Frank Bosman is a cultural theologist, a professor at Tilburg School of Catholic Theology at Tilburg University and a member of the English community of Parochie Maria. He tells us why this community thrives the way it does.
The diversity of the community gives it its strength, according to Frank. But not simply because there’s many different nationalities.
“We are continuously bombarded with bad news: War, famine, climate change, you name it. That worries and saddens us, but we have no control over it. So it's as if we're drowning in a maelstrom, looking for answers we can't find,” Frank observes.
“In such times, people tend to be attracted to camp and survive on their own islands of truth. That creates an us versus them rhetoric. The English community of Parochie Maria has no such private islands: people are conservative and liberal, the music during mass consists of Gregorian music as well as pop music and so on. We need and have that diversity to really experience Gods greatness. Spiritual, liturgical and theological discussions aren’t shunned here. We end up disagreeing every now and then, but the mutual respect is never lost. To me, such diversity is a blessing, not a problem that needs to be solved.”
As Frank elegantly concludes: “Catholics absolutely @$#! despise schisms, so it should only come natural to us to embrace everyone for who they are, something this community absolutely does.”
Feel free to join us for English mass, every Saturday at 17.15 h. St. Catharine's church is located at Kruisbroedershof 4 5211 GX 's-Hertogenbosch.