The installation
of Archbishop Vincent
Nichols at Westminster

Archbishop Vincent Nichols is pictured outside Westminster Cathedral, where he is due to be installed as the 11th Archbishop of Wesminster (Photo: CNS)

Photos of the Mass
22 May 2009

(Fiona Hanson / PA Wire)


(Fiona Hanson / PA Wire)


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(Fiona Hanson / PA Wire)

Archbishop Nichols greets Cardinal
22 May 2009

(Fiona Hanson / Pool / PA Wire)

Archbishop greets crowd after Mass
21 May 2009

(Sang Tan / AP Photo)


(Fiona Hanson / PA Wire)


(Fiona Hanson / PA Wire)


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(Fiona Hanson / PA Wire)

First photos of the Archbishop processing towards the Cathedral
21 May 2009

(AP Photo/Sang Tan)


(AP Photo/Sang Tan)


(AP Photo/Sang Tan)

Archbishop Nichols calls for new dialogue in Britain
21 May 2009

Archbishop urges the country to go 'beyond the superficial'. Read our report here.

Read the full homily
21 May 2009

HOMILY OF THE MOST REVEREND VINCENT NICHOLS AT THE MASS OF INSTALLATION AS ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL

My brothers and sisters, I welcome you and I thank you all for coming to Westminster Cathedral today. I appreciate the presence and the prayers of each of you. I greet and thank the Apostolic Nuncio, here representing the Holy Father. Through him, I thank Pope Benedict for the confidence that he has placed in me in making this appointment and for his blessing as I take it up.

I thank the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl Marshal, for his presence and Lord Guthrie for representing the Prince of Wales. We are honoured that you are here. I am grateful also to Mr Paul Murphy, here representing the Prime Minister. I appreciate too the presence of politicians and civic leaders. I salute all the bishops, priests and deacons who are here, especially Their Eminences Cardinal Mahony from Los Angeles, Cardinal O'Brien of St Andrews and Edinburgh and Cardinal Seán Brady from Armagh. I am so glad to see so many fellow church leaders and leaders of other Faiths, from the West Midlands and, of course, from London. I thank Archbishop Rowan for his gracious words of welcome, too. I thank the BBC for broadcasting this ceremony live on television and I greet all those joining us at home.

May I also express my deep appreciation to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor for the very warm welcome that he has given to me and for his unfailing encouragement and support. Much more importantly, on behalf of so many, I want to salute the tremendous contribution he has made both to the Diocese of Westminster and to the Catholic Church nationally and internationally in his years as Archbishop of Westminster. His leadership has been unflinching and often very courageous, and I know that he will always have a special place in our affections and prayers.

The readings of the Scriptures that we have heard today centre on the figure of St Paul and we have heard Paul's own account of his dramatic conversion to Christ on the road to Damascus. It is a story of great power and one from which we can draw much encouragement.

In the first place, we learn that Paul was, "a zealous believer in God". His conversion then was not to belief in God but to belief in God's full presence in Jesus Christ.

This fact is important to us all. Through life-long belief, Paul was already open to the things of God, ready to recognise the touch of the Divine in the unexpected.

This is the true nature of the belief in God: it opens us to all that lies beyond. It's a constant invitation to go beyond our immediate knowledge and awareness, and even our current commitments. Faith in God is not, as some would portray it today, a narrowing of the human mind or spirit. It is precisely the opposite. Faith in God is the gift that takes us beyond our limited self, with all its incessant demands. It opens us to a life that stretches us, enlightens us, and often springs surprises upon us. Such faith, like love, sees that which is invisible and lives by it.

From Paul, then, we learn that the inner life of each one of us is crucial for our wellbeing. In our hearts we need the same openness to God as he had. This is expressed in daily moments of tranquillity and prayer when we regain a true sense of proportion, recognising afresh that God alone fulfils our deepest yearnings. Without such moments we quickly lose a sense of who we truly are.

It is before God that we gather here today, that he may touch and heal us.

But let us return to the Damascus road. Paul hears remarkable words: 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' He recognises the voice of the Lord. Now he has to embrace the real identification between the risen Christ and the community of Christians he is persecuting. This is a troubling identification and it remains so today. Those who embrace belief in Christ Jesus are bound together in Him, in a real yet incomplete way, in his Body, the Church.

Faith is never a solitary activity nor can it be simply private. Faith in Christ always draws us into a community and has a public dimension. This community of faith reaches beyond ethnicity, cultural difference and social division, opening for us a vision of ourselves, and of our society, as having a single source and a single fulfilment. Indeed this vision of faith is expressed powerfully by St Paul when, in his letter to the Galatians, he says that in Christ, "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus". This is a vision of true social cohesion, a promise which lies ahead and a signpost of which churches construct, Sunday by Sunday, with their communities of unity in diversity.

Faith builds community and it expresses itself in action. As a society, if we are to build on this gift of faith, we must respect its outward expression not only in honouring individual conscience but also in respecting the institutional integrity of the communities of faith in what they bring to public service and to the common good. Only in this way will individuals, families and faith communities become whole-hearted contributors to building the society we rightly seek.

Paul's conversion on the Damascus Road has a third aspect to it. His life is now centred on Christ and the Church. But he also grasps a truth about all creation. And he wants to share it.

In Christ his mind is now open, even to pagan philosophy. He now has the courage and the determination to go, for example, to the Areopagus in Athens and engage with the Greek philosophers. He struggles to find the language in which the insights and light of Christian faith can be brought into dialogue with the finest minds of his age.

As we know, his attempts at the Areopagus were not very successful. Yet this is a reminder of the task facing us all: that of the intense dialogue across faiths and our contemporary world.

At the heart of Paul's effort in Athens was an appeal to reason. He did not seek to impose his beliefs, nor exploit anxiety or fear. Rather he had learned that his faith in Christ was compatible with the mind's capacity for reasoned thought. Indeed it complemented it. Some today propose that faith and reason are crudely opposed, with the fervour of faith replacing good reason. This reduction of both faith and reason inhibits not only our search for truth but also the possibility of real dialogue. In contrast, as Pope John Paul memorably said: 'Faith and reason are the two wings on which the human spirit soars.' (Fides et Ratio n.1)

This dialogue needs to go beyond the superficial and the slogans. Respectful dialogue is crucial today and I salute all who seek to engage in it. In this the media have such an important part to play, not by accentuating difference and conflict, but by enhancing creative conversation. Let us be a society in which we genuinely listen to each other, in which sincere disagreement is not made out to be insult or harassment, in which reasoned principles are not construed as prejudice and in which we are prepared to attribute to each other the best and not the worst of motives. In these matters, we ourselves in the Churches have so much to learn and do.

Yet we also have much to contribute.

Paul's experience of the Risen Christ fired him with a new enthusiasm, a powerful commitment to the truth of humanity made clear in Christ. It was this experience that enabled Paul to face all the challenges of life with what he called 'the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus.'

This knowledge, which is of love, discloses the true worth of our humanity, our real dignity. This is its supreme advantage. For we human beings are not plasticine figures, to be moulded into shape at the hands of a political ideology, or under economic demands. Nor, at the end of the day, can we shape ourselves as we please, according to fashion or our untutored desires. We are not self-made. Our humanity, thankfully, is more deeply rooted and therefore resilient. Indeed our humanity is a gift to be respected not only from its beginnings to its natural end, but also in the other ethical demands it places on us all. Tragically this humanity is often corrupted and distorted, by the misuse of power, by every evil and disaster. But so often we see that the miracle of love is stronger than such corruption. Love has the power to reveal again the depth and truth of our humanity. This is achieved in the enduring love of parent for a wayward child, in the love of friend or spouse faithful through every crisis, and in the unconditional love given by the saint, often to the poorest and most forgotten.

This is the love given supremely in Christ, and in him crucified. In Him we find an unambiguous declaration, a manifesto, of our humanity in its full stature. And this manifesto is not a pamphlet but a person. It is, therefore, an invitation to know Him and be known by Him, to love Him and be loved by Him and so with Him find the fullness of life.

In Christ we see a maturity of love that flowers in self-sacrifice and forgiveness; a maturity of power that never swerves from the ideal of service; a maturity of goodness that overcomes every temptation, and, of course, we see the ultimate victory of life over death itself. In Christ our true destiny is proclaimed in the resurrection of the dead and his promised eternal fulfilment of life in the new heaven and new earth.

The paradox of faith is that when we conform our lives to Christ then we gain our true freedom. And its fruit is profound and lasting happiness. This is the testimony of the true disciples of Jesus, great and humble alike. It is a testimony which shines across the ages and still in our day.

As I take up this new office, I ask for God's blessing. May we be deeply rooted in the Lord, and, at the same time, open to every prompting of the Holy Spirit. As St Paul tells us: 'Be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind...think of other people's interests first....in your minds be the same as Christ Jesus.' May this be the experience of every family, in all of our schools, and in our parishes. From this wellspring emerges a profound desire to reach out to all, to engage in the work of building a world that reflects a little more closely the compassion, the justice, the tender mercy of God. This is the inspiration of Christian faith and one that serves our society well. This is the vision to which I readily commit myself today and for which I ask for your prayers and cooperation.

Amen.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols is installed at Westminster
21 May 2009

It's happened: Archbishop Vincent Nichols is installed on the throne at Westminster Cathedral by the provost, Canon Brockie.

Watch it live on BBC2 and EWTN.

The new vestments are looking beautiful. To read more about them, click here.

Full order of service
21 May 2009

Download the full order of service here.

Vespers marks start of installation
21 May 2009

The excellent Westminster diocese website has a report of last night's Vespers. Archbishop Nichols asked people to pray for Catholics in Ireland in light of the child abuse report published yesterday.

The congregation was mainly made up of religious as well as some representatives from Catholic schools and parishes.

The Herald fact box
20 May 2009

— Just over 2,000 people were expected to attend the installation Mass, with a similar number attending a Service of Vespers on the evening of May 20

— Present on the Cathedral sanctuary will be 18 canons, 60 bishops, 27 Monsignori, nine Provincials, and three Deans together with Cardinal Roger Mahoney, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Cardinal Sean Brady and Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Papal Nuncio, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London

— In Canterbury, then a monastic cathedral, the right to install the archbishop belonged to the prior. In Westminster that function is fulfilled by the Provost, who is the Dean of the Cathedral Chapter. The rite is adapted from the ancient rite taken from a Pontifical used at Canterbury in the time of Archbishop Chichele (1414-1443) and preserved in the British Museum

— The Archbishop's crozier will be passed from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor to Archbishop Vincent Nichols during the Mass of Installation

— Archbishop Nichols will be wearing new vestments at his installation. The vestments are inspired by the Neo-Byzantine architecture of the Cathedral and in accordance with Francis Bentley's ideas. The main fabric is Cloth of Gold with a design of griffins, emblems of the dual nature of Our Lord, enriched with plain gold fabric

— Since early May the coat of arms of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor has not been visible above the Archbishop's chair, or Cathedra, on the sanctuary. Until the new Archbishop is installed, the seat is empty, which is why there is at present no Coat of Arms above the chair

— All of the Cathedral's chapels will be in use, and will be provided with television screens so that people can follow the Mass

— James MacMillan has been commissioned to write two pieces: one for choir, organ, brass and timpani, the other for choir a cappella

Source: www.rcdow.org.uk/installation/blog.

A guide to the ceremony
20 May 2009

Music before Mass:
- Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit (J S Bach)
- Christe, aller Welt Trost (J S Bach)
- Grand Dialogue (Louis Marchand)
- Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist (J S Bach)

Before the Mass:
- Cathedral chaplains process to the sanctuary to sing Lauds together with the congregation
- Concelebrating priests, permanent deacons and seminarians enter the Cathedral
- Westminster canons leave the sacristy and take their places in the sanctuary
- The chapter sings Terce with the congregation
- The sanctuary procession enters the Cathedral
- Provosts and canons move from the sanctuary to the West Door

Solemn reception of the Archbishop:
- The choir sings "Tu es pastor ovium"
- Archbishop kneels at threshold of Cathedral
- A fanfare is sounded, the Archbishop is greeted by the Provost, who presents him with a crucifix, which he kisses
- The Archbishop sprinkles himself and the chapter with holy water
- Procession passes up the nave to the sanctuary, while the choir sings "Summae Trinitati"
- The Archbishop kneels before the high altar, while the Provost prays for him
Solemn installation of the archbishop:
- Bishop John Arnold reads the Apostolic Letter of authority from the Holy See
- The Provost leads the Archbishop to the throne, places him in it and reads the formula of installation
- Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor presents the Archbishop with the crozier
- The Provost and Canons greet the Archbishop, followed by other representatives of the diocese
- The choir sings "Benedictus Deus"
- The Archbishop of Canterbury greets the Archbishop
- All sing the hymn "All people that on earth do dwell"
- The Provost says the Collect

The Liturgy of the Word:
- First reading: Acts 22:3-16, read by Chris Nichols, sister-in-law of the Archbishop
- Responsorial psalm
- Second reading: Philippians 2:1-11, read by Jennifer Davies, secretary to the Archbishop of Birmingham
- Gospel acclamation
- The Gospel: Luke 10:1-9, read by Deacon Vincent Malone
- The archbishop proceeds to the pulpit to preach the homily
- The Creed is sung by choir and congregation
- The General Intercessions are read by Pamela Singh, member of the diocesan education commission, Edmund Adamus, director of pastoral affairs, Bwalya Kangwa, member of the pastoral board, Mark Nash, of the agency for evangelisation, and Helen O'Brien, director of St Joseph's Pastoral Centre

The Liturgy of the Eucharist:
- The prayer of the gifts
- The preface: "Father, all-powerful and ever-living God"
- The Eucharistic Prayer: "We come to you, Father, with praise and thanksgiving"
- The Communion Rite
- The sign of peace
- The motet, Ave Verum Corpus (Colin Mawby)
- The Communion Hymn, "Soul of My Saviour"
- Communion
- The Postcommunion
- The Hymn of Thanksgiving
- The Apostolic Nuncio, followed by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, addresses the congregation
- Concluding rite
- The hymn "Praise to the Holiest in the Height"
- Archbishop and concelebrating clergy proceed out of the Cathedral

Organ music at the end of Mass:
- Marche Pontificale from Symphonie No 1 Op 13 (Charles-Marie Widor)
Prelude and Fugue in C (J S Bach)

A day of drama in our great Cathedral
20 May 2009

At about 11.58am on Thursday, May 21, more than 2,000 people seated in Westminster Cathedral will fall silent. Two minutes later, at noon, the most dramatic moment of the ceremony will occur. The West Door will swing open. Archbishop Vincent Nichols will kneel at the threshold. As he stands up, a brass fanfare will be sounded. He will kiss a crucifix presented to him by the provost of the cathedral, Canon Michael Brockie, and sprinkle holy water on himself and on the chapter.

He will then proceed to the sanctuary to music composed for the occasion by James MacMillan. Once he is at the high altar, Auxiliary Bishop John Arnold of Westminster will read the apostolic letter of authority from the Holy See - the official mandate from the Pope.

The provost will then lead the archbishop to the foot of the throne, lead him up the steps, and, as the archbishop sits on the throne - the official moment of installation - say a prayer.

At that point Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor will walk across the sanctuary and give him the crozier. Nine years ago, when the Cardinal was installed at Westminster, he was handed the crozier by the apostolic administrator, Bishop Nichols: so now the Cardinal will be handing it back.

The Archbishop of Westminster will then be greeted by the chapter and representatives of the life of the diocese, and ecumenical representatives, including Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Soon after that, the Pontifical Mass will begin.

The ceremony follows an ancient Catholic rite used to install English archbishops before the Reformation. It was revived at the restoration of the hierarchy but has not been used since the installation of Cardinal John Heenan in 1963.

It will also be the first time that Mass is celebrated at the high altar for about 30 years. For John Paul II's visit in 1982 a temporary forward altar was set up and has been in place ever since; it has now been moved.

For Thomas Wilson, the Cathedral precentor, this change will allow the architecture of the Cathedral to "speak properly". He says: "Before, everything was cluttered in the same space. Now there is a real sense of interplay between the west door, the throne area, the pulpit, and the altar at the centre."

The task of preparing the Cathedral has been immense. A crack team of half a dozen cleaners has washed all the marble and stone with soapy water. The woodwork at the high altar - hidden for so many years - has been polished and re-sanded. Thousands of chairs have been re-arranged. Plasma television screens have been installed in the side chapels. Cameras have been set up by the BBC.

The Cathedral certainly needed a clean, according to the precentor, Wilson. He explains: "There was a lot of dust, and wax of course, and blackening from smoke and incense. The scaffolding last year left residue and a lot of that has been cleaned away. Now it all looks stunning."

Neil Fairbairn, the Cathedral's estate manager, said: "We can now see that some of the marbling is actually white. And the green is more green than people are used to."

The newly arranged Cathedral will first be glimpsed by the congregation at Vespers on Wednesday night - a ceremony to pray for the archdiocese and the new archbishop attended by almost 2,000 religious. The Cathedral, says Wilson, will "look better than it has for a long time".

The composer's vision
20 May 2009

As Archbishop Nichols proceeds from the West Door to the sanctuary the Cathedral will fill with the sound of trumpets, timpani, organ and choir. The music, a setting of the pre-Reformation text Summae Trinitatis, was composed less than two weeks ago by James MacMillan. He's excited by the prospect of it being performed at this particular moment in the ceremony.

"The idea of the procession - the welcoming of the new man into the body of the church with all the bishops and the canons of the cathedral - is a beautiful, joyous, even triumphalist moment," he says. "And I don't mind a little bit of triumphalism in Catholic liturgy."

MacMillan points out that you don't often hear trumpets and drums in a church. "Even using those kinds of instruments points to a certain kind of Catholicism." He says "there are certain events where it's necessary for them to be brought out of the box" - and the installation of a new Archbishop of Westminster is one of them.

The instruments will be played at the front of the cathedral; the choir will be singing at the back, behind the altar. According to MacMillan, "it's quite an exciting effect to play with as one is answered by the other".

MacMillan was commissioned to write two pieces for the installation: the other, a setting of the text Benedictus Deus, is played later in the liturgy after the new archbishop is greeted by representatives of the diocese. It is a more pastoral piece, and focuses on the sanctity of the calling of an archbishop. It will be sung a cappella.

MacMillan wrote both pieces in about 11 days ("I don't usually write as quickly as that") in between composing a violin concerto and preparing for the premiere of Parthenogenesis at the Royal Opera House, which he composed and is also conducting.

Advance copies were handed to Martin Baker, the Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral, last week. But the cathedral choir - mainly aged between nine and 13 - were busy with services at the weekend and so have only had about three days to prepare. Plus, on Friday they will be going to Belgium to sing in an international festival of Gregorian chant. "It's a busy week," says Baker. "But they [the choir] are used to having all kinds of things thrown at them at very short notice and it's their job to pick them up. They are extra excited by the cameras but they are professionals and I'm sure will be relaxed, confident and hoping to make it as good as it can be." The ceremony, he says, will be "dramatic and beautiful".

MacMillan has dedicated the first piece to Archbishop Nichols; the second, he says, is dedicated to Martin Baker "as a token of the great work he does for the Church". MacMillan says he will see Wednesday's dress rehearsal but can't be there for the installation as he had already agreed to pick up an award at the Ivor Novello awards ceremony. "I'm relying on the BBC to send me a DVD," he says.

Archbishop Nichols as the Herald saw him
20 May 2009

Archbishop Vincent Nichols is unveiled as the new Archbishop of Westminster. In 2005 the paper described him as 'the Brad Pitt of the hierarchy'


EPISCOPAL ORDINATION
January 24 1992

Cardinal Basil Hume urged Bishop Vincent Nichols to take St John Fisher as his model at his episcopal ordination in Westminster Cathedral this week, praising the saint as a "lover of the poor and true man of the Church - humble, faithful and courageous".

The cardinal said that the new auxiliary with responsibility for the northern area of the Westminster archdiocese should be "intent on building a community of faith and prayer in that part of London".

And he encouraged the new bishop to work for ecumenical progress between the churches. "You do not need me to remind you that our Catholic community is now solemnly committed to seeking unity with all other Christian churches and to proclaiming with them the good news of Jesus Christ," the cardinal said.

Cardinal Hume said that Bishop Nichols had worked "long and hard" in the interests of church unity during his eight years as general secretary to the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, the post he held until his elevation on Friday.

"We walk no longer as strangers but as pilgrims together," the cardinal told the congregation, which included the Anglican Archbishop of York, Dr David Habgood.


Bishop Vincent Nichols with Cardinal Basil Hume at his episcopal ordination in Westminster Cathedral in January 1992


INSTALLATION AT BIRMINGHAM
April 7 2000

The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols became the youngest Archbishop in England and Wales at a ceremony in Birmingham last week.

Over 1,000 well-wishers - including two cardinals and almost the whole hierarchy of England and Wales - crammed into the city's tiny cathedral for the archbishop's installation.

In a ceremony marked by simplicity, prayerfulness and informality, Archbishop Nichols, 54, received the crozier from his predecessor, Archbishop Maurice Couve de Murville, who retired last year aged 71.

Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, installed at Westminster a week before, gave Archbishop Nichols a copy of the gospels, urging him to teach with "zeal and love".

In a poignant and humourous moment, Mgr Peter Stonier welcomed the new archbishop on behalf the archdiocese's priests, promising that despite the view that "everything north of Watford is pagan territory" the former North London bishop would discover a lively faith in the West Midlands.


Bishop Nichols hands the crozier to Cormac Murphy-O'Connor during the latter's installation at Westminster Cathedral in 2000


INTERVIEW
March 31 2000

If Bishop Nichols is overawed by the appointment, it doesn't show. When we meet, 10 days before his installation at Birmingham, he is in a relaxed and open mood. Dressed in Roman collar, clerical shirt and black tank top, he guides me amiably through the winding corridors of his Hendon residence. The house, which he will leave this week, has a kind of spartan elegance, which suggests he leads a simple lifestyle, writes Luke Coppen.

A glimpse inside the fridge of his bare kitchen confirms this observation. Lonely packs of margarine and jam sit on the skeletal racks. Today the bishop has no milk and is living off mini packets of longlife milk found in airports and cafeterias. The spacious and light-filled office, where we finally settle, has a few more comforts and is clearly the room he spends most time in. as he settles, I ask him if he will be sad to leave it after almost a decade as bishop in north London.

"It is a wrench," he says. "Eight or nine years ago I worked with the bishops' conference. It was very satisfying work, but it was in some aspects one step removed from the normal routine of a priest. After those years I think I really was hungry for direct involvement in the pastoral life of the Church.

"So when I was given this opportunity of being bishop in north London, I really was ready for it. There was nothing else I wanted to do. I wanted to immerse myself in the life of the parishes. These eight years have been wonderful years. I've had the chance to serve more than 50 parishes, many of them remarkable parishes, where the people and priests work together, for the most part, in quite profound trust. The priests are dedicated, hard-working, first-class men. I think going around these parishes I've never been able to take to heart the pessimism that tinges some comments on the life of the Church."

Between the death of his mentor, Cardinal Basil Hume, and the announcement of the appointment of Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor as his successor, Bishop Nichols was arguably the most prominent Catholic priest in England and Wales. During the interregnum it was he who kept alive the late Cardinal's vision for the Jubilee Year and he led Westminster diocese across its threshold on Christmas Eve. But what, if anything, remains of that vision now?

"I think in Westminster diocese the Jubilee Year has been overshadowed by the death of Cardinal Hume and by our waiting for a new archbishop," he admits. "Nevertheless the celebration of the millennium and of the beginning of the year 2000 was well marked and was well celebrated. I think many people are engaged in the cardinal's initiative of trying to reach out to people who have stepped back from the faith. Some of the parishes will follow his invitation to mark Pentecost with a special celebration and are continuing the preparation for that."

Cardinal Hume's vision, he explains, consisted of several related ideas. "One obviously was that as a Church we should seek a new openness and awareness. We have to play our part in writing the history of this next 100 years. We need the gift of the Holy Spirit to really get into the marrow of every Christian and every Catholic, so that there's a kind of confidence and a joy, which more than anything is what makes it so attractive.

"But I think the cardinal was also aware that in order to come to that point we have to look at ourselves and ask ourselves: 'Why have these people who have been baptised, who have been introduced into the life of the Catholic Church - why have they drifted away?' And how can we as far possible be sensitive to the disappointment, frustration and often the sense of failure that people carry with them?

"And underneath that, too - and this is the first step of them all - is a need for us to become more aware of our own failings and shortcomings. It's no coincidence that this is what the Holy Father is trying to do in a very dramatic way. It chimes with the whole tradition of preaching the Gospel in this country."

INTERVIEW
October 14 2005

"He is the Brad Pitt of the hierarchy," says an admirer, "with looks, charm and a Hollywood smile." That may be going a bit far, but Archbishop Vincent Nichols certainly has a sense of humour - and that's not something that could be said of many bishops, writes Christina White.

"Now, Christina, you know I'm not going to answer that," he admonishes when I try to persuade him to say something controversial. Birmingham's archbishop is an old hand when it comes to dealing with the press.

He has always been a source of strength for the English Church, a priest with a populist edge whom many people mention openly as the obvious successor at Westminster.

He cut his teeth as general secretary of the bishops' conference, where he perfected the art of Church diplomacy and politicking. He learned essential diocesan management, first in north London and now at Birmingham. As chairman of Copca - the Catholic Organisation for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults - he has tackled the issue of clerical sex abuse with startling candour. He has spoken out against gun violence among the young and urged reconciliation with Muslim neighbours. His support for the more traditional devotions of the Church - notably Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament - has confounded critics who thought him liberal. He is 60 years old next month, but looks younger.

While some bishops appear to play catch-up with the news, Archbishop Nichols doesn't just judge the public mood: he anticipates it. This summer Alive Publishing reissued his 1997 book Promise of Future Glory: Reflections on the Mass, first published by Darton, Longman and Todd. With impeccable timing, the book coincides with the end of John Paul II's Year of the Eucharist and picks up on Pope Benedict's renewed focus on Communion - one of the main items for discussion at the bishops' synod in Rome.

For non-Catholics, he came to prominence with his television commentary on the death of John Paul and the installation of Benedict. His broadcasts for the BBC, during the funeral and ceremonies that preceded it, gave, as one commentator put it, "just enough information". Why blind the punters with episcopal science?

The archbishop insists he was "just taking people through the things that they would see at the Mass". But it was intelligent conversation for a nation that, on the whole, doesn't know a cotta from a cassock. This is one of Archbishop Nichols's great strengths: an ability to connect with his congregation, be it sitting in the pews or slumped on the couch. He is as much at ease at a plenary meeting of bishops as he is with the Union of Catholic Mothers. He refers frequently to home, Liverpool, and to what was clearly a happy Catholic childhood. Promise of Future Glory is dedicated to his mother and father - "my first and best teachers".

In 2003 he gave the keynote address at the National Conference of Priests in Leeds. The delegates were expecting spin and polish, but he was warm and funny and told tales against himself. He challenged his listeners with a deeply personal reflection that called on them to face their own frailties and to rejoice in their priesthood.

"It's a mistake to think that our priestly identity is something we put on, like a collar," he said. "It isn't. Rather it's something already written within us. It is who we are 'from my mother's womb'. It's not, then, an imposition, a role, an unreasonable expectation - though it can feel like that. Neither is it something, like a collar, that we can put aside for a while. No. Priestly identity is who we are, at the deepest level. It is both self-discovery and self-fulfilment."

His love for the Church and for the vocation of priesthood is one of the main themes of his book. "Our vocation invites us to bring to each celebration of the Mass a profound thankfulness to God and an unshakeable confidence in the Lord's abiding presence," he writes. The book is rooted in the dramatic events of the past year. In a new introduction he recalls watching and praying before the body of John Paul II as it lay in state in the Vatican. He describes this as a "humbling experience".

INTERVIEW
July 9 2004

The archbishop has been in training since February, slipping out of Archbishop's House, when time permits, on his Trek mountain bike and pedalling along the canal, writes Luke Coppen.

His longest ride so far has been a three-hour jaunt to Wolverhampton. What he appears to fear most about his forthcoming 235-mile sponsored ride is not the distance but the hills. "That is probably the key thing that I lack - any real chance to tackle a long hill," he explains. "I'll get off and walk. I'm not proud."

When I last met Archbishop Nichols he was shuffling around on crutches following a hip replacement operation. Two years on, he walks without discomfort. "Up to six or seven years ago I was able to go running quite regularly. But I had to stop that because of the condition of my hip. And I've not really done any exercise since. So this is recovering the practice of exercise and I feel better for it."

But why, exactly, is the 58-year-old archbishop prepared to put himself through the agony of an epic bike ride? He sees it as a way of "travelling around the diocese with a difference", meeting young people and raising money for the Birmingham Catholic Youth Service. "When I was a youngster my association with the local parish, which was my experience of the Church, always had a large component of fun in it," he says. "And I see that today. You see lots and lots of happy young people around in parishes and this is just to add another dimension to that, another strand of colour to their experience of the Church."

The archbishop hopes that the sponsored cycle will build on his highly successful programme of diocesan prayer and reflection, known as "Walk with Me". He wants to draw alongside the people of the diocese and encourage them to persevere in the Christian journey.

"I met a priest in Lourdes a few weeks ago, not from this diocese, who told me he was seven years ordained before he ever saw the archbishop," he recalls. "He was now in his 80s, so that speaks of another age. But I think that speaks of an age when, comparatively speaking, there was a great certainty about what a Catholic was. I think today we live in a much more dispersed society. As Catholics we do need to be confident in ourselves, not in a defensive way, but in a very open way. And I think having clear, visible leaders is very much part of having that confidence. So I think it is important that the bishop is seen and that people know they can approach him."

But surely this is difficult when bishops are insulated from the faithful by the bureaucratic apparatus of the Church? The archbishop shakes his head. "I think that the role of the bishop towards the people of the diocese is always, to a certain extent, strongly symbolic."