Pre-reformation diocese and archdiocese of Utrecht According to the
Catholic Encyclopedia, the founding of the diocese of Utrecht dates back to
Francia, when St.
Ecgberht of Ripon sent St.
Willibrord and eleven companions on a mission to
pagan Frisia, at the request of
Pepin of Herstal. The Diocese of Utrecht () was erected by
Pope Sergius I in 695. In 695 Sergius consecrated Willibrord in
Rome as Bishop of the
Frisians.
John Mason Neale explained, in
History of the so-called Jansenist church of Holland, that bishops "became warriors rather than prelates; the duties of their pastoral office were frequently exercised by suffragans, while they themselves headed armies against the Dukes of Guelders or the Counts of Holland."
Adalbold II of Utrecht "must be regarded as the principal founder of the territorial possessions of the diocese," according to Albert Hauck, in
New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, especially by the acquisition in 1024 and 1026 of the counties of
Drenthe and
Teisterbant; but, the name "
Bishopric of Utrecht" is not used in the article. '''' was Pope Leo X's 1517 prohibition to the
Archbishop-Elector of Cologne,
Hermann of Wied, as '''', to summon, to a court of first instance in Cologne,
Philip of Burgundy, his treasurer, and his ecclesiastical and secular subjects. Leo X only confirmed a right of the Church, explained Neale; but Leo X's confirmation "was providential" in respect to the future schism.
Lordship of Utrecht The diocese was elevated to an archdiocese in 1559. The
hanging of the nineteen
Martyrs of Gorkum in
Brielle in 1572 is an example of the persecution which Catholics suffered.
Apostolic Vicariate of Batavia The Holland Mission started when the
apostolic vicariate was erected by
Pope Clement VIII in 1592. "For two centuries after the [1648]
Peace of Westphalia much of Holland was under apostolic vicars as mission territory, as England was in the same period; although some areas had
archpriests dependent on the
nuncios in
Cologne and
Brussels." In the early 18th century there was a grave internal conflict around the apostolic vicars
Johannes van Neercassel and
Petrus Codde, who were accused of
Jansenism. This resulted in the founding of the
Old Catholic Church of Utrecht in 1723, a
schism of several thousand leading Dutch Catholics breaking with the
Holy See. In 1725, in an attempt to stimulate the schismatic church and weaken the Catholic presence in the Netherlands, the Calvinist
States General banned the apostolic vicars from the United Republic.
Mission sui iuris of Batavia The vicariate was reduced to a
mission sui iuris by
Pope Benedict XIII in 1727.it was ruled by the Apostolic Nuncios in Bruxelles until 1794, and by the Apostolic Inter-Nuncios in Netherlands between 1829 and 1853. The feudal
Lordship of Utrecht was disestablished when the
Batavian Republic was created in 1795. There was an official freedom of religion. Churches did not have to be hidden anymore, new
seminaries for priests were founded, and several
monasteries were reinstated, especially after the
Concordat with King
William I of Netherlands in 1827. The Holland Mission ended when the mission
sui iuris was suppressed and the modern
ecclesiastical province was erected in 1853.
Modern Dutch ecclesiastical province of Utrecht The modern Metropolitan
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht was erected by
Pope Pius IX in 1853 from the territory of the mission during a restructuring which erected its
ecclesiastical province, the sole one for the
Kingdom of the Netherlands. His 1853 papal letter '''' marked the
reestablishment of the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands. The city of Utrecht was raised, once more, to a Roman Catholic archdiocese and received the four
suffragan dioceses of
Haarlem,
's-Hertogenbosch,
Breda and
Roermond.
Joannes Zwijsen was appointed the first modern archbishop and was also
apostolic administrator of the Diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch. In 1858; the
cathedral chapters of the dioceses were organized and in 1864 the first provincial synod was held. == List of Apostolic Vicars ==