Dutch cardinal defends plan to end Sunday celebrations without priests

Cardinal Willem Eijk is committed to eliminating Sunday Word and Communion services in the absence of a priest over the next five years.

A Dutch cardinal has said that he is pressing ahead with a plan to phase out Sunday Word and Communion services in the absence of a priest within his territory.

Cardinal Willem Eijk, the Archbishop of Utrecht, said in a Feb. 14 letter that he was committed to eliminating the priestless Sunday celebrations over the next five years, so that the Mass can “o…