Cardinal Hume was 'faithful to the very end'

CARDINAL Basil Hume faced death with courage, dignity and an unwavering concern for others, a priest who shared his final days has said, writes Luke Coppen.
Fr James Curry, the cardinal's private secretary, said he was proud to have witnessed the late Archbishop of Westminster's death and was certain that he had "found that for which he was searching".
In a detailed and poignant account of the cardinal's final months, Fr Curry paid tribute to his serenity in the face of death.
"Where did this uncharacteristic calm come from? It was as if there was a sense of relief in him... Now there would be an answer. He would see God face to face," Fr Curry wrote in this month's issue of Priests and People.
Although weakened and disturbed by chemotherapy, he said the cardinal continued to pray, meditate and faithfully receive the Eucharist.
"In the last days of his life the Cardinal increasingly prayed through the sense of touch. He held a small crucifix in his hands and touched the wounds on the Christ-figure.
"He had sometimes been expressing impatience, asking: 'Why doesn't God take me? Why is he keeping me waiting?' Now the calm that had been such a feature of the early days of his illness became apparent again," wrote Fr Curry.
On June 17, 1999, the cardinal died shortly after Fr Curry had administered the last rites. "He was a man ready to die. He was impatient to see God. We each took a time with him to say our own goodbye. Then we picked up the phones and told the world," Fr Curry wrote. "I count it as a blessing to have lived and worked with Cardinal Hume for the last five years of his life."
Last week, Archbishop Cormac MurphyO'Connor of Westminster unveiled a memorial stone over Cardinal Hume's grave.
The ceremony, on Friday, November 10, was attended by the late cardinal's family and was held by the altar of St Gregory in Westminster Cathedral.