Originally published at National Catholic Register
The 71-year-old archbishop warned that regional solutions to contentious issues could undermine the Church’s credibility.
A Dutch cardinal has cautioned against misguided reform efforts within the Catholic Church, warning that regional solutions to contentious issues could undermine the Church’s credibility.
Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk, archbishop of Utrecht, emphasized the importance of maintaining unity with the universal Church.
“We must walk a common path and not deviate from the world Church,” he said, reflecting Pope Francis’ 2019 letter to German Catholics.
“If unity in proclamation is lost, the Church loses its credibility,” Cardinal Eijk told the magazine.
Offering a sobering perspective from a heavily secularized nation, the Dutch prelate drew parallels between the current Synod on Synodality in Rome and the Dutch Pastoral Council of the late 1960s in an interview with the German-language magazine Communio.
The 71-year-old archbishop warned that regional solutions to contentious issues could undermine the Church’s credibility.
“If unity in proclamation is lost, the Church loses its credibility,” he asserted, highlighting the Netherlands’ negative experience with ambiguity over the past 50 years.
He added: “People had the impression that the Church itself didn’t really know where it stood.”
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