Abstract
This article gives a historical account of the political accommodation of, and legislation around, Catholic processions in the Netherlands. It is organized around the Procession Prohibition (processieverbod), a law that targeted Dutch Catholics and lasted from 1848 till 1983. While in the 19th century a law was adopted to ban, limit and control the sacral infrastructure of Catholic public religiosity, the 20th century can be characterized as shifting from a Protestant hegemony to a pluralist model of governance of religions. Finally, in the 1980s, the Public Manifestations Act ended the notorious 19th century Procession Prohibition. This has continued to affect the accommodation and manifestations of religious diversity in the Netherlands today.
Keywords
public religion; emancipation; procession; Catholicism; the Netherlands