Cardinal Willebrands becomes Archbishop of Utrecht

CARDINAL Johannes Willebrands has been appointed by Pope Paul to succeed Cardinal Alfrink, who is retiring, as Archbishop of Utrecht, the Primatial See of Holland.
Johannes Willebrands was horn at Bovenkarspel, in the Dutch province of NoordHolland, in 1909. lie lives in Rome, where he is President of the Secretariat for Christian Unity. He will continue in this function and will combine it with his task in Utrecht.
Cardinal Willebrands will be Archbishop of Utrecht at the very moment he hands over his letter of appointment to the Metropolitan Chapter of the Archdiocese of Utrecht and will then take over the administration of the archdiocese.
Until then Cardinal Alfrink remains Archbishop of Utrecht. He will also keep his title of Cardinal.
On Sunday the staff of the Archdiocese of Utrecht contacted Cardinal Willebrands about his coming to Holland. Between Christmas and the New Year the two Vicars-General of Cardinal Alfrink are expected to meet Cardinal Willebrands in Rome for further discussion.
Bernard Jan Alfrink was appointed Titular-Archbishop of Tyana and coadjutor of the Archdiocese of Utrecht by Pope Pius XII on May 28, 1951. He was ordained as a bishop on July 17, 1951. On December 4, 1955, he succeeded Cardinal de Jong as Archbishop of Utrecht. On March 28, 1960, Pope John XXIII created him Cardinal,
Cardinal Willebrands was born at Bovenkarspel on September 4, 1909, as oldest son of Herman Willebrands, who died last February at the age of 91. The family had nine children, of whom two died at early age.
Seven others, one of them a girl, are still alive. The second son, a Redemptorist Father, works as a missionary in Surinam.
Johannes Willebrands intended to join the Redemptorist Fathers, but became a priest of the diocese of Haarlem. He studied philosophy at the Angelicum in Rome and graduated Cam Laude on a thesis "The Philosophy of Cardinal Newman Applied on the Knowledge of God by Conscience."
From 1937 to 1940 he was chaplain in Amsterdam. From 1940 to 1945 he taught philosophy at the Filosoficum at Warmond. In September, 1945, he became director of this seminary.
In 1955 he was named a Secret Chamberlain by the Pope. On June 24, 1960, he was named the first secretary of the newly formed Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian Unity. Pope Paul VI appointed him Titular Archbishop of Mauriana on June 4, 1964.
Pope Paul created him a Cardinal at the Consistory of April 28, 1969, his titular See is Cosmas and Damianus in Rome. After Cardinal Bea's death he became President of the Secretariat for Christian Unity.
Cardinal Willebrands is a member of the following Vatican Congregations: Faith, Eastern Churches, Sacraments and Liturgy, Evangelisation of the Peoples and the Commissions for the Revision of Western and Eastern Canon Law.