Trajecta - Volume 31, Issue 1, 2022

Both the Catholic University in Nijmegen and the Calvinist Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam underwent a transformation in the 1960s. In the course of the 1960s it became clear that the original objectives with which the Catholic University was founded, in 1923, were no longer valid. Changing times called for a new positioning. The ‘Schillebeeckx Committee’ devoted itself, from 1966 onwards, to rethinking ‘character and function’ of the Catholic University. The Committee was composed of six leading professors and six students. The intention was not to formulate new principles but to take into consideration a plurality of thoughts, ideas, and opinions about the identity of the university. The work of the Committee took much more time than planned. When the Committee finished its activities in 1971, nothing was the same as in 1966, when it had started. The Committee arrived at the conclusion that the process of de-confessionalisation was unstoppable, which was nothing to be sorry about. The contemporary student population, for example, was practically indifferent towards the Catholic identity of the university. Another conclusion was that the university should offer a permanent platform for a dialogue, or a confrontation, between faith and science. The primary goal of the university would be the same as before: the practice of universal science combined with a special concern for the meaning of science for humanity. In hindsight, the profound discussions within the ‘Schillebeeckx Committee’ would prove to be the first of a seemingly endless debate on the identity of the university.

Both the Calvinist Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam and the Catholic University in Nijmegen underwent a transformation in the 1960s. Already around 1960 it was clear to both institutions that the changing times called for a new positioning. Various committees and study days were devoted to this issue. At the VU, it was mainly the ‘Kruyswijk Committee’ that, from 1965 onwards, devoted itself to reformulating the article of the statutory principles in which the identity of the university was laid down. There was no agreement in the committee as to how broadly or narrowly this identity should be formulated, and whether the original ideal of a ‘Christian science’ was still worth pursuing. Nevertheless, a formulation was sought in which various factions could recognize themselves. The formulation, so they emphasized, had to be more than an ‘ornament’: it had to give the university new impetus and appeal. Subsequently, two editorial committees, which produced the final formulation, gave the article an ecumenical and ‘horizontal’ character. Despite criticism by some of the more conservative supporters of the university, a new identity was formulated. However, developments in the student world and the new democratic university administration, made it difficult to put it into practice in the 1970s.

The changing religious landscape of Flanders/Belgium presents a challenge for organizations seeking to care for and valorize religious heritage. To broaden their scope and respond to the far-reaching changes in society, they need to develop broad expertise and extensive networks across religious and cultural boundaries. In 2019–2020, KADOC-KU Leuven and PARCUM conducted the project ‘Hemelsbreed. Diverse Religious Heritage in Flanders’ to focus on the movable, immovable, and intangible heritage and heritage-related needs of Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Islamic, Jewish, and Protestant faith communities. ‘Hemelsbreed’ was an important first step in mapping out the diversity of religious heritage in Flanders. In this article, we present the project’s research methodology and offer an overview of its principal results. We conclude with suggestions for future actions in the field of religious heritage care and valorization, actions which can also stimulate innovative research on the evolving religious landscape.

This article studies the place of religion in the military welfare services of the Dutch Armed Forces during the Indonesian war of independence (1945-1950). During this war, the Dutch government deployed 200,000 soldiers in Indonesia. In the Netherlands debates arose on the immoral (sexual) behavior and religious decline of these soldiers. Military clubhouses were presented as a weapon in the fight against immorality. The Dutch army preferred ‘neutral’ clubhouses without a specific Protestant or Catholic identity but inclusive to everyone. However, Dutch churches and religious organizations successfully argued for clubhouses and welfare work based on a specific confessional tradition. Notwithstanding the discussions, the military clubhouses were of support for Dutch soldiers in Indonesia, whether it be explicit Christian or neutral institutions.

The nature conservation movement and Catholicism were conspicuously detached in the Netherlands in the first half of the twentieth century. Nature conservation was apparently not an area of interest for the emerging Catholic ‘pillar’. Most conservationist groups and associations and their leaders were affiliated to the ‘neutral’ or ‘liberal’ pillar. The first half of this article provides an overview of the individual Catholic activists, conservationists, and hobby naturalists affiliated to the nature conservation movement in this early period.

After 1945, however, Catholic under-representation became an issue for the Dutch nature conservation movement. Associations such as Natuurmonumenten were influenced by new perspectives on pillarisation and democratic participation, and met local opposition to their work in predominantly Catholic regions in the Netherlands. Once the conservationists ‘discovered’ that they did not have enough Catholic members and had no influential contacts in the Catholic pillar, they tried to amend this by approaching their friends in the Catholic elite.

The Catholic political party usually opposed the goals of nature conservation in the 1950s, while left-wing politicians affiliated to the nature conservation movement defended them. The perception of an antagonistic relationship between nature conservation and Catholicism has persisted in the Netherlands since. It seems that this impression is actually based on that specific historical constellation in the Netherlands, and much less so on any fundamental incompatibility of nature conservation and Catholicism.