't Zand [nl] andValkenburg.
TheDean of Roermond is responsible for the parishes in that city and a few other municipalities in the diocese.
Originally established on 12 May 1559, on territories split off from theMetropolitan Archdiocese of Cologne (Keulen, now in Germany) andDiocese of Liège (Luik, now in Belgium).
During theNapoleonic era, on 15 July 1801 it lost territory to establish theApostolic Vicariate of Grave–Nijmegen. On 29 November 1801 the diocese was suppressed, its territory being divided between the above vicariate and the establishment of the (German)Diocese of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle).
It was re-established in 1840 by theHoly See as (pre-diocesan)Apostolic Vicariate of Limburg. In 1853 it was promoted as Diocese of Roermond and gained territory from the Belgian Diocese ofLiège.
During the 1960s, the relatively strongdemarcation between the Netherlands' Catholic south and itsCalvinist northwest began to diminish. Since the second half of the twentieth century, a rapid secularization and strong loss ofreligious affiliation have taken place in Limburg.
The diocese has roughly 817,000 registeredCatholics (about 72.3% of the population of Limburg). Roughly 3 percent of the population in the Diocese Roermond attendsMass on Sundays[1] (as per official Church (KASKI) data). The Roermond diocese is one of the two in the Netherlands that is in a majority-Catholic region, as per the most recent KASKI data.
As per 2014, it pastorally served 1,091,000 Catholics (96.0% of 1,136,000 total) on 2,209 km² in 303 parishes with 471 priests (219 diocesan, 252 religious), 71 deacons, 1,210 lay religious (440 brothers, 770 sisters) and 24 seminarians.
Limburg is mostlyCatholic by tradition and still uses the term and certain traditions as a base for its cultural identity, though the vast majority of the population is now largely irreligious in practice. According to research among Dutch Catholics in 2006, 27% of the Dutch Catholics can be regarded astheist, 55% asietsist/agnostic theist and 17%agnostic.[2]
