Amtsverständnis und Führungsstil von Erzbischof Antonius Jan Glazemaker im Kontext der Veränderungsprozesse in der altkatholischen Kirche der Niederlande (1982–2000)

Abstract

In the course of the 1980s and 1990s, the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands underwent many changes while engaging with the changing cultural climate in the Netherlands, involving, for instance, topics regarding human sexuality and gender. A similar engagement led in other churches to significant polarization, which did not happen, or only to a much smaller extent, in the Old Catholic Church. Antonius Jan Glazemaker (1931–2018), who served as Archbishop of Utrecht in the period between 1982 and 2000, exercised significant pastoral leadership in this period, which may well be tied to the decision making (without divisions or schisms) that took place in this period. Hence, this paper explores Glazemaker’s understanding of the ordained (in particular the episcopal) ministry and his style of leadership, arguing that both cohered with each other and were a good fit for the structures and commitments to communal discernment that characterized the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands in this period.