The Catholic Closeout Sale

(Above) From the Fluminalis website.

From Kath.net 1) we learn of a major enterprise – a true “fruit of the Council,” so to speak. It is the Netherlands-based Fluminalis. In the wake of the Vatican Council, in thousands of churches across Europe the same scene took place: statues, monstrances, vestments, tabernacles confessionals etc. – all were thrown on the junk heap overnight. Some were used as landfill. Others were simply swiped by the local clergy. A lot of these objects can be found today on ebay where they are easily available to “nuts, freaks and occultists” – so Mr. Brüggemann.

Consider the fate of the font where one Joseph Ratzinger was baptized in 1927 in a little town in Bavaria. In 1965 it was transferred to the rectory garden as a kind of birdbath. in 1992 it landed in the local museum. In 2005 – after Joseph Ratzinger became Pope – it was refurbished and brought back into the church…

Now Joannes Peters,the proprietor of Fluminalis saw a business opportunity here already in the 1970’s. He has since acquired and resold untold quantities of sacred objects and has become a world leader in the “religious artifacts industry.” He rents others out as props for movies. Frequently he undertakes the complete demolition of “buildings of a religious character.” He has a very complete website showing his vast inventory. And Mr. Peters does have his principles: no monstrances for sale to pubs!

I’d imagine though, that this market may be volatile indeed: recent news from locations as diverse as the Netherlands Church and the Archdiocese of New York indicates that a wave of new inventory may be hitting the market soon…. 2)

1) Alles musste raus (“Everything had to go”) by Alexander Brüggemann

2) http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=19844 (600-700 churches – roughly half the number of Catholic Churches in the Netherlands – will be closing in the next five years)