Wim Eijk

Willem Jacobus "Wim" Eijk (born 22 June 1953) is a Dutch prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. On 11 December 2007 Pope Benedict XVI appointed Eijk as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Utrecht and, on the 26th of January 2008 Eijk was installed in the Sint Catharina Church in Utrecht. He is the 70th successor of Saint Willibrord (658-739) on the See of Utrecht. He was formerly Bishop of Groningen-Leeuwarden. Because of the importance of his see he will likely be raised to the cardinalate in a future consistory.
==Biography==
Born in Duivendrecht he originally took a degree in medicine in 1978 at the University of Amsterdam. Consecutively studied to become a priest (after an intensive deliberation with, then Bishop, Simonis) in Kerkrade at Rolduc. From 1979 combined the religious formation with a study in medical ethics at the University of Leiden.
He was ordained to priesthood in 1985 and was incardinated in the Diocese of Roermond. Then he went to work as a chaplain in the parish of St. Anthony of Padua in Venlo Blerick.
In 1987 he completed a PhD degree in Medicine, with a dissertation about euthanasia, subsequently taking another PhD degree in Philosophy from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome in 1990, with a thesis which considered genetic manipulation.
He also earned a master's degree and doctorate in theology at the Lateran University of Rome. At the same time he was teaching moral theology at the seminary of Rolduc in the diocese of Roermond. After 1996, Eijk moved to Lugano in Switzerland, where he was Professor of moral theology at the theological faculty of the local university. From 1997 to 2002 he was a member of the International Theological Commission.
==Bishop==
thumb|left|upright|Bishop Eijk (center) in the Procession of the Holy Blood
When Eijk on 17 July 1999 was appointed as bishop of Groningen-Leeuwarden, he chose the motto Noli recusare labore. After a difficult start, the episcopate of Bishop Eijk was marked by signs of growth in all parts of the Church. The most telling example may be seen in the Groningen cathedral, which changed from a church which was closed on weekdays, into a lively and open church community. The diocese saw the appearance of other "places of hope" as well, where parishes and other communities started to thrive. The number of ordinations to the diaconate and the priesthood has risen in recent years.
Eijk is known to be conservative. Some consider his views relatively extreme compared to the majority of the Dutch people, especially his views on abortion and homosexuality. Others have argued that he has done nothing else but restate the traditional Roman Catholic position. In 2001 Wim Eijk suffered from a subdural hematoma, but he fully recovered.
In May 2008 Pope Benedict named Archbishop Eijk a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in addition to his duties as Archbishop of Utrecht. 
== Episcopal succession ==
==References==
Category:Dutch bishops
Category:Dutch Roman Catholics
Category:Archbishops of Utrecht
de:Willem Jacobus Eijk
nl:Wim Eijk