16 Comments

Beautiful! God bless Cardinal Eijk, and thank you to the Pillar, once again, for giving us the opportunity to hear from bishops/cardinals around the world. I like to hear what future conclave members have to say about Jesus and the Holy Spirit :) Pillar asks better questions!

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Thank you for this interview! It's inspiring to hear that our clergy are not all resigned to a future of mediocre faith in the West.

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The Cardinal sounds like a pragmatic but holy man, working in a very difficult national situation.

The idea of a smaller Church but a more faithful one is appealing. It might give us a time to regroup and reform in an orthodox way.

God willing, it will eventually lead to the people evangelizing because they know and love the Lord and His Church.

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Great article. Was Cardinal Eijk at the synod?

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Amen!

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This is a great interview. I need to keep it handy and refer to it when I'm depressed about the state of our Holy Mother Church. Christ always wins in the end, and we all need to remain hopeful and full of joy in announcing the Good News to others.

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“I have a deep joy at the bottom of my soul because Christ called me to be a priest. Nobody can take that joy from me. Nothing. That joy remains.

Even when the number of churchgoers is dwindling, the joy of the priesthood remains in me.”

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I am so impressed by Cardinal Eijk and the obvious joy he has in Christ! This joyful faith is what is needed to draw people back to the beauty and truth found in the Catholic Church.

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<3 thank you for this hope-filled interview.

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If I had to identify the primary cause of a weakening (and dying in some places) Church, I'd say it's because Christian "militancy" is now a dirty word. As a true Christian, you must be militant and fight our generation's war against Satan's lies and society's sins (starting with your own).

When old and wornout Christians remain silent, appear to compromise, and don't charge forward without concern for their financial situation, no one can be expected to join the Church.

People always are attracted when Christians appear who are willing to fight and suffer for a cause. Unfortunately, the Cardinal wants to save a pot of church money for a future generation. But why not use it now while he can?

Where does the Cardinal call for active militancy in fighting a confused and diabolical gender ideology? Oh, I see, he's waiting for Francis to write an encyclical to lead the way. Sorry, but the Cardinal might have to wait a long, long time Why doesn't he ask his Christians to prove they are truly Catholic by passing out his letter against a Satanic gender ideology? Why doesn't he preach a good hellfire sermon to show how God will treat the goats at the Last Judgement?

My Dad was a convert and his favorite hymm was "Onward Christian Soldiers," with the lyrics:

Onward, Christian soldiers,

marching as to war,

With the cross of Jesus

going on before!

Christ, the royal Master,

leads against the foe;

Forward into battle,

see his banner go!

Refrain:

Onward, Christian soldiers,

marching as to war,

With the cross of Jesus

going on before!

Isn't it interesting that Catholic churches have adopted many Protestant hymns, but not that one?

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I do not think it is unreasonable to tell people who are in charge of spending money that "your income and your expenses should be equal"; that is, do not keep more buildings open than you can (and should) keep open through the support of the people who are using the buildings.

I am, however, in favor of everyone learning to sing Vexilla Regis Prodeunt because that is pretty fun, (O CRUX, AVE! SPES UNICA!), and, while I am at it, the Te Deum (I am learning it because I liked this part of The Shadow of His Wings https://tidbitsforthecatholiccatechist.blogspot.com/2011/08/shadow-of-his-wings.html ), and the Pange Lingua because I have read Lord of the World and aim to be prepared. I would not preach a hellfire sermon, myself (it does not go with your theme of Christian soldiers); I think the meditation on the two standards would be more useful https://sacred-texts.com/chr/seil/seil22.htm

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Whenever things seem difficult for me I turn to Shadow of His Wings to remind myself of the power of prayer and God's power in difficult situations.

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I'd like to know more about how bishops approach the digital Church. As we get smaller, what can livestreaming offer? How can we connect as online parishes?

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I'm so glad I read this. Thank you!

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This is one of the most inspiring interviews I've read in a long time. Thanks be to God for Cardinal Eijk (and The Pillar)!

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I have a lot of respect for Cardinal Eijk, he is a very good prelate - perhaps that's surprising given (as the article mentions) how secular the Netherlands is now.

My family and I often travel through, or holiday in, the Netherlands and it is sad to see how the majority of the fine Churches the country possesses are now museums, galleries, restaurants, nightclubs etc.

We attend the Traditional Mass at either St Agnes, Amsterdam (FSSP), or St Willibrords, Utrecht (SSPX). The latter is only a short distance from Cardinal Eijk's Cathedral and is undoubtedly one of the finest Churches I have ever visited, let alone attended Mass in. As the local ordinary, the Cardinal's portrait is displayed, as in ever SSPX Chapel worldwide.

The Mass attendance at these venues is always quite encouraging. We first went to St Willibrord's when the SSPX just acquired it and so attendance was low then - but now it is booming. The beauty of tradition never fails to draw people to it and it is always a success where it is given a chance (this is precisely why Francis' restricted the TLM, to impede its success).

I do wonder if Cardinal Eijk really believes what he said, when he claimed no association between Vatican II and the collapse of the faith in the Western World, or if he only said that to avoid friction with the Vatican. The evidence for an association between Vatican II and the collapse is overwhelming.

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