Naschrift

The issue that is the subject of discussion here is in fact the main problem: the enormous obedience or the refusal and evasion of clerical precepts by Dutch Catholics. In this postscript the first position in this discussion is maintained. Of course, some interdependency between the laity and the clergy can be seen. But the power of ‘hell and holiness’ was irresistible in instilling obedience. Isolation within the nation was first forced upon the Catholics by a dominant Protestantism; later on it became the result of their own choice, guarded over with much vigour and energy. One final point: the Catholic pillar did not start to crumble in the Interwar period because of all those ‘other Catholics’, otherwise the revolutionary nature of its downfall in the sixties becomes quite unintelligible.