Catholic priests and the fertility transition among Dutch catholics, 1935-1970
- Autores: Frans van Poppel, Angelo Somers
- Localización: Annales de démographie historique, ISSN 0066-2062, Nº 2, 2003 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Religions et pratiques familiales), págs. 57-88
- Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
Many studies have related the relatively late decline in fertility in the Netherlands to the fact that Dutch Roman Catholics maintained a high fertility level until 1960. It was argued that Dutch Roman Catholics distinguished themselves from other Catholics by their strong communal organisation and religious élan, making possible a strong degree of control on the religious practices of the members and intensified observance of Catholic standards regarding contraception and sexuality.
We analyse what role the clergy played in the fertility transition among Dutch Catholics during the period 1935-1970 by studying the way in which the priests themselves saw their role. We present results from in-depth interviews with 22 priests who worked in the diocese of Breda. We describe the way in which priests were prepared for their task as teacher and explainer of Catholic teaching on marriage, sexuality, and birth control, the ways in which they were confronted with problems in these areas when acting as a pastor and their opinion on an attitude toward the use of birth control by their parishioners.
The main conclusion is that there were distinct differences between the image that the clergy itself draws of its role and that which emerges from studies among Catholic couples and studies focussing on the institutional development of the Catholic Church.
