Bernardus Johannes Alfrink

Bernard Cardinal January Alfrink ( born July 5, 1900 in Nijkerk, † December 17, 1987 in Nieuwegein near Utrecht ) was a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht.

Life

Alfrink studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and at the Bible school in Jerusalem. He received on August 15, 1924, and was ordained priest from 1929 to 1933 worked as a pastor. From 1933 to 1945 he was professor of biblical studies in Rijsenburg, from 1945 to 1951 for the Old Testament in Nijmegen.

Pope Pius XII. appointed him on 28 May 1951, Titular Archbishop of Tyana and Koadjutorerzbischof the Archdiocese of Utrecht. The bishop He was ordained on 17 July 1951 the Apostolic Internuncio in the Netherlands, Paolo Giobbi. After the death of the Archbishop of Utrecht, Johannes de Jong, Alfrink was his successor on 31 October 1955. John XXIII. took him on 28 March 1960 as a cardinal priest with the titular church of San Gioacchino ai Prati di Castello to the College of Cardinals. Alfrink participated from 1962 to 1965 at the Second Vatican Council, which he shaped by its commitment to reform. On December 6, 1975, he resigned as Archbishop of Utrecht. He took in 1963, in August 1978 and in October of the same year at the conclave part .. Although already 85 years old when he took in 1985 as a guest of honor at a synod at the Vatican in part. Two years later died Cardinal Alfrink in Nieuwegein.

Positions and attitudes

Cardinal Alfrink was considered liberal and progressive. He called for a lifting of the celibacy and the approval of contraceptives. He also wanted to introduce a " Dutch Catechism " that broke with many traditions. At the urging of Pope Paul VI. However, he sought often compromise between conservatives and liberals.