ANPBishop Harrie Smeets during a memorial service for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in St. Christopher’s Cathedral.
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 17:24
Pope Francis today approved the resignation of the ailing Bishop Harrie Smeets of the Diocese of Roermond. Smeets had asked for his resignation because he is too ill to be able to fulfill the office of bishop.
In July, the bishop already stopped his work and was therefore officially ‘impeded’, as it is called in canon law. His work was taken over by the vicar general of the diocese, the bishop’s first deputy.
Smeets is now formally former bishop of Roermond. He was appointed to the diocese in October 2018. In 2021 he got cancer and at the beginning of this year it became clear that treatment is no longer possible. The diocese is grateful to Smeets for what he has done and meant a statement.
Pope elects new bishop
Due to the dismissal, the bishop’s seat of Roermond is now vacant. The members of the executive council of the diocese will draw up a list of three possible successors. The bishops’ conference and the nuncio, Paul Tschang In-Nam, can also add names. The nuncio is the pope’s diplomatic representative in the Netherlands. Ultimately, the pope decides who will be the new bishop.
Until Roermond has a new bishop, the board of the diocese may not make major decisions or decisions that could harm the new bishop.
The Netherlands has six dioceses, including those of Breda and Rotterdam. An archbishopric is established in Utrecht.
2023-08-10 15:24:16
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