Johannes van Neercassel

Johannes van Neercassel after an engraving by Willem van Ingen

Johannes Baptista van Neercassel (* 1623 in Gorinchem ; † June 6, 1686 in Zwolle ) was from 1663 to 1686 Vicar Apostolic of the Dutch Mission (in the Roman Catholic tradition) and Archbishop of Utrecht (in the Old Catholic tradition).

Life

Johannes van Neercassel studied in Leuven and Paris , where he was accepted into the oratorio . He was ordained a priest in 1648 and served in the Dutch Mission in 1652. In 1662 he was appointed coadjutor and titular bishop of Castoria . In 1663 he succeeded Boudewijn Catz as Apostolic Vicar.

In this capacity he maintained good relations with the civil authorities in order to increase tolerance towards Catholics. Utrecht was occupied by the French in 1672 and the public practice of the Catholic religion was allowed again. The cathedral was re-established as a Roman Catholic church and Van Neercassel was able to celebrate mass here several times . On August 22nd, 1673 there was even a big Corpus Christi procession in Utrecht, with Van Neercassel carrying the monstrance with the holy of holies. Van Neercassel hoped to restore the diocese of Utrecht, but there was hesitation in Rome. The curia did nothing to restore the seat under French rule. The Old Catholic Church sees Van Neercassel standing in the (arch) bishop line.

As early as 1673 the French withdrew from Utrecht and the freedoms that the Catholics had enjoyed under their rule were reduced. Although retaliation from the Protestant side was unlikely , Van Neercassel thought it wiser to leave the republic for the time being. From abroad and later in Leiden he continued his missionary work in the Netherlands. He died on June 6, 1686 of pneumonia .

Johannes van Neercassel was an internationally respected personality with excellent contacts in France and Rome. He was seen as a representative of a spiritual Jansenism and had good relations with Port-Royal . The Jesuits eventually managed to undermine his position and his theological treatise Amor poenitens of 1683 was placed on the index in 1690 after his death .

Works

Amor poenitens sive de divini amoris ad poenitentiam necessitate, et recto clavium usu.Apud Joannem Arnoldi & socios, 1683, Linktext = Amor poenitens restricted preview in the Google book search.

literature

CP Voorvelt: Grandchildren inferiorly known facets van het leven van de apostolische vicaris Johannes van Neercassel (1663–1686). In: Trajecta 5 (1996), pp. 44-55.
De Katholieke Encyclopaedie. Amsterdam 1938.
M. Chr. M. Molenaar, GAM Abbink: Dertienhonderd jaar bisdom Utrecht. Baarn, Gooi en sticht 1995, ISBN 978-90-304-0828-4 .
EH (Guus) Bary: Excentriek in het bisdommenlandschap. Deventer as bischopsstad in de rooms-kathiek en oud-kathiek traditie. In: Lebuïnus en Walburgis bijeen. Deventer en Zutphen as the historical center of kerkelijke leven. Delft 2006, ISBN 978-90-5972-148-7 , p. 23.

Individual evidence

^ Neercassel, Jan van. In: Jesús Martínez de Bujanda , Marcella Richter: Index des livres interdits: Index librorum prohibitorum 1600–1966. Médiaspaul, Montréal 2002, ISBN 2-89420-522-8 , pp. 649-650 (French, digitized ).

predecessor	Office	successor
Boudewijn Cats	Vicar Apostolic of the Dutch Mission 1663–1686	Petrus Codde

personal data
SURNAME	Neercassel, Johannes van
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Neerkassel, Johannes von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Titular Bishop of Castoria, Vicar Apostolic of Batavia
DATE OF BIRTH	1623
PLACE OF BIRTH	Gorinchem
DATE OF DEATH	June 6, 1686
Place of death	Zwolle

[1] Neercassel, Jan van. In: Jesús Martínez de Bujanda , Marcella Richter: Index des livres interdits: Index librorum prohibitorum 1600–1966. Médiaspaul, Montréal 2002, ISBN 2-89420-522-8 , pp. 649-650 (French, digitized ).