Affaire-Bishop Bär


The affair bishop Bär, a matter that was mainly referred to in the press as an affair, originated in the sudden departure of monkigner Philippe Bär, bishop of the diocese of Rotterdam in March 1993 to the Benedictine monastery of Chevetogne. At first it was not clear whether this was a temporary or permanent departure, but soon, the Catholic News Journal reported that it had learned from reliable sources in Rome that Bishop Bär would not return. That message turned out to be correct. On March 13, 1993, monseigneur Bär took off as a bishop of Rotterdam and as a military bishop of the Dutch armed forces. Since his departure from Rotterdam, he resides in the Benedictine monastery in the Belgian Chevetogne, where he entered as a monk in 1954. Background

The unexpected character of the departure of monseigneur drs. R.Ph. Bear OSB as a bishop of Rotterdam (1983-1993), and resign from mgr. J.M. Gijsen as a bishop of Roermond, gave rise to speculation. The national press immediately appeared after Bärs already reported rumors about possible homosexual contacts. These rumors and the knowledge that would come about publications would have been the reason for his decision to resign.

In particular, the journalist Henk Müller accused the "conservatives" within the Catholic Church of an article in the Volkskrant of the ultimate responsibility for the resignation of Bishop Bär. He later expressed these speculations in the book of Homo in the Lord. Müller wrote in the Volkskrant about a plot of many "conservative Catholic organizations". There would have been a "chantage" removal of monstrous Bär, threatening him by publishing "compromising pictures" in the press that would prove homosexual contact.

That the conservatives' monseigneur Bär did not receive much accolades in the Catholic circle was widely known before long before his departure. However, evidence of the plot mentioned by Müller and the existence of the never-published 'stressful' pictures have never been delivered. Bär himself has always refused to consider the reasons for his retirement and the speculation around it.

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