Johannes Gerardus Maria Willebrands (4 September 1909 in Bovenkarspel, North Holland – 1 August 2006)[1] was a Dutch Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1937 he received a Doctorate in Philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Angelicum in Rome with a thesis entitled John Henry Cardinal Newman Zijn denkleer en haar toepassing op de kennis van God door het geweten.

Willebrands received his episcopal consecration on the following 28 June from Pope Paul VI, with Archbishops Diego Venini and Ettore Cunial serving as co-consecrators, in St. Peter's Basilica.

On 28 June 1960, Pope John XXIII nominated him Secretary of the newly established Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity (later elevated to a pontifical council), under the direction of Augustin Bea.

On 12 April 1969, Pope Paul VI named Willebrands as President of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, succeeding Cardinal Bea after his death.

It was hoped that would be able to use his diplomatic talents to reconcile the conservative and liberal wings of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands,[4] but the qualities of patience, reticence and reservation that made him such a success in ecumenical circles did not endear him to his Dutch flock.