Sebastianus "Bas" Adrianus Wilhelmus Rudolfus Mulder (17 July 1931 – 10 April 2020) was a Dutch-Surinamese Catholic priest. Mulder was born in Beugen near the town of

Boxmeer Boxmeer () is a town and former municipality in upper southeastern Netherlands. Boxmeer as a municipality incorporated the former municipality of Beugen en Rijkevoort and that of Vierlingsbeek. In Overloon is the Overloon War Museum. Boxmeer, ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Nether ...

. As a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, Mulder moved from the Netherlands to

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

in 1959. After

Surinamese independence The early history of Suriname dates from 3000 BCE when Native Americans first inhabited the area. The Dutch acquired Suriname from the English, and European settlement in any numbers dates from the 17th century, when it was a plantation colony u ...

in 1975, he also received Surinamese nationality.De Telegraaf
Martelingen, Showprocessen en de nieuwe vriendjespolitiek
29 November 1980 He would live there for 50 years, his entire active life. Mulder was known as a 'youth priest' and as a 'media priest' appearing on Radio Apintie and since 1966

STVS STVS (''Surinaamse Televisie Stichting'') is a television network in Suriname and was founded in 1965 by Prime Minister Johan Adolf Pengel. It broadcasts in the Dutch language and it is owned by the government. It is headquartered in Paramaribo, Su ...

. He was important for the development of several sports in Suriname and was chairman of the

Suriname Volleyball Association Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the nor ...

. He was also a long-distance runner. During the

1980 Surinamese coup d'état The 1980 Surinamese coup d'état, usually referred to as the Sergeants' Coup (), was a military coup d'état, coup in Suriname which occurred on 25 February 1980, when a group of 16 sergeants () of the Suriname National Army, Surinamese Armed ...

, when no newspapers were published, he wrote critical articles in the church magazine '' Omhoog''. As a priest Mulder was

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

for 30 years in the

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their na ...

of Peter Donders who had also served in Suriname. He considered the beatification of Donders by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in 1982 a highlight of his career. Mulder stayed in Suriname until 2009 and then retired in the Netherlands. He started living at a priests' community in Boxmeer. Mulder died on 10 April 2020 at the age of 88 due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

References

1931 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Dutch Roman Catholic priests Surinamese clergy Surinamese people of Dutch descent People from Boxmeer Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands {{RC-clergy-stub