Ringing of Church Bells Prohibited
Local authorities prohibited the ringing of church bells for noise reasons in Tilburg, Holland. A court verdict annihilated the decision in November.
Harm Schilder, priest of the Catholic parish S. Margaretha Maria Alacoque of Tilburg, The Netherlands, used to ring the bells for mass at 7:15 every morning. An association of people of the neighbourhood lodged a complaint at the municipality office in order to stop this ringing, because the bells produced "too much noice". The municipality has decided that Schilder had to stop to ring the bells from March 16, 2007. Schilder, however, didn't comply and the municipality gave him an ultimatum, starting Aug. 16. He would be fined 5000 Euro for every morning he would ring the bells from then on. Schilder went to court which finally annihilated the municipality's decision on Nov. 27. Related links: http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=25184 http://www.nrc.nl/binnenland/article836239.ece/Tilburgse_pastoor_mag_klok_weer_luiden http://www.bndestem.nl/binnenland/article2225794.ece http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/article453399.ece/Tilburgse_herrieklok_luidt_opnieuw http://www.brabantsdagblad.nl/regios/brabant//article1211013.ece