It is a country where so-called “dead churches”, can be viewed and purchased on the Internet, Even a synagogue became a mosque.
The Catholic Church in the Netherlands has entered such an unstoppable spiral, according to research by the Trouw newspaper, that eight out of ten parishes are in the red and will have to be closed.
From 1970 to 2008, 400 Catholic churches were demolished or converted. Since then, the rate has accelerated dramatically. Two churches, on average, close every week. One fifth of all the churches in Holland have already been converted.
Holland still has six thousand churches. Up to 80 percent of these will lose their religious function in the coming years. There is a shortage of money and faithful and demolition is looming.
