More Trouble in Holland

Just a year ago this month, the Dutch Pastoral Council of the Roman Catholic Church voted for a policy statement against compulsory celibacy. During the debates preceding that vote (TIME, Jan. 19, 1970), one of the few voices arguing to preserve the old celibacy rule was a young-looking parish priest from The Hague, Msgr. Adrianus J. Simonis, now 39. "Simonis?" said a leading Dutch progressive priest at the time. "An unimportant voice." Soon, by a decree of Pope Paul VI, that "unimportant voice" will speak as bishop of some 1,000,000 Roman Catholics in the diocese of Rotterdam, where he has suddenly become the focus of a growing furor in the Dutch church.

The appointment plunged the Vatican and the Dutch church into confrontation once again, just as it appeared that relations were beginning to simmer down after last year's clash over the celibacy issue. Rotterdam liberals were furious that Paul had bypassed three candidates sent to him by their diocesan chapter, the diocese's most important advisory council. By custom, a Dutch bishop is usually selected from such a council's nominees; if none is acceptable to Rome, the chapter is asked for another list. But the Vatican did not request one.

Both Pope Paul and many of his advisers have long felt that a significant number--even a "silent majority"--of Dutch Catholics were both more loyal and less progressive than their vocal clergy and hierarchy, and Paul was apparently determined that those Catholics should be represented in the Dutch episcopate. When the list from the Rotterdam chapter failed to include such a man, Paul simply reached beyond it to select Simonis.

Splitting the Vote. The issue grew more heated when the Vatican tried to claim that Paul's choice in fact represented the will of the Rotterdam majority. The diocesan chapter had drawn its nominations from various sources, including a poll of 80,000 Catholics. The poll, which reportedly mentioned no names, chose a moderate liberal profile for the next bishop. The Vatican contended, however, that Simonis ranked second among suggestions submitted by priests and deanery councils. The liberals did not deny the claim, but attributed Simonis' second-place rankings to liberal vote splitting rather than real support for Simonis. The diocesan chapter rated Simonis eighth, thus putting him off their list of nominations to Rome. Archbishop Angelo Felici, papal pro-nuncio to The Netherlands, charged that the chapter list was "manipulated."

Dutch Buckley. Adrianus Simonis is frank about his conservative attitudes, though he claims that they are exaggerated. "If I am standing next to Ottaviani, I am a liberal. If I am standing next to Hans Kueng, I am a conservative." Nonetheless, he disapproves of the idea of married priests, supports Humanae Vltac "fully" and thus (unlike most Dutch Catholics) opposes the birth control pill. In theological problems, he believes that "Rome knows best."

Though he has been a priest only 13 years, Simonis is articulate enough to have become a natural leader for Roman Catholic conservatives in The Netherlands--a Dutch William F. Buckley. He seemed to gravitate to conservative leadership shortly after returning from biblical studies in Rome, soon became the conservative spokesman on television and in public discussions. The loyalty was returned. On Dec. 31, as the uproar broke over his appointment, a group of influential conservatives hired a plane to fly over The Hague, fluttering a banner: LONG LIVE BISHOP SIMONIS.

Simonis will need all the loyalty he can get. All 14 Rotterdam deans and nearly 200 pastors in the area have publicly spoken against the appointment. His vicar general has said that the diocesan staff "cannot work with this man." The Pastoral Council of Rotterdam has asked Simonis to resign. "A bishop can function not only because he has been appointed by the Pope, but also because he has been accepted by the community," the council declared.

Next week, Bernard Jan Cardinal Al-frink and two other Dutch bishops will make a previously scheduled journey to the Vatican to discuss with the Pope the celibacy issue and perhaps--if Paul permits it--the Simonis appointment. It is possible for the Pontiff to yield on an unpopular bishop: in 1967, Ruthenian rite Catholics in Pittsburgh objected to the regime of Bishop Nicholas T. Elko; Elko was eventually invited to a job in Rome, and a replacement was named. But Paul can be adamant, too--and the fury of Dutch liberals may only serve to heighten his resolve.

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