Few Dutch Youths Turn Out to Hear John Paul

Speaking to a surprisingly small crowd, Pope John Paul II told questioning Dutch youths Tuesday that the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church to abortion, divorce, premarital sex and homosexuality is final and will “remain the standard of the church for all time.”

The pontiff’s declaration to the sparse crowd of 750 to 1,000 young people who gathered on a Catholic school campus here to hear him was less surprising than the light turnout after three days in the Netherlands, during which his path has been dogged by angry and sometimes irreverent young protesters.

A Vatican official, shocked by the small turnout of committed Catholic youths anxious to see and hear the Pope, said local organizers had promised a crowd of at least 5,000. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said with distaste, replying, “No,” when asked if John Paul had ever drawn a smaller audience of young people.

On most of his 26 trips abroad as Pope, he has met with youths--often the high point of the trips--and has drawn huge audiences. Even in countries as small as Gabon and the Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal) he has attracted thousands, never just hundreds.

‘Worse Than Rejection’

A Dutch Catholic priest attending the widely promoted event here said, “This is worse than rejection; it is indifference.”

Earlier Tuesday, John Paul drew another disappointingly small crowd to the only major outdoor event scheduled for his visit to the Netherlands, an open-air Mass on the airfield at Beek, near Maastricht. An estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people showed up at the event, which was expected to attract 100,000 to 200,000.

When he talked to the small group of youths here, John Paul directly confronted what he called the “often-blunt criticisms” of the church with which he has been challenged during his visit.

“You will understand this (criticism) sometimes gives us old people problems,” he said candidly. “Sometimes you hurt us and yet we do not want you to stop.”

But in addressing forthright questions about human sexuality that the Dutch young people had sent to him in the Vatican before the trip began, the pontiff was as blunt as his questioners.

“We have not had 20 centuries of Christianity for nothing,” he said, reminding them that Jesus upheld the indissoluble nature of marriage and condemned adultery.

‘Clear and Strict’

“Bearing this in mind, would it be realistic to imagine a Jesus who is indulgent on marital love, abortion, sexual relations before or outside marriage or homosexual relations?” he asked. “The words of the Apostles are clear and strict. They are words inspired by God. They remain the standard for the church for all time.”

In his homily during the Mass at Beek airport he touched on the same theme in milder terms, extolling the family and urging Catholics “not to choose the easy paths such as divorce.”

Later Tuesday night, John Paul held a formal meeting in Amersfoort with all of the Dutch bishops, some of whom have become highly controversial since the Pope selected them against the choices of their parishioners.

The pontiff asked the bishops to exercise leadership in their roles as “father and shepherd” of their dioceses.

He leaves Holland today for Luxembourg, where he will spend a day and a half before going to Belgium on Thursday.