Samenvatting
There is a close, inseparable relationship between the celebration of the Eucharist and the life of the Church. Almost sixty years ago the Council Fathers expressed the desire of the Church to lead the faithful to participate fully, consciously and actively in the sacred liturgy. They regarded such participation as the most important goal of liturgical renewal. In order to achieve that goal,
they emphasized the importance of a proper liturgical formation. But if we take a closer look at the pastoral-liturgical situation in the Netherlands in the 1960s, we see that Vatican II apparently had a different outcome there. A large number of Dutch clergy, religious and liturgical experts, on their own initiative and insight, introduced numerous liturgical innovations and adjustments. The Church in the Netherlands was charting its own course. It is against the background of the crisis of the Church in the Netherlands in the 1960s that we must place the appointment of Joannes Matthijs Gijsen as Bishop of Roermond. How would this young and inexperienced bishop fight against the tide? What vision did he have for the future of the Diocese of Roermond? How did he think he could lead the clergy and lay faithful entrusted to him to the aforementioned goals of the Second Vatican Council? These and other questions have led to the main question of this thesis, namely to what extent Gijsen (1932-2013), as Bishop of Roermond (1972-1993), accepted and implemented some of the field lines of Vaticanum II on the Eucharist in relation to the Church and her mission.