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Church bell rings fine in priest's ears
Municipality slaps 5,000-euro penalty acting on complaints of residents disturbed by loud call to morning Mass.
- AP
- Published: 00:05 August 18, 2007
Tilburg: In a ding-dong battle between a Catholic church and city fathers, a priest is being slapped with a 5,000-euro (Dh24,641) fine each time he rings his church bell to call his flock to early morning Mass.
Following complaints from residents, municipal officials in Tilburg, 115 kilometres south of Amsterdam, urged Father Harm Schilder for months to stop ringing the bell of the Holy Margarita Maria Church each weekday at 7:15 am, municipality spokesman Thomas Heesters said on Friday.
The least he could do is reduce the volume, they said.
Deadline ignored
When Schilder failed to rein in the ringing, the city warned that starting August 16, he would be fined for every morning the bell chimed.
The bells, however, rang out again on Thursday and yesterday.
"The council does not want to get involved in this - it's a house of prayer - but we have to take into account the feelings of local residents," Heesters said.
In a statement posted on its website, the Diocese of Den Bosch, under which the church falls, called on Schilder to take measures to make the bell quieter "to prevent further escalation in the case."
Schilder did not return phone calls on Friday. But his church's website had a message for complainants: "You are in our prayers."
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