Catholic priest goes public with names of those leaving the church

A Catholic church minister in Tilburg is planning to publicly display the names and photographs of people who are officially leaving the church, the Brabants Dagblad reports.


The photos will be pinned up in the doorway of the parish church, and, says father Harm Schilder, ‘will allow the congregation to pray for them and perhaps convince them to stay’.
There has been a sharp rise in the number of people leaving the Catholic church since the pope condemned gay marriage last month.
The minister hit the headlines several years ago after he was banned from ringing the bells of his church at 07.15 every weekday morning.
He had argued the right to call the faithful to prayer is part of the right to freedom of religion.

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