'De priester is geen druide'

Abstract

The subject ofthis paper is the process of religious detraditionalization inside the Dutch Catholic Church. The analysis ofthis process builds on Giddens' conceptual scheme of conservative and modern forms oftradition. The data stem mostly from recent studies performed by the Institute forApplied Research on Religion (KASKI), with respect to the situation in catholic parishes and the attitudes of priests, lay prayers and church volunteers. In addition, two recent important policy documents conceived by the local catholic church leaders are analyzed as well. Our study reveals that the Dutch parishes, both the organizational members and the parishioners, see themselves as traditional in a modern way. The church leaders, however, stick to a sacramental church and a conservative interpretation ofthe tradition. Yet, they try to incorporate the modern conceptions within the catholic church, bytoleratingadual system: a limited sacramental praxis, completed by a free space in which new forms of religious participation may be developed.