Netherlands
Population: 15.6 million
Life expectancy males/females: 75/80 years
Infant mortality rate: 5.5‰ Religions: Catholic 31%; Protestant 22%; Other religions 6%;
None 41%.
Independence: 1648 (from Germany)
GDP per capita: US $24,000

Spiritan presence: since 1904.
In 1987, there were still 372 members in the Province, of whom 208 were working in Europe. In 1994, the total number was 272, with 111 of these outside Europe. At the time of the Provincial Chapter of 1997, there were 237 professed members (197 priests, 40 brothers) and 4 associates. Of this total, 90 were working outside Europe.

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Activities of confreres in the Province
The Province is still very active in many areas. A good number of confreres continue to serve in parishes and for these, the Province arranges days of study and reflection so that they will be able to keep abreast of their pastoral work which is ever more demanding.

The Province took on pastoral work amongst immigrants and those seeking asylum. At one point, it was running anglophone, francophone and lusophone parishes, but unfortunately, due to lack of personnel, only the lusophone parish has been retained.

The way this team worked put it in touch with young people, whence came the idea of organising visits for them to experience other cultures and Churches.As a result, some young people have associated themselves with the Congregation.

The Province set up an associate scheme called the 'Medestanders project', which is aimed at missionary work and contact with the marginalised and foreigners.

The Province has always preferred to work in teams. Since the early 1970s, the Provincial administration has been run by a team, and recently, because of the difficulty of finding superiors for houses, Gemert has a team as 'Superior' of the community.

The Royal Netherlands Embassy
160 Merrion Road
Ballsbridge
Dublin 4
Tel: 01 269 3444
Fax:01 283 9690
E.Mail:info@netherlandsembassy.ie

Spiritans in the Netherlands