The Chapter of the Province of the Netherlands took place from May 9-12, 2023, at the Franciscushuis retreat center in Denekamp. Both the Prior General Míceál O'Neill and the General Councilor for Europe, Richard Byrne, participated.
Today’s Province of the Netherlands celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1996. Houses existed in the country centuries before but they formed part of the Lower German Province. However all the houses in what is now the Netherlands ceased to exist in 1581 when the Netherlands declared themselves independent of Spain. In 1652, a foundation was made in Boxmeer by the noted Carmelite, Daniel of the Virgin Mary. That house belonged to the Flemish Province.
Boxmeer survived the suppression of the Flemish Province under Napoleon but was not allowed to accept novices. When this ban was lifted in 1840, only three elderly friars remained. The community was soon reconstituted and in 1855 founded Zenderen. These two houses, along with Straubing, became the Germano-Holland Province in 1879. On the feast of the Immaculate Conception, 1896, the General Council of the Order established the Province of the Netherlands.
Over the years the Province of the Netherlands became the largest and one of the most flourishing in the Carmelite Order. It has distinguished itself especially in promoting the spread of the Order. Members went to work with the Choctaw native people in Tucker, Mississippi (USA) accompanying them on their removal to current day Oklahoma. From 1904 it assisted in the restoration of the Rio de Janeiro Province (Brazil). In 1923 it began a mission in present Indonesia which has since become the largest province in the Order. In 1924 it repossessed the convent of Mainz and revived its mother Province of Lower Germany. In 1958 members founded the Order in the Philippines, which has since become a province.
The following members were elected to leadership:
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Provincial | Provincial | Provinciale
Fr. Huub Welzen, O. Carm.
1st Councilor | 1er Consejero | 1o Consigliere
Fr. Ton van der Gulik, O. Carm.
2nd Councilor | 2do Consejero | 2o Consigliere
Fr. Tom Buitendijk, O. Carm.
3rd Councilor | 3er Consejero | 3o Consigliere
Fr. Ben Wolbers, O. Carm.
4th Councilor | 4to Consejero | 4o Consigliere
Fr. Hein Blommestijn, O. Carm.
Elected to the Extended Provincial Board
Anne-Marie Bos and Minnie Pasop
