Dutch priest suspended
A Dutch priest has been suspended for dedicating a Mass to the Dutch national soccer team -- while wearing an orange cloak -- ahead of the World Cup final against Spain.
Priest Paul Vlaar from the town of Obdam prayed last Sunday for team spirit for the national team, while worshippers, also dressed in orange clothes, were singing soccer songs in the church. It was decorated with orange flags.
The Haarlem-Amsterdam diocese said in a statement on Friday that Vlaar "failed to do justice to the holiness of the celebration of the Eucharist."
Bishop Jozef Marianus Punt has imposed a period of reflection on the priest with immediate effect.
Vlaar's prayers appear to have fallen on deaf ears, however, as the Dutch lost the match 1-0.
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