The Church in the Netherlands is gaining momentum thanks to the “creative minority” of young people rediscovering the Catholic faith, Cardinal Willem Eijk said.
Though Eijk considers the approximately 3.4 million Catholics as a religious minority in the European country with a total population of 17.9 million people, the Dutch cardinal said he has great hope in the younger generations.
“There are young people who belong to families alienated from the Church for generations and they rediscover Christ in his Church and embrace the doctrine of the Church,” he said in an interview with EWTN Vatican News Director Andreas Thonhauser.
“Every year we see a growing number of young people asking for admission to the Church,” he said. “They discover the truth concerning Christ and the Gospel through the internet, TikTok, and social media.”
Describing his surprise at the impact new technologies have had in attracting attention to the Catholic faith, Eijk said what particularly struck him was how well informed these young people were on Church doctrine prior to asking for the sacraments.
“The only thing, of course, is that you have to introduce them into the community of faith,” he said. “But nevertheless they know much of their faith and these young people are inclined to accept and embrace the whole doctrine of the Catholic Church.”
Noting the declining number of Catholic parents baptizing their children in the Netherlands, Eijk said the Church is “much smaller,” particularly in light of the country’s growing population, but the prelate said he is not overly concerned because of the great faith he witnesses among new Catholics.
“It will be a ‘creative minority’ as Benedict XIV used to say,” he added. “Of course, this is a beautiful expression from Alfred Toynbee, the famous English philosopher of history.”
Toynbee concluded in his “Study of History,” which analyzed 20 world civilizations, that the rise of cultures is a result of smaller groups of people who responded to the challenges of their times.
“I think by forming a group, a small group, of strong believers in Christ, followers and Christ, we will be able to Christianize culture once again,” Eijk told EWTN News.
“We now live in a culture of expressive individualism,” he continued. “Every individual is in his own boat, determines his own philosophy of life, religion, and set of ethical values, but this culture won’t last forever.”
To foster the faith of the people who belong to the Diocese of Utrecht, Eijk said a variety of formation programs are available to Catholics and particularly for couples preparing for the sacrament of marriage.
“We explain theology of the body, we teach couples also to pray because they don’t know how to pray and it’s really important,” he said. “We also talk about the doctrine of the Church concerning contraception, natural family planning.”
After introducing the courses for couples a few years ago, the cardinal archbishop said several participants shared positive feedback.
“Mostly they say, ‘Oh, isn’t that beautiful! We had never heard this before,’ and that makes it clear to me that we have to transmit the truth with courage and without ambiguity,” he said.
While Eijk said the new young people coming to Church are not big in numbers, “they’re strong believers” who are the future.
“We see that there is more openness than there was, let’s say, when I started as a parish priest, an assistant parish priest 40 years ago,” he shared.
“I always saw decline in the Church and now in the last years of my career I see a certain modest revitalization of the Church; modest, but certain,” he said.
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This article was updated on Sunday, June 1, to correct a transcription error in Cardinal Eijk’s quote, which now accurately reads “set of ethical values” rather than the previously published “ethical failures.”
This article was originally published by CNA.
