Dutch prime ministerial candidate Geert Wilders has added to what his opponents call “a long string of insults”, calling Muslims “scum”. Ebubekir Ozture, director of the Muslim umbrella group Contact Organ Muslims and Government, called Wilders comments “reprehensible.” “Moroccans and Muslims are accustomed to such outbursts from Wilders, whose Party for Freedom is riding high Read more
Holland’s far right presidential candidate, Geert Wilders, wants to prevent the spread of Islam and Muslim “scum” from the Netherlands. Islam is an ideology that “poses an existential threat to core European values”, he says. Wilders wants to close all mosques, ban the Quran and seal the Dutch borders to asylum seekers and immigrants from Islamic countries. He Read more
Full-face burqas have been banned in some public places in Holland. The Dutch parliament approved the ban by a majority of 132 out of the 150-seat house. Read more
Dutch bishops visiting Rome this week have given Pope Francis a dramatic snapshot of the steep decline of Roman Catholicism in its European heartland. Both Catholic and Protestant Christian ranks have shrunk dramatically across Europe in recent decades, and hundreds of churches have been sold off to be turned into apartments, shops, bars or warehouses. Read more
With the collapse of the Dutch centre-right government, the Netherlands may now drop some of its most eye-popping proposals aimed at Muslims and other immigrants and could soften its strong anti-immigration rhetoric. A ban on Muslim face veils, such as the Arabic-style niqabs that leave the eyes uncovered and Afghan-style burqas that cover the face Read more
The Dutch church has pledged to fully cooperate with investigations into reported claims that Catholic institutions castrated boys and young men in their care to rid them of homosexuality, according to the Catholic News Service.
Bert Elbertse, spokesman for the Dutch Catholic bishops’ conference, said the bishops found the reports “shocking and appalling” and that they “condemn and regret such practices in the strongest possible terms.”
“Our church has been badly damaged by accusations of sexual abuse. The fact that people were unsurprised by these latest claims suggests our image couldn’t get any worse,” he said.
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At least 10 teenage boys or young men under the age of 21 were surgically castrated “to get rid of homosexuality” while in the care of the Dutch Roman Catholic Church in the 1950s. Evidence of the castrations has emerged amid controversy that it was not included in the findings of an official investigation into Read more
A controversial system of mobile euthanasia units that will travel around the country to respond to the wishes of sick people who wish to end their lives has been launched in the Netherlands.
The scheme, which started on Thursday , will send teams of specially trained doctors and nurses to the homes of people whose own doctors have refused to carry out patients’ requests to end their lives.
The launch of the so-called Levenseinde, or “Life End”, house-call units – whose services are being offered to Dutch citizens free of charge – coincides with the opening of a clinic of the same name in The Hague, which will take patients with incurable illnesses as well as others who do not want to die at home.
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The Catholic bishops in the Netherlands have offered “sincere apologies” to more than 20,000 victims of sexual abuse in the Netherlands. Archbishop of Utrecht Wim Eijk apologised to victims on behalf of the entire Dutch Catholic church. He said the report “fills us with shame and sorrow.” “It’s terrible.” Eijk’s apology comes after a damning Read more
‘Just before Christmas, the Dutch announced that they are considering mobile units to kill people in their own homes. 1,000 of the 4,000 euthanasia deaths in Holland each year are now done without the patient’s consent,’ writes Lord Alton. The New Year is ushered in by Father Time, who derives from the Greek God Chronos, more Read more