'Above all no fuss'

BY SIMON CALDWELL
CARDINAL Basil Hume has begun to honour his valiant pledge to work as "much and as hard" as he can in the wake of learning that he has advanced and inoperable cancer.
In his first public duty since knowledge of his terminal disease became public, the Cardinal celebrated Mass in Westminster Cathedral on Monday for the late Bishop Patrick Casey, the retired Bishop of Brentwood who died in January aged 85.
The Cardinal showed barely any signs of serious illness, though he appeared to wince nervously on his way to the altar and his voice wavered slightly during the opening prayer. He asked the 500-strong congregation to pray for the victims of the war in Kosovo, who he said "are grieviously suffering".
The Cardinal delivered neither the Gospel nor the homily though he presided over the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Characteristically, he left the cathedral generously blessing the crowd and smiling cheerfully to people in the pews.
He informed the priests of the Westminster Archdiocese of his condition by letter last Friday within days of undergoing tests at the St John and St Elizabeth Hospital in St John's Wood, North London.
"I have cancer, and it is not in its early stages," he wrote. "I have received two wonderful graces. First, I have been given time to prepare for a new future. Secondly, I find myself uncharacteristically calm and at peace."
Stressing his desire to continue working as usual, the cardinal said he had no intention of becoming an invalid until he had to submit to the illness, and said he was determined to see in the Holy Year, which begins this Christmas.
He said he wanted "above all, no fuss" and has so far neither furnished the press with further information about his affliction nor granted interviews on the subject.
The Vatican, too, is silent on the issue, although it is widely known that Cardinal Hume is among those Church leaders most highly esteemed by the Pope, also 76, who was swiftly informed of the situation.
Archbishop Patrick Kelly of Liverpool said: "I am praying for him that he may be able to make this journey in the spirit in which he made that announcement one of trust in God. I and many thousands throughout the archdiocese will continue to hold him in our thoughts and prayers."
Cardinal Thomas Winning of Scotland, hearing about the illness while aboard a jet to Rome to attend the canonisation of Marcelino Champagnat, said: "Speaking on behalf of the Catholic bishops of Scotland I assure Cardinal Hume, a greatly admired spiritual leader of our prayers and I hope to be in touch with him personally as soon as possible."
Fr Patrick Browne, a close friend of the Cardinal and his secretary between 1986 and 1990, said: "On the one hand I feel life will never be the same again without him as my bishop and my friend and on the other I think it is a great consolation to see how he is approaching the whole thing and I pray that the grace he has been given will stay with him right throughout his illness."
Lord Longford said: "Cardinal Hume has set us a wonderful example of how to achieve greatness and remain absolutely humble. He combines the best qualities of Winston Churchill and Thomas a Kempis."
Prime Minister Tony Blair told The Catholic Herald he was "very saddened" to hear about the cardinal's illness.
• In view of the illness of his old Ampleforth schoolfriend Cardinal Basil Hume, John Ryan does not feel that a cartoon is appropriate this week Editorial Comment-Page 7