22 Facts About Wim Eijk

Willem Jacobus "Wim" Eijk was born on 22 June 1953 and is a Dutch prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal since 2012.

Wim Eijk has been the Metropolitan Archbishop of Utrecht since 2007.

Wim Eijk was Bishop of Groningen-Leeuwarden from 1999 to 2007.

Wim Eijk has done his doctoral studies in medicine and philosophy, and holds a licentiate in theology.

Willem Jacobus Eijk was born on 22 June 1953 in Duivendrecht, North Holland, Netherlands and was raised by a Protestant father and a Catholic mother.

Wim Eijk studied medicine at the University of Amsterdam and received his degree in 1978.

Wim Eijk studied for the priesthood at the seminary of Rolduc in Kerkrade.

Wim Eijk was ordained to priesthood in 1985 and was incardinated in the Diocese of Roermond.

Wim Eijk earned a licentiate in theology at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

From 1996, Wim Eijk was professor of moral theology in pontifical Faculty of Theology in Lugano, Switzerland.

Wim Eijk was appointed Bishop of Groningen-Leeuwarden on 17 July 1999 and consecrated a bishop on 6 November.

Wim Eijk chose the motto, taken from the last words of Martin of Tours.

In 2001 Wim Eijk suffered from a subdural hematoma from which he fully recovered.

Wim Eijk is the 70th successor of Saint Willibrord as head of that see.

Wim Eijk co-edited the Manual of Catholic Medical Ethics: Responsible Healthcare from a Catholic Perspective, published in 2010.

Wim Eijk was elected president of the Episcopal Conference of the Netherlands in 2011.

Wim Eijk was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis.

Wim Eijk has insisted of that plan despite some popular resistance.

In June 2015 Wim Eijk ordered the removal of Rhianna Gralike, the transgender treasurer of the Norbertus Parish for eastern Flevoland and Northern Veluwe, over the objections of the parish board.

In 2015 Wim Eijk was elected to represent the Episcopal Conference of the Netherlands at the Synod Bishops on the Family in October.

In May 2018, after Pope Francis failed to reject a draft proposal on the part of the German Bishops' Conference to allow Protestants to receive the Eucharist in Catholic churches in certain cases, Wim Eijk wrote that Francis was failing to defend "the clear doctrine and practice of the Church" and that this represented "a drift towards apostasy from the Truth".

Wim Eijk's request was partially satisfied by the Declaration Dignitas Infinita of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.