Johannes Cardinal Willebrands

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Johannes Cardinal Willebrands (4 September 1909-1 August 2006) was a Dutch prelate, the president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He was central to the increased ecumenism of the Roman Catholic church in the second half of the 20th century. As Archbishop of Utrecht from 1975 to 1983 and a Cardinal, he was considered papabile at the two Papal conclaves held in 1978.

1 Biography
2 Cardinal
3 Retirement
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Born Johannes Gerardus Maria Willebrands in Bovenkarspel, in the diocese of Haarlem in the north of the Netherlands, Willebrands' father was a paymaster at the local vegetable market, and he was the eldest of nine children. Willebrands studied at the seminary at Warmond near Leiden, where he was ordained priest on 26 May 1934. He studied for a doctorate in philosophy at the Angelicum University in Rome, writing a thesis on John Henry Cardinal Newman.

Willebrands returned to the Netherlands in 1937 and acted as chaplain of the Church of Begijnhof in Amsterdam. From 1940, he taught philosophy at the seminary in Warmond, where he had studied. Five years later, he became rector of the seminary. He demonstrated a very active interest in the cause of Christian unity as president of the St Willibrord Association, which promoted ecumenism in the Netherlands; in 1951, he organized the Catholic Conference on Ecumenical Questions, which was in contact with the World Council of Churches.

On 24 June 1960, Pope John XXIII nominated him Secretary of the newly established Secretariat (later Pontifical Council) for Promoting Christian Unity, under the direction of Augustin Cardinal Bea. Aided by fluency in six languages, Willebrands was involved in building bridges to the Anglican church, and the Russian Orthodox church. He was instrumental in persuading the Orthodox churches to attend the sessions of the Second Vatican Council as observers while it met from 1962 to 1965. During the work of the Second Vatican Council, he prepared the documents relating to scripture and tradition, ecumenism, religious freedom, and relations with non-Christian religions.

He was nominated titular bishop of Mauriana on 4 June 1964. On 7 December 1965, he read out the declaration by which the Catholic and Orthodox churches "cancelled out of the memory of men" their mutual excommunication following the Great Schism in 1054.

[edit] Cardinal

On 12 April 1969, Pope Paul VI named Willebrands as President of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, succeeding Cardinal Bea after his death. He was created and proclaimed Cardinal Deacon by Paul VI in the Consistory of 28 April 1969, of the Title of Ss. Cosma e Damiano, and received the Cardinal Priest title of St. Sebastian at the Catacombs in 1975.

On 6 December 1975, he was promoted to Archbishop of Utrecht and primate of the Netherlands, continuing at the same time as President of the Secretariat. It was hoped that would be able to use his diplomatic talents to reconcile the conservative and liberal wings of the Catholic church in the Netherlands, but the qualities of patience, reticence and reservation that made him such a success in ecumenical circles did not endear him to his Dutch flock. He resigned as Archbishop of Utrecht on 3 December 1983.

After his resignation as Archbishop of Utrecht, Willebrands continued as President of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity. The Secretariat began to lose much of its authority and freedom of action as it came into the orbit of Cardinal Ratzinger at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Willebrands acted as President Delegate at the Second Extraordinary Assembly of World Synod of Bishops, held from 24 November to 8 December 1985, and was made President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity on 12 December 1989, when was succeeded as President by Edward Idris Cassidy.

[edit] Retirement

Cardinal Willebrands moved to the convent of Saint Nicolaasstichting, of the Franciscan sisters, at Denekamp, in 1997, where he died 9 years later aged 96. He was the oldest Cardinal at the time of his death.