In the middle of the nineteenth century the Dutch Catholics began to build their own private world, often referred to as 'the catholic pillar'. This world included not just the profession of faith and church attendance, but all of social and cultural life as well.

Catholics would go to catholic schools and catholic hospitals, and would listen to the catholic radio station. Sports clubs and unions, magazines and newspapers all had their own recognizable catholic signature.

The 'rich Roman Catholic life' blossomed until the 1960s, especially in the south of the Netherlands.

The 85,000 images in this collection illustrate this Roman Catholic life in all of its many facets.