By RICHARD DOWDEN THE body of the late Cardinal Heenan was laid to rest last Friday in Westminster Cathedral near the 12th Station 6f the Cross next to the pulpit.
In a letter left by the Cardinal for Mgr David Norris, Westminster Vicar-General, he said that he wished to be buried here and not in the crypt where the bodies of most previous Cardinals lie. He made this request because he wanted people to pray for him and not to forget him.
Hundreds queued outside the Cathedral to attend the Requiem Mass. Inside even the aisles were packed and those last in the queue were squeezed into the side chapels where they watched the proceedings on closed-circuit colour television.
So many people were expected when the coffin was brought from lying in state in the Cathedral Hall into the Cathedral on Thursday evening that a special Mass was said after the singing of the dirge. The coffin was brought in and placed on the catafalque before the altar. It was flanked by six candlesticks and draped in black and on it lay the Cardinal's hat and his scarlet biretta.
At the end of the Mass, almost as one, the Zongregation surged up the nave ana pressed around the catafalque.
Bishop Casey of Brentwood concelebrated the Requiem Mass with Archbishops Cowderoy, Murphy, Dwyer and Beck with almost all the bishops of England and Wales and many from Ireland, including Cardinal Conway and Cardinal Gray from Scotland, present in the sanctuary.
On the left of the nave were Lord Jacques, the representative of the Queen; Mr Harold Wilson, the Prime Minister; Mr Norman St John Stevas, representing Mrs Margaret Thatcher, Leader of the Opposition; and Mr Jeremy Thorpe, the Liberal leader.
Behind them were the lord mayors of London and Westminster, lords, knights, ambassadors and MPs, including Mrs Shirley Williams, Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection; Lord Longford, Sir John Hunt, secretary to the Cabinet; and the Duke of Norfolk.
Behind them in the uniforms and cloaks were the Knights of Malta; St Gregory and the Holy Sepulchre.
On the right of the nave were the relatives and close friends of the Cardinal, many of whom had come from Ireland and some even from America.
Beside the high altar were the clergy from other churches, Lord Ramsey of Canterbury, Rev John Taylor, representing Dr Donald Coggan, the Archbishop of Canterbury; Archbishop Athenagoras, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan;
ArChbishop. Anthbny Bloom,
Russian Orthodox Metropolitan; and many Free Church leaders.
FrMichael Reynolds, the Cardinal's nephew, who conducted the burial, said "Like Job, why shouldn't we be thankful for what has been taken away, as well as for what has been given'?"
Archbishop Dwyer said that Cardinal Heenan had often preached at funerals about the need for prayers rather than praise for the deceased. "They talk," the Cardinal had said, "so much about a man's virtues that they forget to pray for his soul."
Archbishop Dwyer began by saying that the Cardinal had left instructions that no personal panegyric should he preached at his funeral, "just a few short words about my work."
This was impossible said the Archbishop "and so despite his desire not to be preached about we must pay this tribute to his memory. To speak of the man under cover of speaking of his work may seem a subterfuge; well he would have relished that too." Archbishop Dwyer described him as a "whirlwind" in Leeds. "It has been said that his energetic measures were resented. Not so. Priests and people were exhilarated and yes — amused. They had to hold onto their hats but they admired and appreciated him ... I know because I was his successor."
Mgr Bruce Kent, who spent a year as Cardinal Heenan's secretary, said: "My chief memory is of a man of easy humour and unlimited personal kindness. His compassion for the old, the sick, and the simple was boundless. His patience
with his staff (I had an unhappy habit of leaving the confirmation oils behind) was well beyond the call of duty.
Mr Christopher Seneviratne, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of St Columba: The late Cardinal Heenan has been described as a friend of everyone. It is my privilege to have known him as a friend of the organised lay apostolate and as a friend to the father of a
Mr Keith Pearson, secretary to the Grand Council of the Catenian Association: Car, dinal Heenan's death was announced to members of the Grand Council of the Catenian Association. sitting in committee session, within minutes of the news becoming known on the Friday afternoon. The committee immediately adjourned and members present recited the De Profund is. At Mass next day, the Grand Council assembled in the Little Oratory in Kensington for a Requiem Mass offered for the eternal repose of the Cardinal's soul.
Mr Peter Worden, President of the Newman Association: Although he resolutely claimed not to be an intellectual. Cardinal Heenan was always ready to devote time to the Newman.
A traditionalist, in years to come he will be chiefly remembered for the skilful way he brought the Church in England and Wales through the ferment after the Second Vatican Council.
Help the Aged, in expressing sorrow at the death of Cardinal Heenan, said it had lost one of its warmest supporters.