Theo Schouw dived into the life of the Limburg priest-writer Jacques Schreurs. Schouw wrote the biography White raven under black crows. Schreurs was a well-known Dutchman during his life (1893-1966); he wrote an impressive number of books, including Chronicle of a Parish that would later be known as Diary of a Sheepdog.
In Stein’s small local museum, Schouw looks at a copy of the handwritten manuscript of Chronicle of a parish. The manuscript is part of the archive of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart to which Schreurs belonged. After working for a period in the Sittard district of Overhoven, Schreurs was given ample opportunity to dedicate himself to writing poetry and prose in the Stein Castle – the home of the fathers. Schreurs’ great passion lay with that writing.
Chaplain
In Stein, therefore, Schreurs wrote the book that has become known as the Diary of a Shepherd Dog. That story was based on his work as a chaplain in Overhoven in the 1920s and 1930s. Only Schreurs moves the story to Geleen, where the farming village makes way for a mining town when the Maurits State Mine becomes operational there.
According to Theo Schouw, the bumbling chaplain Erik Odekerke is undoubtedly Schreurs’ alter ego. “He will be destroyed by his social involvement and naivety,” says Schouw. For example, Schreurs stands up for the miners who have to perform heavy and dangerous work under bad conditions. This is not appreciated by administrators and mine management. The uneasy dealings of novel character Odekerke with women must also have sprung from Schreurs’ real life. In Overhoven there was gossip about Schreurs’ dealings with women. He even received anonymous letters with ‘murderous slander’, he says.
Great success
In Stein, Schreurs can write down his experiences in the parish in Sittard in peace. Chronicle of a parish is a great success, it is a bestseller in Catholic Netherlands. After Schreur’s death, Willy van Hemert rediscovered the book and adapted it into a TV series that can be seen on KRO for two seasons (1978-1980). With the then main characters such as Jo de Meyere, Ko van Dijk and Rudi Falkenhagen, the series is a huge success; six million people follow the experiences of chaplain Odekerke in the Limburg village where the emergence of the mine disrupted the pastoral peace; the notary and gentleman farmer who had always been in charge lost their position of power now that the inhabitants started working in the mine.
secularization
Jacques Schreurs was barely mentioned when the TV series was running. Theo Schouw blames Van Hemert for having appropriated Schreurs’ work. There was little criticism of this, because in that period of increasing secularization there was hardly any appreciation for priests who were also writers. The fact that Schreurs has been forgotten is sad and unjustified by Schouw because, unlike many other priest-writers, Schreurs was indeed a deserving author and, moreover, a well-known Dutchman. : If he were alive today, he would have been on every talk show.”
The first part of the series Behind the scenes at Diary of a shepherd dog can be seen on L1 TV on Sunday evening at 6.30 pm and 11 pm.