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Godfried Cardinal Danneels (born June 4 , 1933 ) is the Archbishop of Mechelen - Brussels and the chairman of the Belgian episcopal conference. CAREER Bofrn in Kanegem (part of Tielt ), West Flanders , he entered the Grand Seminary of Bruges to become a Priest . He was ordained in 1957 . He studied Thomistic philosophy at the Higher Institute for Philosophy in Leuven and Theology at the Gregorian University in Rome . After obtaining his doctorate in theology, he taught at the Bruges seminary and at the Catholic University Of Leuven . As a scholar, he carried out a profound study of the Liturgy . The articles he wrote for the ''Dictionary of the Liturgy'' have made him famous throughout the Catholic world. He was actively involved in writing '' Sacrosanctum Concilium '', a document which initiated the liturgic reform of the Second Vatican Council . In 1977 , Danneels was nominated bishop of the Antwerp Diocese by Pope Paul VI . Two years later, Pope John Paul II promoted him to archbishop of Belgium. He received the title of Cardinal in 1983 , becoming the Cardinal Priest of the ''Titulus S. Anastasiae ''. Since 2001 , Cardinal Danneels has been a part of the permanent secretariat of the episcopal Synod . He is also a member of the Roman Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith and of the Congregation For The Clergy . Between 1990 and 1999 , he was international chairman for Pax Christi . Danneels was awarded honorary doctorates by Georgetown University and the Catholic University Of Tilburg . In 1996 , he underwent a major heart operation. Perhaps his most difficult moment came in 1998 , when a court found that the Belgian Catholic Church had failed to protect the victims of a Paedophile priest. Danneels voluntarily testified in court, but denied he had known anything about the abuse. It was the first time ever that a cardinal appeared before a secular court in Belgium. In 2003 , he was voted the "most remarkable personality of the year" by Flemish television viewers. Danneels' name was mentioned often as a possible future pope ('' Papabile '') upon the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005 . To many Vatican Watchers this seemed mere speculation because of several reasons, the main ones being that he is archbishop of a country where Abortion , Euthanasia and Same-sex Unions have been legalized recently and that, under his watch, church attendance and pastoral vocations have dropped to historical lows. A moderate figure, in the right age bracket, Cardinal Godfried Danneels could have been a compromise candidate. Some speculated he would have contrasted to the orthodox image of John Paul II and predict he would take a new stand on condom use, re-marriage and democratization in the Church. He is very accessible to the media and generally considered a good communicator, although his message is often ambivalent and not very clear (see below). Some consider this stems from his desire to spare sensibilities and steer a middle course, while others see this as a lack of steadfastness. On the other hand, this has also been seen as a diplomatic quality. Although the 2005 Papal Conclave ultimately selected Pope Benedict XVI , Danneels did participate as a Cardinal Elector . VIEWS ON CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES Danneels' episcopal motto, ''Apparuit humanitas Dei nostri'' (." When asked what he thought of , he distanced himself from remarks made by another Belgian cardinal, Gustaaf Joos , who had claimed that in his pastoral experience, a majority of people who call themselves homosexuals are actually sexual perverts. However, in 1999 , he suspended a gay priest who lived together with his partner. After a law was passed by the Belgian parliament legalizing Same-sex Marriage s in 2003 , the Belgian episcopal conference maintained its position that a union of two people of the same sex does not constitute a proper marriage. The cardinal has also remained vague on the question whether or not homosexual ''practices'' are illicit. Danneels favours a greater role for s are women, and I see no reason why a woman should not head a Roman Congregation ." However, Danneels never questioned the Vatican's position on female priests. Also in 2003 , he exposed his views on the future organisation of the Church in an interview with De Standaard , a Flemish newspaper: "The biggest challenge for the next pope will be to maintain unity in the phenomenal diversity of the Church. I don't think a high degree of centralisation is still opportune. There was no such centralisation during the first thousand years of the Church's existence. It developed during the second millennium, following political centralisation. At the beginning of the third millennium, this centralisation is no longer necessary — but what this means in practice, remains to be seen." In September 2004, Danneels made another headline-grabbing statement, this time on , just like Christianism ". He thereby meant that islam has to recognize the separation between Church and State and become more tolerant. In his Christmas homily that same year, he spoke in support of a factory manager who had received death threats for employing a Muslim woman and allowing her to wear a Head Scarf at work. He has also called for a debate on limiting the papal term; he even suggested that popes should step down if they become too frail to fulfil their duties. Nevertheless, after the death of Pope John Paul II , he declared that the pope, in his suffering, had "led by example" and demonstrated his "deep humanity". The Cardinal also led the funeral service of Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte of Luxembourg in 2005. EXTERNAL LINKS
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