Belgian cardinal; archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels; created a cardinal in 1983. chairman of the episcopal conference of his native country from 1979-2010. 
 
SIG – Bold fountain pen ink signature with title of office on a sheet of paper. Dated 25 April 1979. Sufficient room for matting with accompanying color reprint image. Comes with brief handwritten note from his private secretary.
 
Early in his career Danneels served as a seminary professor of liturgy. He became something of a world renowned authority on liturgy thanks, in part, to his many contributions to the Dictionary of the Liturgy. The claim that he was actively involved in writing Sancrosanctum Consilium is doubtful for he did not attend the Second Vatican Council.  He did play an active role in the implementation of the liturgical reforms of Sacrosanctum Concilium, not only in the Bruges diocese, but throughout all of Belgium and even abroad. He was very much taken with these reforms, for in Belgium and the Netherlands many had been foreshadowed in liturgical experiments. However, he did not call for liturgical revolution in his writings and talks, favoring steady and measured innovation instead.  Even so, from the mid 60s he felt pressured by Rome (in particular, Cardinal Lercaro) who was trying to get a firmer grip on the liturgical journals in which he wrote.