The bishop of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc), Gerard de Korte, has publicly criticized his auxiliary bishop, Rob Mutsaerts, for sending an open letter to Leo XIV in which he questions the fruits of the synodal process and calls on the Pope for greater doctrinal and missionary clarity. De Korte does not refute the content of the objections raised by Mutsaerts, but rather censures the method chosen by his auxiliary and maintains that he should have conveyed his concerns to the Pontiff privately.
De Korte’s statements were reported by the Dutch newspaper Nederlands Dagblad, after Mutsaerts published his letter to Leo XIV on August 14, warning of the risk of turning synodality into a permanent way of functioning for the Church.
De Korte questions Mutsaerts’ use of an open letter
The response of the bishop of Bois-le-Duc focuses especially on the public nature of Mutsaerts’ initiative.
According to De Korte, his auxiliary “did not consult the Pope about this extensive open letter” before making it public. The bishop believes that if Mutsaerts intended to express his reservations without causing division, he should have used the internal channels of communication available to him as a member of the episcopate.
“A personal letter to the Pope would have been appropriate” if his intention, as Mutsaerts himself claims, was not to sow discord, De Korte stated. “After all, a (auxiliary) bishop, in particular, has his own means of communicating with the bishop of Rome.”
Differences that go back a long way
The disagreements between De Korte and Mutsaerts did not begin with this letter. In 2020, the auxiliary largely relinquished his administrative responsibilities within the diocese due to his differences with the diocesan bishop.
Since then, Mutsaerts has maintained his own public presence and has on numerous occasions expressed critical positions regarding the direction of certain ecclesial processes. The Synod on Synodality has been one of the issues on which he has spoken most clearly.
In the letter published on August 14, the auxiliary posed a question to Leo XIV about the concrete results obtained after years of consultations, meetings, and synodal reports. Among other issues, he asked whether faith had been strengthened, conversions increased, Mass attendance improved, priestly vocations grown, or reverence for the Eucharist reinforced. His conclusion was that, according to these criteria, “it is impossible to consider the Synod a success.”
Mutsaerts also warned that the process initiated for the 2021-2024 period continues in its implementation phase and must culminate with an Ecclesial Assembly in Rome in October 2028. In his view, this extension raises the danger that synodality may shift from being an instrument to becoming “a permanent form of Church governance.”
The Dutch episcopate maintains its commitment to synodality
The disagreement between the two bishops is also evident in the way they approach the next stage of the synodal process. While Mutsaerts calls for a review of its fruits and a return of the center of ecclesial life to conversion, holiness, the Eucharist, and evangelization, the Dutch Church continues to prepare initiatives aimed at developing synodality.
De Korte has announced that the bishops and religious of the Netherlands will hold a national day dedicated to synodality on October 16 at the Sint-Janscentrum in Bois-le-Duc.
The initiative is part of the implementation phase that continues under the pontificate of Leo XIV. Precisely this extension is one of the central points of Mutsaerts’ warning: the auxiliary maintains that the faithful “do not expect from their Church a permanent process, but clarity on the path to God” and has directly asked the Pope that, in the face of doctrinal confusion and the wear and tear of Western ecclesial structures, “Peter speak with clarity.”