Dutch Cardinal Willebrands, ecumenical pioneer, dead at 96

(03 Aug. 2006) : Dutch Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, a leading Catholic figure in ecumenical affairs in the years after Vatican II, died August 1 at a nursing home in Denekamp in the Netherlands at the age of 96 years. The late prelate had been a driving force behind improved Catholic relations with other Christians and with Jews. Cardinal Willebrands had been the oldest living member of the College of Cardinals.

Born in September 1909, Johannes Willebrands was ordained to the priesthood in 1934 and consecrated a bishop in 1960 with his appointment to the post in the Roman Curia. Cardinal Willebrands had served for nearly 30 years in the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. He was named secretary of that Council in 1960 when it was first established by Pope John XXIII, and promoted by Pope Paul VI to become the Council's president in 1969. He was raised to the College of Cardinals by Pope Paul VI in 1975.

Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to Cardinal Willebrands in a message to Cardinal Adrianus Simonis, his successor as Archbishop of Utrecht. The Pope described the deceased prelate as "a tireless pastor in service to the People of God and the unity of the Church," who gave "new life to ecumenical dialogue." In a separate telegram to Cardinal Walter Kasper, the current president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, the Pope said: "I give thanks to the Lord for all the work done by the cardinal his ecumenical relations, of which he was an ardent advocate from the beginning of his priestly ministry." Cardinal Willebrand’s death leaves the college with 190 members, 120 of whom are under age 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave.