Church Traditionalist and Papal Favourite Tipped as New Archbishop of Westminster
Ruth Gledhill writes in the Times of London:
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham has emerged as the front-runner to succeed Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor as Archbishop of Westminster, according to sources in London and Rome.
The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, who was the first English bishop to receive a blessing from Pope Benedict XVI after the Cardinal, is said to have impressed the hierarchy in Rome with a sermon he gave in Oxford last week on traditionalism in the Church.
The Archbishop is on the Church’s conservative wing and is known to be an enthusiastic supporter of the Pope’s campaign for liturgical renewal. He also made the headlines when he stopped a satirical cartoon series about the Vatican from appearing on the BBC. If successful, he will replace Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor this time next year, when the cardinal is expected to stand down.
Archbishop Nichols was among the most enthusiastic English bishops to welcome Pope Benedict’s election. According to the editor of The Catholic Herald, he is the only bishop in England and Wales to have enthusiastically taken up the Pope’s recent Apostolic Letter on celebrating the Tridentine rite, or extraordinary Mass.
In his speech to the Latin Mass Society in Oxford, Archbishop Nichols said: “Please remember that what you study here is not a relic, not a reverting to the past, but part of the living tradition of the Church. It is, therefore, to be understood and entered into in the light of that living tradition today.”
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Related LinksHead of Catholic Church in England offers to resign Full text of the letter from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor Profile: Archbishop Nichols
Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Search Under Way for Next Man to Lead England’s Catholics
Labels: Bishops, England, Mass, United Kingdom, Vatican
posted by Pro Ecclesia 8:51 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Good--the English hierarchy desperately needs a swift kick. In his previous job, the current Pope put the kibosh on the elevation of another liberal auxiliary to an English see--one who had already packed his bags, by all accounts.
London needs someone with a little starch in his collar, rather like the surprisingly combative Cardinal O'Brien in Glasgow.
On balance, the English bishops make Roger Cardinal Mahony look like St. John Fisher.
Maybe Benedict could put another Nichols in Birmingham--the marvellous Dominican Aidan Nichols.
I'm a big fan of Aidan Nichols - I was rather hoping he'd be the Nichols going to Westminster.
Yes, the English Bishops seem to have picked up the "pretty capes and empty heads" syndrome that afflicts the Anglican Church. So this is great, great news, and coming as it does with waves of devout Catholic Polish immigrants arriving in London, it could be part of a "second spring."
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