Dutch Prelate Enlists 3 Poles in Priest Shortage

The prelate of the Dutch Roman Catholic church is enlisting three Polish priests to combat a growing shortage of clergy.

But the move by Cardinal Adrianus Simonis has come under fire from Dutch priests troubled by the conservative religious reputation of Poland, the homeland of Pope John Paul II.

The three priests from the Diocese of Opole in southwestern Poland will take up their duties in September in the province of Utrecht, where liberal worship predominates, said Marjet de Jong, a spokeswoman for Simonis.

The Poles will work on a three-year contract in an experiment to see whether foreign priests can be used to offset the shortage of clergy in 365 Dutch parishes.

Already, 25 of those parishes lack their own priests. If the trend continues, that number will reach 165 by 1995, De Jong said.

The shortage reflects a dramatic drop in the number of students for the priesthood since the 1960s, as well as falling church attendance among all creeds in the Netherlands.

Simonis’ idea has run into sharp opposition from the 16-member Clerical Council, which has an advisory role in all clerical appointments in the Netherlands. This nation of 14.6 million includes 3 million practicing Roman Catholics.

“The image of the Polish church is rather on the conservative side,” said council member Frans Haarsma, who added that Simonis should have hired priests from the Third World.

De Jong said, however, that Poland is one of the few countries with a surplus of priests.

She denied Simonis was bringing in the three Poles because of their conservative views on church doctrine. She said the program could recruit clergymen from other nations if it survives.

Simonis, 58, is regarded as a conservative figure by many Dutch believers, who resent the Pope’s decision to appoint him in 1985 without the usual consultations with their church leaders.