It's not too late

by Bert Hermans · Gouda, NL

This painting shows the interior of the Gouwekerk in Gouda. The Gouwekerk (formerly Sint-Jozefkerk) is a neo-Gothic cruciform church located on the Hoge Gouwe in the center of Gouda and dates from the early twentieth century. The church is a cruciform church, built of red brick. The Gouda architect C.P.W. Dessing designed and built the new neo-Gothic Saint Joseph's Church between 1902 and 1904. The church was called the Gouwekerk by the Gouda population. In the sixties of the 20th century the church was abandoned by the Franciscans and the church came to be used by the parish of Onze Lieve Vrouwe Ascension. In the 1970s, the church board decided to sell the church. Since 1979, the church was owned by the Johan Maasbach World Mission Foundation. In 2018 the church was sold to a private investor. At the end of 2018, the church was empty and an ice rink was temporarily operated in it. The church was registered in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. A number of figures can be seen in the painting. Behind the altar in the choir is a priest who wants to hold a running boy in his arms. To the left are two clerics who watch the scene whose judge is to represent the controversial American Cardinal Bernard Law. He was one of the main characters in the extensive abuse case within the Roman Catholic Church. Law was forced to resign as Archbishop of Boston in December 2002 after months of revelations about the abuse of children by priests. As it turned out, Law had known for many years about the abuse, which was widespread. He systematically protected priests, instead of standing up for the abused children. The case would develop into a worldwide crisis within the Catholic Church, because similar cases came to light in many other countries - including the Netherlands. The title of the painting 'It's not too late' refers to the two rescuers who try to save the child from the background.