Kapelle Des Heiligen Antonius Von Padua, Den Haag

Submitted by Alan Marsden on Tue, 07/10/2025 - 00:00

The Church of Saint Anthony of Padua, The Hague, was designed by Antoon van Kranendonk, and built between 1983-1984. This was to replace a temporary structure whose predecessor was destroyed by bombs in the War. The brick walls, sloping roofs and peculiar white decorations may be typical of that decade, though I initially thought it rather 1970s (architectural fashions do not neatly stop and replace themselves on the final 31st December at the end of each decade).

From the late-forties to the late-eighties, Western Europeans were preoccupied with the prospect of Soviet atomic bombs, rather than the smaller yet still deadly ones deposited by Herr Hitler. That nuclear war never came, but those who worshipped in this building may have wondered if the day would come when those modern bricks would turn to dust and the roof evaporate within a few seconds of a Russian strike.

The Cold War is officially over, yet is there not in the 2020s a resurgent fear of Russian aggression? And do not ordinary Russians equally fear the menace of NATO approaching Mother Russia’s sacred borders? I suspect that the Cold War Mark II began some years ago, though I cannot say if some dreadful nuclear contest is yet to begin. What I do know and can say is that the great God of heaven is still sovereign and cannot be outwitted or outmanoeuvred by the scheming sons of Adam. So fear God rather than Russia.