Dutch cardinal, pioneer in ecumenism, dies at 96

Published: 2006-08-02

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Dutch Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, a driving force behind improved Catholic relations with other Christians and with Jews, died in Denekamp, Netherlands, Aug. 2 at the age of 96. Pope Benedict XVI offered his prayers for the late cardinal, saying he humbly served Christ and worked tirelessly to fulfill Christ's will that all his followers would be one. "I give thanks to the Lord for all the work accomplished by the cardinal in ecumenical relations, of which he was an ardent promoter from the beginning of his priesthood and in an eminent way following the Second Vatican Council," the pope said in an Aug. 2 telegram to Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Attracted to the topic of ecumenism while still a seminarian in the 1920s, Cardinal Willebrands was named the first secretary of the Vatican's office for promoting Christian unity in 1960 and served as president of the office from 1969-1989. Before, during and after the Second Vatican Council, he also was instrumental in fostering improved relations with Jewish leaders. When the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews was established in 1974, he was appointed president. Simultaneously, Cardinal Willebrands served as archbishop of Utrecht, Netherlands, in 1975-83. He was the oldest member of the College of Cardinals; his death leaves the college with 190 members, 120 of whom are under age 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave.

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