Search Under Way for Next Man to Lead England’s Catholics

From Ruth Gledhill, so like any other time she writes about Catholicism, take with a grain of salt:

The Pope has begun taking soundings in England and Wales for a successor to the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, who is expected to retire in 2009, The Times has learnt.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor will offer his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI in August when he turns 75, as he is required to do by Canon Law.

The Pope is expected to turn it down, as is the norm for an Archbishop in good health who is in good favour in Rome. But sources have told The Times that the Cardinal is then expected to offer it again a year later, upon which it is likely to be accepted, giving a retirement date of February 2009.

The Cardinal, a keen musician and golfer who is already delegating much of his work to his auxiliary bishops in the Westminster archdiocese, is understood to be keen to go, but only when the time is right.

If Rome is unable to find a successor it thinks worthy of the post, which carries the closest the Roman Catholic Church has to an automatic red hat, the Pope could ask the Cardinal to stay on, health permitting. Pope Benedict XVI has himself just turned 80, an occasion celebrated by the Cardinal with a Mass at St Anne’s Cathedral, Leeds, in April.

Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz, the Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, has begun taking soundings among senior lay Catholics as to who should succeed the Cardinal.

Paddy Power, the online bookmaker, has already opened a book, with the Archbishop of Southwark, Kevin McDonald, and the Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nichols, joint favourites at 7-2.

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Favourites for Westminster

Vincent Nichols Odds 7-2, aged 61. Archbishop of Birmingham. Forced the Government to back down on admission quotas for faith schools. Smooth operator. The Roman choice

Kevin McDonald 7-2, 59. Archbishop of Southwark. His brief is inter-religious dialogue. The clergy’s choice

Aidan Nichols 6-1, 58. Entered Dominican order at Blackfriars, Oxford, is now John Paul II memorial visiting lecturer at Oxford University. One of the country’s top theologians. The only mark against him could be a lack of pastoral experience. The theologians’ choice

Peter Smith 12-1, 63. Archbishop of Cardiff. Canon lawyer, graduate of the English College, well-liked by bishops, priests and laity. Known for being a smoker. The people’s choice

Christopher Jamison 20-1, 55. Photogenic and likeable star of The Monastery on BBC Two. Australian-born Abbot of Worth Abbey, West Sussex. Master of the holy rebuke delivered with a stern smile. The media’s choice

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