Journey to Where the Faith Is Dying
Photos and Text by Matthew Plese
(Editor’s Note: Matthew Plese is a veteran traveler to Catholic nations and cities, where he visits forgotten shrines, mountain monasteries, precious relics of incorruptible saints, and some of the most sacred places on earth. This year, he changed course and traveled to formerly Catholic cities in the Netherlands and Belgium. Here is his report.)
las, these two nations have fallen far from their glorious and faithful past.
They are cities where centuries ago the Faith was attacked by Protestants and where the Church’s martyrs grew in vast numbers. Of late, they have become bastions of liberalism, modernism, and secularism.
Nowadays, few souls here remain attached to any religion; in the Netherlands over half of the population is irreligious. Catholics make up the next largest share but the total number of citizens who belong to any religion is shockingly low at 32%.
Belgium – which on paper has a much larger number of Catholics – has been infected with liberalism since their 1831 constitution. The nation is a proponent of euthanasia, abortion, and same-sex “marriage.”
So in March 2018 I arrived, seeking to find any relics that remained, to venerate the Catholic shrines, and to pray along the way for their souls.
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