History of the Bishop Bekkers Foundation

 

Love as a weapon

Bishop Bekkers

Marinus Bekkers lived from 1908 until 1966. He was bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch. He became a well-known Dutchman because of his great talent to speak about the needs of his time in a warm and bright way. His way to spread his words was to talk about it particularly on TV, the new phenomenon of that time. His catch-frase was Caritas pro armis, which means 'love as a weapon'. Bishop Bekkers had a lot of attention for vulnerable people, like people with a intellectual handicap and their parents. His early death in 1966 shocked the Netherlands.

On the evening after the burial a few of his personal friends decided to start the Bishop Bekkers Foundation. With a national broadcasting, presented by Mies Bouwman, over seven million guilder (3,2 million euro) was collected. The campaign became known as the 'Emmertjesactie' (the 'Bucketcampaign').

In the first years of the existance of the Bishop Bekkers Foundation many daycare, short-visithomes and projects for early recognition and family aid were financially supported. When people started to see that the care in the Netherlands was properly organised, the attention of the foundation moved, to the people who are mentally disabled and people who have a development delay, in the Third World.

 

 

 

Bishop Bekkers had become known by his modernistic views in several moral issues. According to Bekkers the Church mustn't prescribe a strict moral, but must respond to the needs of the believers.