Adrianus Herman (Ad) van Luyn, SDB, (born 10 August 1935) is a Dutch prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He was the Bishop of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

from 1994 to 2011 and President of the

Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union, formerly the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community, (; COMECE) is the association of Catholic Church episcopal conferences in member states of the Europ ...

from 2006 to 2011.

Early life and ordination

Van Luyn was born in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

and attended the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of the Salesians in

Ugchelen Ugchelen is part of the municipality of Apeldoorn in the Gelderland province of the Netherlands, and is today seen as a village. Ugchelen is located South West of Apeldoorn and has about 7000 inhabitants. Like Apeldoorn, the old village thanked i ...

. He made his

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, many different kinds of r ...

in 1954. He studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at the

Salesian Pontifical University The Salesian Pontifical University (; ) is a pontifical university in Italy run by the Salesians of Don Bosco. It has three campuses, one in Rome, one in Turin, and one in Jerusalem. The Salesian Pontifical University is an ordinary member of ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1964 by Giuseppe Beltrami,

apostolic nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

to the Netherlands. He was

provincial superior A provincial superior is an officer of a religious institute (including religious orders) acting under the institute's Superior General. A provincial superior exercises general supervision over all the members of that institute in a territorial ...

of the Salesians in the Netherlands from 1975 to 1981. He taught for a time at the Salesians' school attached to the Don Rua monastery in 's-Heerenberg.

Bishop

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

named him Bishop of Rotterdam on 27 November 1993 and he was installed in 12 February 1994. From 2008 to 2011 he was President of the Dutch

Episcopal Conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The fir ...

. His motto is ''Collabora Evangelio''. From 2000 to 2006 he was Vice-President and from 2006 to 2011 he was President of the

. In that role in October 2009 he welcomed the Irish vote ratifying the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is a European agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by all EU member states o ...

. He said that the treaty would improve communication between the institutions of the European Community (EC) and that the specific assurances given to Ireland would help protect "the right to life, the protection of family and the right of parents to educate their children" throughout the EC.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

accepted his resignation on 14 January 2011.

References

External links

Biography (in Dutch)
{{Portalbar, Biography, Catholicism, Christianity, Netherlands 1935 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Netherlands 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Netherlands People from Groningen (city) Roman Catholic Diocese of Rotterdam Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Salesian bishops