New leader named for BritainâÂ?Â?s Catholic Church

LONDON (RNS) A soccer-loving son of teachers whose childhood dream was to become a truck driver has been chosen by Pope Benedict XVI to head the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. The Vatican announced Friday (April 3) that Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham will succeed Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor as archbishop of Westminster, the […]

LONDON (RNS) A soccer-loving son of teachers whose childhood dream was to become a truck driver has been chosen by Pope Benedict XVI to head the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.

The Vatican announced Friday (April 3) that Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham will succeed Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor as archbishop of Westminster, the top Catholic post in much of Britain.

Murphy-O’Connor is a year past the mandatory retirement age of 75 and is expected to step down next month and hand over the primacy of the 4.3 million-member British church to 63-year-old Nichols.


Nichols told journalists he “just swallowed hard and said `yes’,” when told he was Pope Benedict’s choice for the appointment — a job he swiftly described as “daunting.”

Nichols, once viewed as perhaps too liberal for the post, has fashioned a reputation in recent years as a staunch defender of Catholic traditions, including church-run schools and adoption agencies, as well as how the Church is viewed in the media.

“One of the big points in (Nichols’s) favor is, it is very noticeable how good he is in TV interviews,” said Elena Curti, deputy editor of the Catholic weekly newspaper, The Tablet, in an interview with the Reuters news agency.

The archbishop was a huge hit as a commentator for the BBC at the 2205 funeral of Pope John Paul II. He then quickly made a name for himself as a Benedict loyalist and strong supporter of the Vatican and the pope, although that prompted accusations from some church quarters that he was “divisive and ambitious.”

Nichols has never lost his passion for soccer, and in one interview two years ago recalled how he had gone to watch his favorite team, Liverpool, where he stood in the stands and said to God, “Why don’t you leave me alone? Why can’t I just be one of a crowd?”

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