Ronald Philippe Bär (29 July 1928 – 8 March 2025) was a Dutch Roman Catholic prelate who was bishop of the Diocese of Rotterdam from 19 October 1983 to 13 March 1993, as well as bishop of the Dutch military ordinariate.[1] He resigned unexpectedly amid rumours of homosexual contacts.[2]
Background
Bär was born in Manado, North Sulawesi, then part of the Dutch East Indies, on 29 July 1928.[1] During the Second World War, he was separated from his parents and detained in a Japanese internment camp.
His parents were part of the protestant Dutch Reformed Church. After World War II, Bär moved to the Netherlands and studied protestant theology at Utrecht University. He was briefly a member of the Old Catholic Church. At the seminary, he was in the same class as Antonius Jan Glazemaker, the later Archbishop of Utrecht.
In 1954, Bär joined the Benedictine ministry Chevetogne Abbey as a monk, choosing the religious name Philippe.
He died in Teteringen on 8 March 2025, at the age of 96.[3]
Roman Catholic sex abuse case
In 2011, Bär's name was mentioned in connection with a sex abuse case involving a Roman Catholic priest, who reportedly abused dozens of children in the period from 1987 to 2008: "The cardinal (Cardinal Simonis) was told by the then bishop of Rotterdam, Philippe Bär, that the priest had sexually abused underage boys in his parish in Zoetermeer. Bishop Bär wanted the priest out of his diocese. Archbishop Simonis then arranged for the man to be moved to a parish in Amersfoort."[4][5]
See also
- Cardinal Adrianus Johannes Simonis
References
- ^ a b "Bishop Ronald Philippe Bär, O.S.B." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ Henk Mulder. "De sex en de machinaties in het Rolduc van Gijsen" (in Dutch). De Volkskrant, 31 August 1999.
- ^ "Bisdom Rotterdam". www.bisdomrotterdam.nl. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
- ^ "Dutch Cardinal protected paedophile priest". RNW Media. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017.
- ^ "Cardinal Ad Simonis accused of protecting abuser priest". BBC News. 11 February 2011.
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