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"An honourable and devoted servant of the Gospel and of the cause of Christian unity" and "a pioneer of the ecumenical movement" is how World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia describes Johannes Cardinal Willebrands, who died on 2 August 2006, in a tribute issued today.
With "deep gratitude", Kobia highlights the "crucial role" played by Cardinal Willebrands "in the preparation and consummation of the ecumenical dimension of the Second Vatican Council," as well as his guidance as the president of the Catholic Church's Secretariat (from 1988, the Pontifical Council) for Promoting Christian Unity, which led, among other accomplishments, to a "close and fruitful engagement with the World Council of Churches".
The full text of Kobia tribute follows:
With the passing of Johannes Gerardus Maria Cardinal Willebrands the Catholic Church, and all churches, have lost an honourable and devoted servant of the Gospel and of the cause of Christian unity.
Cardinal Willebrands, born September 4, 1909 and ordained a priest May 26, 1934, was distinguished by his service in many fields of endeavour but most especially for his work to overcome the theological and historical divisions among the churches. His doctor's degree was won in 1937 for a dissertation on the thought of John Henry Newman, an Anglican theologian turned Catholic cardinal. Already in the mid-1940s he was active in his native country of the Netherlands in promoting relationships between the Catholic Church and a variety of other churches (Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox), not least in their common resistance during the Nazi occupation.
In 1952 Father Willebrands and another Dutch priest, Father Frans Thijssen, with the backing of Father Yves Congar, received permission from the Vatican to enter into direct contact with the World Council of Churches. The first general secretary of the Council, W.A. Visser`t Hooft, found in Father Willebrands a visionary and pragmatic ecumenical partner. Pope John XXIII sent news of the 1960 creation of a Vatican Secretariat on Unity to Visser`t Hooft via Fathers Thijssen and Willebrands, and it was as the newly appointed president of that secretariat in 1969 that Cardinal Willebrands arranged the visit of Pope Paul VI to the World Council of Churches in Geneva. Fifteen years later he accompanied John Paul II on the second papal visit to the World Council of Churches.
Cardinal Willebrands played a crucial role in the preparation and consummation of the ecumenical dimension of the Second Vatican Council. He was able to do this by virtue of two of his most characteristic gifts. The first of these was his ability to form personal relationships of trust across daunting and persistent confessional, historical and cultural lines of division. Through visits carried out before the Second Vatican Council he enabled the constructive presence of observers at the Council from a wide range of churches, Christian World Communions and, not least, the World Council of Churches. The second of these gifts was his ability as a drafter and crafter of texts; as much as any single person he was responsible for Unitatis Redintegratio, the path-breaking decree of the Second Vatican Council on ecumenism, as well as for several other of the Council's seminal documents.
Both these gifts were evident in the period following the Second Vatican Council, as Cardinal Willebrands served as the president of the Catholic Church's Secretariat (from 1988, the Pontifical Council) for Promoting Christian Unity. In this capacity he guided the Catholic Church's involvement in numerous official international bilateral dialogues as well as its close and fruitful engagement with the World Council of Churches, particularly through the Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches, the World Council of Church's Faith and Order Commission, and the collaboration between Faith and Order and the Roman Catholic Church in developing resources for the common celebration of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Cardinal Willebrands was active in other important fields, especially that of Christian-Jewish relations. He established the Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism and laid the groundwork for fruitful initiatives taken in this area by Pope John Paul II. From 1975 to 1983 Cardinal Willebrands also served, at the request of Pope Paul VI, as Archbishop of Utrecht and Primate of Holland. His commitment to the cause of peace led to his leadership in the preparation of the World Day of Prayer for Peace held in Assisi, Italy in 1986.
Cardinal Willebrands was allowed to enter retirement in 1989 at 80 years of age. Still full of personal warmth and keen of intellect, he continued to influence the ecumenical movement until his death in Denekamp, the Netherlands on August 2, 2006.
The World Council of Churches, remembering with deep gratitude its close relationship to this pioneer of the ecumenical movement, gives thanks to God for the witness of Johannes Gerardus Maria Cardinal Willebrands, faithful servant of Christ and of Christ's will for the unity of the Church.
Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia
General secretary, World Council of Churches