1. Johannes Gerardus Maria Willebrands was a Dutch Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
15 Facts About Johannes Willebrands
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Johannes Willebrands served as President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity from 1969 to 1989, and Archbishop of Utrecht from 1975 to 1983.
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Johannes Willebrands was born in Bovenkarspel, as the eldest of the nine children of Herman and Afra Willebrands.
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Johannes Willebrands's father worked as a paymaster at the local vegetable market, and one of his brothers went on to become a Redemptorist missionary in Surinam.
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Johannes Willebrands studied at the Major Seminary, Warmond, near Leiden, where he was ordained to the priesthood on 26 May 1934.
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Johannes Willebrands returned to the Netherlands in 1937 and acted as chaplain of the Church of Begijnhof in Amsterdam.
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Johannes Willebrands 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.
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Johannes Willebrands was named Titular Bishop of Mauriana on 4 June 1964.
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Johannes Willebrands 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.
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Johannes Willebrands was raised to the rank of Monsignor in 1963.
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Johannes Willebrands acted as President Delegate at the Second Extraordinary Assembly of World Synod of Bishops, held from 24 November to 8 December 1985, and became president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity on 12 December 1989, when was succeeded as president by Edward Idris Cassidy.
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Johannes Willebrands was created Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Cosma e Damiano by Paul VI in the consistory of 28 April 1969, and later became Cardinal-Priest of S Sebastiano alle Catacombe on 6 December 1975.
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Cardinal Johannes Willebrands was one of the cardinal electors who participated at the conclaves of August and October 1978, which selected Pope John Paul I and Pope John Paul II, respectively.
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Johannes Willebrands became Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1988, and served until 1995, after which the post was abolished.
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Cardinal Johannes Willebrands moved to the Franciscan convent of Saint Nicolaasstichting at Denekamp in 1997, where he died nine years later, at age 96.