Gustaaf Joos (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣystaːf ˈjoːs]; 5 July 1923 – 2 November 2004) was a prelate of the Diocese of Ghent, who was elevated to the Catholic College of Cardinals on 21 October 2003 by Pope John Paul II.
He studied with Karol Woytyla in the Belgian Pontifical College before the latter's election to Pope John Paul II.
After his elevation, Cardinal Joos continued to live in the Diocese of Ghent, serving as a parish priest and as judicial vicar in ecclesiastical tribunals.
[3][4] Joos gained notoriety in January 2004, when in an interview to Belgian P-Magazine, he said, about homosexuals: about politics and universal suffrage: and about prostitution: Joos also expressed admiration for Cyriel Verschaeve, a Belgian priest and poet who was convicted as a Nazi collaborator for recruiting young men for the Eastern Front during the Second World War.
Godfried Cardinal Danneels distanced himself from Joos through his spokesman Toon Osaer, while the Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism threatened to sue him for violating an anti-discrimination law.