Ruth Gledhill - Times Online - WBLG

Pope: Married Bishops in all but Name

Tremendous day. The Apostolic Constitution has been published. It is all that Catholic Anglicans hoped for and more.While it officially keeps the door closed on any relaxation of the norms on celibacy - former Catholic priests who became Anglicans, married or no, will not be permitted to join the new Ordinariates -  it is clear from Article 11 that former Anglican bishops can become Catholic bishops in all but name, even where they are married. They will officially retain the status of presbyter, but will be allowed to be the Ordinary or head of the Ordinariate, will be allowed to be a member of the local Bishops' Conference with the status of retired bishop and, significantly, will be allowed to ask permission from Rome to use the insignia of episcopal office. This leaves the path clear for Bishop of Fulham Father John Broadhurst, married father of four, to head the new Ordinariate in Britain. Heady stuff indeed - and I mean that theologically and metaphorically.

Chief Rabbi: fundamentalism heading our way 'with force of hurricane'

At Theos this week, the Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks of Aldgate, took on the neo-Darwinists in a typically challenging and amusing lecture with many points for debate and interest. The lecture is now available as a podcast at TimesOnline.

The final question, on which my story in the paper was based, was asked by the BBC's Christopher Landau. He has a knack for asking good questions. Long-time readers here will remember that it was Christopher Landau who asked the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams about the introduction of Sharia into Britain on BBC Radio 4's World at One, and we all know what happened then!

Scandal as US nun helps out at abortion clinic

A US nun is facing excommunication and possible dismissal from her Dominican order after an investigation by the order found she was indeed acting as a volunteer at a Chicago abortion clinic. LifeSiteNews has the latest, after breaking the original story. It comes as the US Catholic bishops launch a massive anti-abortion campaign in the light of health care reforms going through  Congress. Quite a few religious and non-religious have been asking recently why the Holy See has launched a groundbreaking investigation into US nuns. Maybe this story gives us one possible answer.

If I were Cormac I'd throw a sickie

The title of the former Archbishop of Westminster Cormac Murphy-O'Connor's lecture at Worth Abbey next week:

'ARCIC: Dead in the water or money in the bank?'

The blurb says: 'Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor will be coming to Worth Abbey, West Sussex on Thursday October 29th 2009 to give a lecture reflecting on his many years involvement in ecumenism and especially with regard to ARCIC, The Anglican - Roman Catholic International Commission. This Commission was appointed by Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey in 1970 to study the issues that divide the two Churches. The Cardinal was for many years the Catholic Co-Chairman of ARCIC.'

What on earth is he going to say?

Pope challenges bankers to adopt Catholic ethics

The Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols today organised a private seminar for top City financiers and bankers. The Pope sent a personal message to the meeting, which I have also posted below, and seems a further sign of the growing confidence and vitality of Catholicism in Britain today.

Will Michael Nazir-Ali go to Rome?

A number of people have been asking whether Dr Michael Nazir-Ali might be among those who take the road to Rome under the arrangements announced yesterday. If married bishops are to be permitted, which admittedly seems unlikely, he could conceivably emerge as the ideal ordinary for Anglicans under the new Apostolic Constitution.

A former Catholic, he was received into the Anglican church into his country of birth, Pakistan, at the age of 20. He is married with two children and has just retired as Bishop of Rochester in order to work with the persecuted church.

He does not describe himself as Catholic or evangelical, but as 'orthodox'. He bridges both ends of the Church of England. He spoke at Gafcon in Jerusalem last year and this weekend will speak at the Forward in Faith conference in London.

St Thérèse takes no prisoners

I wrote about the relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux when they arrived in Portsmouth. This week they've been in Westminster, and Archbishop Vincent Nichols has recorded a video about them. Ann Treneman links the saint with the sinners over at the Westminster Parliament. And Sophie Deboick has written a fascinating analysis of the politics and motives behind the original cult of St Thérèse (HT Luke Coppen.) But in a barely noticed excursion, the thigh and foot bones of St Thérèse also called in at Wormwood Scrubs, from where Martha Linden of the Press Association filed the report, below, that is such a nice read it seemed worthy of inclusion here. At one point, the relics were censed so vigorously it set off the prison's smoke alarms.

Pope visit could be marred by sex abuse row

Tomorrow the Holy See will name Bishop Bernard Longley as the new Archbishop of Birmingham. One of the favourites for Westminster, and already an auxiliary there, he will bring true class, wit and style to what will be a key appointment with the Newman beatification and the visit of Pope Benedict XVI pending next year. But he will need also to be a canny operator. Because the issues around sex abuse by priests and male and female religious, of adults and teenagers as well as children, have not gone away. If anything, the signs are that they are about to return with more force than before. For more background on this issue, see Catholica.

Make the Pope pay for Christmas

The Times broke the story that the Pope has accepted the invitation to come here next year on a state visit. News just in from Paddy Power is that the Irish bookmakers are offering odds of 3-1 on the Pope staying in Britain for three to four days, and 6-4 on the visit taking place in September. The odds are 1-10 on David Cameron being PM, and 5-1 on Gordon Brown. Not good news for Gordon then, as a commenter states below.

Pope to visit Britain next year

The Times disclosed back in February that a Papal visit was under serious consideration for next year and repeated this only last week in our story about Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols urging daily prayer to stay healthy. Now it's official. As Francis Elliott and I report this evening, he'll come next September, and what a fantastic Papal party it's going to be.

St Francis poster banned for religious content

St Francis is a saint normally associated with peaceful, eremetic living and an overwhelming empathy for the animal kingdom. He is invoked in matters to do with stewardship, climate change and all things green. But an innocuous St Francis weekend organised by a London Catholic church has turned into an interfaith battle over what is and is not deemed to be politically correct.

Only the Gospel is true, says Archbishop Nichols

Only the Gospel can bring a person to fulfilment, said Archbishop Vincent Nichols in London this evening.

Speaking at the reincarnation of the Pontifical Mission Society as Missio, he said: 'Only in the Gospel is the full truth of our humanity told; only in the Gospel, which is Christ, does our humanity come to its true source and fulfilment, the mystery of God and God’s unequivocal love.'

Has anyone told Tony Blair, his predecessor's most famous convert, I wonder, who earlier this week said people of faith should respect those of other faiths as their 'equal'. Like Archbishop Cranmer, I am tempted sometimes wonder precisely why Tony Blair left the Church of England when it seems to accord so much better with his beliefs. Church Mouse has also done a 'wordle' on it - read his conclusions for yourself.

Bishop knew about deaf priest's love child

A few days ago it emerged that a deaf Catholic priest, Father Peter McDonough, seen in this video signing about the messages of Our Lady of Fatima, had fathered a child. The boy is now aged four, and starting to ask questions about his parentage. This prompted Father Peter to tell his stunned flock in the Salford diocese the news and to resign. Although it has taken the msm two weeks to catch up on this, it then emerged that Bishop Terence Brain knew about Father Peter's love child from the start but allowed the deaf priest to continue in parish ministry.

Tony Blair: 'More to life than pleasure.'

Tony Blair today condemned the pursuit of pleasure as 'an end in itself'. He made the case against individualism, linking it to the present financial crisis. He was speaking in Rimini this afternoon at the much-heralded Communion and Liberation movement conference. See our news story now up at Times Online, where he talks the influence of his wife Cherie in his conversion.  He received a standing ovation from an audience of more than 10,000. Read the recent blog by SPUC director John Smeaton for a taste of the delicate terrain into which he is stepping. Smeaton sent an open letter to the organisers urging them to revoke the invitation. MaryMagdalen also previewed the meeting, prompting one commenter to describe it as the 'one to miss'. 

Pope brings order out of 'liturgical chaos'

Recently, as Christopher Lamb reported for The Tablet, the Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols warned traditionalists that if they denigrate the ordinary form of the Mass, they risk alienating themselves from the Roman Catholic Church. His message was sent to the Latin Mass Society as it prepares for the latest in its increasingly successful series of conferences to train priests in how to celebrate correctly the Tridentine Rite, or the usus antiquior as they refer to it. The warning won him warm praise from The Tablet: 'Thus has Archbishop Nichols neatly answered virtually every objection to the motu proprio, and the Tridentine Rite can henceforth take its proper – and necessarily marginal – place in the life of the Catholic Church.'

'Finite incantatem': Church lifts anti-Potter spell

'Finite incantatem' is the spell used by Snape in Chamber of Secrets when Harry and Draco are duelling. Richard Owen reports for The Times today on the Holy See's Harry Potter u-turn, with a surprisingly positive review for the latest film in L'Osservatore Romano. Writing from Rome, Richard says, 'In 2003, two years before he was elected Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger, then a Cardinal and head of Vatican doctrine, said that JK Rowling’s stories of the boy wizard threatened to corrupt an understanding of Christian faith among the impressionable young.' Of additional interest to readers here, though, might be that the strongest Catholic condemnations of Potter came from the Austrian conservative priest Father Gerhard Wagner.

Thoughts of suicide 'not from God' say Catholic bishops

This video shows 'Anne', a lay apostle from the Kilmore diocese in Ireland. Anne receives messages direct from Jesus, St Margaret Mary Alacoque and the Virgin Mary on a regular basis. She is a controversial figure, as this blog testifies. I mention this because the Press Association is running a story today saying: 'The Catholic Church in England and Wales said today that suicide should be greeted with “compassion” rather than blame as it launched a campaign aimed at softening its image over the sensitive issue.' The relevant link on the Catholic bishops' website takes you to the Day for Life website...

Newman beatification announced!

Pope Benedict XVI has today promulged the decree that paves the way for the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, England’s most significant convert to Roman Catholicism. Read the background to the Cause at Birmingham Oratory's home page devoted to this.

There is more detail in our news story on the front of Times Online, plus a brief outline of how to become a saint, and the original obituary of John Henry Newman as it appeared in The Times on 12 August 1890. The Catholic Church here has issued the Oratory's release.

Latest news is that the most likely date for the rite of beatification is next spring. That would pave the way for a Papal visit to Britain next September, pegged to a Newman theme.

Nun and priest 'kissing ad' banned

TheAdvertising Standards Authority has banned this Antonio Federici ice cream advertisement, which showed a nun and priest about to succumb to 'temptation' and exchange a kiss. Read our full story here. The adjudication is here. Sky's story shows a more provocative image than the one here, posted of course with permission from the ASA.

I do think, looking at the Sky story, that the ASA was right to rule the image crossed the boundaries of taste and could cause offence, especially to people with a religious vocation. 

In truth, is it 'love' or 'charity'?

As Richard Owen and I report, Pope Benedict XVI has signed his new encyclical, Caritas in veritate, in Rome. General release is delayed, firstly to impact as hard as possible on next week's G8, but also because of difficulties translating the text into Latin. In that vein, can someone please advise whether it should be 'love' or 'charity'? No doubt the English text when released will tell us. In his first encyclical, a passionate document that surely could not fail to inspire all who read it,  caritas was translated as love, so I've been using 'love' in my stories about this one. But Richard disagrees and is filing 'charity'. Maybe I need to adjust my own understanding in the new context of modern economics.

The subs here at The Times, who tend to be pretty good Latin scholars, also believe it should be charity. Alice Fordham finds time while reporting in Baghdad to suggest 'grace' via Facebook. This is because of its roots in the Greek word, charis.

Meanwhile, enjoy this sumptious  photograph of dear Vincent Nichols, our similarly inspiring new Archbishop of Westminster, receving the Pallium from Pope Benedict XVI in Rome this morning. Standing next to him in front of the Pope was the new Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, receiving his at the same time.

Read more about the service photographed here at the end of this article filed today by Richard Owen  which is also about the carbon dating of the 'bones of St Paul' to roughly the date he would have been beheaded. The Pope unexpectedly revealed this latest scientific discovery at Vespers last night.

This is the kind of photograph that reminds me of why I love this job, and makes me wish I was in Rome.

Venerate the focaccia, as Catholics do in Linz

This is clearly the kind of church service that would leave you feeling hungry at the end of it, but whether hungry for the love of God or for a good curry, it is not clear. Compare this video showing the Dean of Urfahr, Helmut Part at the Corpus Christi procession in Linz, with the beauty of the photograph of Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols elevating the host at the Requiem Mass for Cardinal Basil Hume in the last post .Chris Gillibrand at Catholic Church Conservation has the full story, with video from Gloria TV.

'Saint' Basil Hume remembered

Last night's Requiem Mass for the life of the late Cardinal Basil Hume was a memorable and spiritually uplifting service as reported for Times Online. Some photographs have been posted by the Catholic Bishops' Conference staff at their Flickr site.

Father Michael Seed, Cardinal Hume's ecumenical adviser known as the 'catholytic converter' for his success in bringing new Catholics into the fold and who is now in the US, wrote in The Catholic Herald that consideration should be given to opening a cause for the canonisation of Basil Hume. Many do not feel there is a sufficient 'cult' to merit that, but there were certainly plenty of bouquets and evidence of prayers said regularly at his tomb in the cathedral.

To donate or venerate: blood and religious faith

 

Guest blog  by Anna-Marie Julyan 

Blood has symbolic meaning in many faiths, whether represented by wine as part of the Eucharist or avoided in food, while others regard it as sacred. The pressing need for blood donors was highlighted by World Blood Donor Day on Sunday, but how does it equate with religious belief?

International humanitarian organisation United Sikhs launched a campaign to get “the Sikh community to pledge their share of blood” in the UK, Canada and the USA.

Corpus Christi: 'Post yourself a Host,' says bishop

Thursday was the Feast of Corpus Christi although many Christians celebrate it this Sunday. Pope Benedict XVI, celebrating Mass in Rome yesterday, said in his homily: 'Aware that, because of sin, we are inadequate, yet needing to nourish ourselves from the love the Lord offers us in the Eucharistic Sacrament, this evening we renew our faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Such faith must not be taken for granted. Today there is a risk of insidious secularisation, even inside the Church. This could translate into a formal but empty Eucharistic worship, in celebrations lacking that involvement of the heart which finds expression in veneration and respect for the liturgy. There is always a strong temptation to reduce prayer to superficial and hurried moments, allowing ourselves to be overcome by earthly activities and concerns.' Compare this with the latest initiative of the former Church of England cleric Jonathan Blake, now a Bishop of the Open Episcopal Church, and his new Post-the-Host initiative, which appears as a news story on our online faith page today.

Irish child abuse: the particular sufferings of the disabled

Earlier this week, as David Sharrock reports, thousands marched through Dublin in protest at what is turning out to be one of the darkest chapters in the history of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church. Soon after the Ryan report was published, David Sharrock, who writes for The Times in Ireland, wrote a powerful column. He reported the appearance of Michael O’Brien on the RTÉ show Questions and Answers, the Republic’s equivalent of the BBC’s Question Time. Michael listened patiently to the answers given by politicians to his question about whether the assets of religious orders found guilty by a commission report of systemic, endemic child abuse should be frozen. Then he let rip. 'I went to the commission and had seven barristers there questioning me, telling me that I was telling lies when I told them that I got raped of a Saturday, got a merciful beating after it and he then came along the following morning and put Holy Communion in my mouth.

'Cast into the Tiber and told to swim.'

I've been very moved by Sunday's blog posting at De Cura Animarum by Jeffrey Steel, pictured here in Rome at Easter. Father Jeffrey, a friend of the Anglican Bishop of Durham Dr Tom Wright, has resigned from his ministry as a Church of England clergyman in the Durham diocese and is in the process of becoming a Roman Catholic, along with his wife and six children. He writes, 'Sometimes crossing the Tiber looks like an easier swim than it really is. I told my Catholic bishop that I sometimes feel like the Tiber has stretched as wide as the Atlantic and I've been cast into the middle and told to swim. He said, 'Yes, Jeffrey but there are devices out there to keep you above water, grab onto them and do not fear.'

Archbishop Nichols: Tony Blair 'lacks experience' of Catholic life

Superb interview by Dominic Lawson in today's Sunday Times News Review with the new Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols. It is clear that Archbishop Nichols is going to be a great Catholic leader unafraid to speak his well-considered mind. Lawson begins: 'All things considered, I imagine Archbishop Vincent Nichols would rather a report detailing decades of abuse of Irish children at Catho-lic-run institutions had not been published on the eve of his installation as head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Nichols is the church’s most media-savvy operator, but his sure touch seemed to have deserted him last week, when, after an admirably forthright declaration that the abuse was “a scandal” and that those responsible should be prosecuted, he praised the “courage” of those in the church who had “faced these facts from their past ”'

Cardinal Cormac: 'Atheism the greatest of evils.'

The outgoing Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, made a contribution at the end of Archbishop Vincent Nichols' installation that was at once touching, funny, serious and extreme. He said, rather controversially perhaps, that a lack of faith is 'the greatest of evils.' He blamed atheism for war and destruction, and implied it was a greater evil even than sin itself. Read the report running as a page lead in today's paper. Bess Twiston-Davies wrote a nice At Your Service for online.

Hacks - 'you're just small beer!'

Update: see our report here, the rather wonderful occasion overshadowed by his remarks on the Irish child abuse report. In his homily, the Archbishop pledged himself to a battle against the advancing tide of secularisation and a defence of faith. '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,' he said. Citing St Paul, he said that faith was not only compatible with the mind’s capacity for reasoned thought but 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,' he added.

Rape, torture and beatings: in Ireland, the Roman Catholic cover-up goes on

The new Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols has condemned those responsible for the terrible litany of abuse unveiled a few minutes ago in Ireland and has demanded that they be brought to justice.

His is a lone voice though. Few others in the Church seems to be commenting, from the Vatican down. No perpetrators have been named or shamed. There will be no criminal prosecutions as a result of this report. What an utter, disgusting, unforgivable scandal. No wonder the brother of one of the victims, pictured here, is so upset.

Will the Church survive this revolting saga? Will we ever know the true tally of evil in this unredeemed catalogue of sin?

Read David Sharrock's reports from Ireland here, here and here and prepare to be very, very angry.

If you can get through, the full report is downloadable here.

Lombardi in London: 'The Internet is truly blessed!'

The address last night by Papal spokesman Father Frederico Lombardi at Allen Hall, the Westminster seminary in Chelsea, was what I imagine hearing Jesus' own Sermon on the Mount have been like. Read our news story here. Blessed was Regensburg, blessed was the condoms story, blessed was Williamson, blessed might even be the net. We weren't quite all blessed. The truly reviled - press, radio and television - were merely 'paths towards blessedness'. But if we all work a little harder, he made clear, then one day we might all be truly blessed.

Cardinal Cormac says 'goodbye'

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, back on his feet and well again after his brief stay in hospital, is pictured here as he bids farewell to Archbishop's House in Westminster.

Jews, Christians and Muslims write 'open letters' to Pope

This is the inscription above the plaque about wartime Pope Pius XII that is in the Holocaust Museum and that Pope Benedict XVI will avoid seeing when he visits Yad Vashem while in Israel this week. According to Vatican commentator John Allen, 'one core aim of Benedict XVI's journey this week is to re-introduce himself to the Muslim world, clearing away the debris from what he conceded this morning is "the burden of our common history." The drama is whether this 82-year-old pontiff, who has sometimes had his problems with public relations, is able to pull it off. It seems he might be. A Jordanian prince has already welcomed his liberalising of the Latin Mass.  Follow the Pope's pilgrimage by reading our reports from James Hider and others at TimesOnline's faith page. But also you can do no better than follow Luke Coppen, editor of The Catholic Herald, on Twitter. And to grasp just some of the challenges confronting 'B16', as Twitterers refer to him, read No Going Back, a collection of 35 letters to the Pope from leading Jewish, Muslim and Christian men and women published by the Holocaust Centre to coincide with his arrival in Israel. The letters, written on the basis of what each author would say if given five minutes with the Pope, is edited by Catholic nun Carol Rittner and Stephen Smith, chair of the Holocaust Centre.

Cardinal in hospital but 'back on his feet soon'

Prayers please for the Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, in hospital for eight days so far but hoping to be out in good time for the installation of Archbishop Vincent Nichols as his successor at Westminster Cathedral in two weeks.  The Cardinal, aged 76, the only Archbishop of Westminster so far to retire, was admitted to hospital in Leeds at the start of the bishops' conference meeting on Tuesday last week. He had suffered a recurrence of an infection he suffered a few years ago. After massive doses of antibiotics he was deemed well enough after the weekend to be transferred to London, although the illness forced him to miss the installation of Michael Campbell as Bishop of Lancaster last Friday.

Swine flu faith guide: 'You may need to suspend public worship'

Update: The revised Government guidelines for faith communities in the event of a flu pandemic are now available and the Church of England has published special prayers for swine flu. The Methodists have also issued guidelines.

What do you think this woman is doing, praying or blowing her nose, or perhaps multitasking and doing both at the same time?

Over the last 48 hours I've been receiving a few calls and emails from clergy and laity wondering where the guidance is for faith communities on swine flu, or perhaps that should be Mexican flu. In  the UK there are thousands of ministers of religion preparing for services this weekend, wondering what they should do. One can only assume the leaders of the established church are praying about it, for that would explain their silence. It does strike me as bizarre though that a national newspaper religion correspondent should be contacted by clergy seeking advice on what their leaders are thinking.

These are some of the questions I'm being asked: For Christians, should they suspend communion altogether, or suspend sharing of the communion cup? What about the hands of the minister if he has caught the infection, blessing and handing out the bread? In synagogues, where services are often followed by celebrations over food, should these go ahead?

No-one knows, and people everywhere seem to be in the dark about how seriously they should take this possible pandemic.

So in the spirit of Christian charity, I've done my best to help. Read on.

Vin Nichols elected 'head' of Catholics in England and Wales

The Catholic bishops have elected Vin Nichols as their president at their meeting in Leeds and Archbishop of Wales Peter Smith as vice-president. This is good news, both for the unity and future direction of the RC church here but also for journalists. It is already hard enough writing stories and trying to explain that the Archbishop of Westminster is not the head, merely the spiritual leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales. Imagine the prospect of trying to explain to sub-editors that yes, Archbishop Vin is Archbishop of Westminster but no, he is not the spiritual leader, and that some other diocesan, who they might never have heard of, had been given that role.

Faith schools threatened by 'hidden iceberg of costs'

Some people really, truly detest faith schools. It might be because these schools are too good for their own good. Or perhaps the concept that religion and faith combined with education might actually benefit both pupils and the wider world is just too much for them.

St Joseph's College in Stoke-on-Trent, which is in the worst-performing education authority in the country, is pictured here, is an outstandingly successful voluntary aided Catholic school. Only a year ago, it was under threat of closure.

St Joseph's was saved by the energy of the campaign fought by headteacher Roisin McGuire.

But now dozens more equally successful faith schools could find themselves in a similar plight. Children's secretary Ed Balls, tonight lecturing children's charity Barnardo's on the need to do more for children with special needs, has been talking up the Government's commitment to faith schools, but new research to be published tomorrow and seen by The Times shows that new funding rules and regulations could in fact cost the faith sector something like £350 million. The report accuses the Government of building in an incentive to close down faith schools into its Building Schools for the Future programme.

Read the full Mutual Futures report here.

Budget09: Pope says crisis born of our greed

In his weekly audience at the Holy See, the Pope has used the plain and powerful language of the seven deadly sins to sum up the root of the economic difficulties facing our world.

'This crisis was born out of greed,' he said, quoting the eighth century religious figure Ambroise Autpert, who criticised the wealth of monastaries at the time.

Autpert had denounced greed as the root of all evils.

'In light of the current global economic crisis, this is still the case,' said Pope Benedict XVI.

The Church of England has also posted new resources to coincide with the Budget and offer ways of coping. 'There is more to life than the financial downturn,' says mission adviser Anne Richards, listing Bible texts that can be used to draw hope from. Various CofE dioceses also have a number of new debt initiatives set up.

Papal Nuncio: an apology

Apologies for my inaccurate report here earlier today. In it I said that tonight's reception for the Papal Nuncio had been canceled due to a sudden illness. I am afraid this turned out to be a hoax. I had received a call from a plausible informant, claiming to be Monsignor Vincent Brady, the Nuncio's private secretary. The caller was no such thing, but a fraud; a clever fraud too, I have to admit, who must have known that in order to check such information the person whom I would have rung was none other than Father Brady.

Archbishop Nichols: 'Send 4.2 million English letters against TV condoms.'

Archbishop Vincent Nichols is off to a storming start as Archbishop of Westminster - and technically he's not even begun. See our news story in today's Times, reporting his Good Friday plea to Catholics in England and Wales to write letters in protest at proposals to allow abortion advisory clinics to advertise on television and radio, and condom ads before the nine o'clock watershed. He's also gone on the Today programme on Radio 4, defending the Pope's stance on condoms, as we report. This priest is going to be a great Archbishop, a great servant of the Church and people. Details on how to respond at the end of this post.

Vin Nichols kicks some ball!

 New Westminster archbishop Vin Nichols is a fanatic Liverpool supporter and will be at the match against Chelsea at Anfield on Wednesday. He is pictured here with Liverpool striker Fernando Torres. When I was interviewed just after him on BBC Radio 4's Sunday programme yesterday, he didn't sound too chuffed at our Times leader calling him a 'conservative bulldog' even though we concluded by welcoming his appointment. A Rottweiler in Rome, a Bulldog in Britain - the Roman Catholic church is shaping up nicely for the modern era. And within seconds almost of his election being announced, he goes and proves us right by condemning Setanta Sports and the Premier League for daring to schedule a football match on Easter Day, accusing them of showing 'disdain' for the religious traditions of Britain.

'Does a tree needs manure to grow?'

Half an hour into a new era, a new Archbishop, and we have a new eschatology.

Press officers are generally taught at nursery school that they might think we are s**s, they might think they know some of us are, they might even find a way to keep us in the dark and feed us on it like mushrooms. But they should never, ever tell us this to our faces, especially when surrounded by bishops and archbishops of the Roman Catholic church, itself an institution only beginning to recover from a series of PR disasters.

Vin Nichols gets Westminster!

 As we report exclusively in The Times, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham will tomorrow, Friday, be announced as the new Archbishop of Westminster. There will be a press conference at 11am at Archbishop's House, Ambrosden Avenue when he will be named as successor to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, ending months of speculation.

Read all about 'Vin', as he is known, on the diocesan website.

He is a 'safe pair of hands', a man with a big heart and of increasingly conservative beliefs, who will be warmly welcomed in Westminster and beyond.

Nearly 20 years ago, after Cardinal Basil Hume made him a bishop in north London, I wrote a piece saying he could be Pope one day. I'll try and dig that out and post it below. Meanwhile, read on for a note of the lecture on leadership in Catholic education that he delivered in London on Tuesday.

Queen meets Cormac and Bernard Longley for private chat

The Queen and Prince Philip paid a private visit to the Archbishop of Westminster's residence in Ambrosden Avenue, central London, today The Times can reveal. After a reception for about 70 staff fom the cathedral, Ecclestone Square and other related Catholic institutions in Westminster, the Queen and Prince Philip sat down for lunch with the Cardinal and his auxiliary Bernard Longley, one of the five names on the terna or list of names to succeed Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor being considered by Pope Benedict XVI this week. The other auxiliaries were there as well though so it would not be wise to read too much into this, even though sources in Rome believe HM has a soft spot for Longley. The four household sisters who look after the Cardinal were also at the lunch, along with the Nuncio. The Queen said hello to everyone. It was an upbeat, pleasant affair. The Cardinal was delighted that she and Prince Philip accepted his invitation to lunch,' said one insider. Buckingham Palace declined to comment, insisting it was a 'private meeting' about which no details would be made public.
(As no photographs were permitted to be released, this accompanying picture is from an earlier meeting.)

Westminster latest: decision may be after Easter

Arthur Roche is once more the favourite for Westminster, some will be thrilled to know. Others might not be so delighted.  Pope Benedict XVI himself is dealing with it and he is not a man who likes to be hurried over matters of this importance. The longer it continues, the more possible it is that an outsider will be brought in.

Bishop Roche was not on the first 'terna' or list of names because he was wanted for liturgy in Rome. But the terna was sent back with instructions to put his name on, and the liturgy job has been left open until the Westminster decision is made. The thinking is that they could find someone else for liturgy, but not necessarily Westminster, and the present Cardinal has been pushing for Roche.  Arthur  Roche emerged as a favourite a couple of weeks ago, and then fell back a little last week, but now is leading the field again.

Pope Benedict XVI, acutely aware of the impact of some of the Church's recent actions and off soon to Israel, will want to get this one right. It is not definite, but I do understand that it is quite possible there will not now be a decision made before Easter.

Queen and Gordon Brown debate ending discrimination against Catholics

Gordon Brown and Buckingham Palace have been in talks about ending the 300-year discrimination against Roman Catholics in Britain which still prevents an heir to throne from marrying a Catholic. See today's report by me and Francis Elliott and also  the BBC reports it here.

Yesterday at a meeting of Catholic MPs and peers at the house, the Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor was eloquent on the anomaly of what Brown called 'state-sponsored sectarianism' in the modern era. 'I do feel it is discriminatory, no doubt about it. The heir to the throne can marry anyone he likes, a Jew, a Hottentot, a Muslim, and not a Roman Catholic.' Then he paused, and mused: 'I have two delightful nieces,  thinking of whatever.....' Everyone laughed, including Lord Nicholas Windsor, at the meeting representing the Royal Family. He is the youngest child of the Duke and Duchess of Kent and forfeited his right of succession when he was received into the Catholic Church in 2001.

Incidentally, at the Catholic MPs' meeting yesterday, the Nuncio was present. Addressing the question of who will succeed Father Cormac, he said: 'Nobody knows.' I understand the Pope is likely to decide today, with an announcement next week or early in Holy Week. If the Pope decides to go for a 'safe pair of hands', it seems Arthur Roche of Leeds will be his choice. A number of sources are pointing in this direction, including some who were at a farewell dinner for the Cardinal in Westminster this week, from which the Archbishop of Birmingham was absent.

Yes we really should have Googled bishop, says Pope

Cathcon reports that the Holy See is to put out a new pastoral instruction on the Internet.

'The Vatican is planning a new Pastoral instruction about the media sector. A policy paper which will presumably be ready for publication in October will explain the attitude of the church to "the new digital culture", said the President of the Pontifical Media Council, Archbishop Claudio Celli, in conversation on Wednesday with the Italian Catholic news agency SIR. In essence, it will update the most recent media-instruction "Aetatis novae" of 1992. "Aetatis novae" comes from a time "when the Internet did not exist", so the "digital culture" was not yet taken into account, said Celli.

'The President of the Media Council stressed that the Catholic doctrine to new media must be to meet the different cultural context, in which Christians live. He referred also to the call of Pope Benedict XVI. Even people in poor countries should share in the development of media technology and its opportunities.

'Celli also announced a media seminar for young people in Africa. The media event planned for the end of April in Kenya's capital Nairobi by the Pontifical Council will deal with new media as a means of peace and reconciliation. Around 100 participants from various regions of conflict on the continent are invited, said Celli.'

See also the reports in the Italian press and on Vatican Radio.

(HT to CNN for my headline.)

Round-the-clock condom ads on British TV

This is the kind of thing that could be coming to your television screen soon. At present condom ads are banned on British television before the 9pm watershed, and on Channel 4 they are banned before 7pm. But according to a consultation they are going to go round-the-clock, with only programmes aimed at children under 10 'protected'. Read out report here of what is planned.

Westminster latest: Could St Peter send us 'St' Paul?

I illustrate this post, not with a portrait, but a book. Does that tell you something about the chances of the latest Catholic priest to enter the frame for Westminster? A sign of the dilemma in Rome has been the number of names floated here and elsewhere. Although anything could happen still, a new one has risen in Rome, neither rich nor thick but definitely the cream of the sacerdotalis. He's written not just one book, not two, but many. Father Paul McPartlan, or strictly speaking Dr Paul McPartlan (how heavenly it would be for my typography never mind anything else to have this Dr McPartlan sit alongside our own Dr Rowan Williams) is being compared by cardinals in Rome to the young Benedict XVI himself. He is a formidable intellect, an academic at the Catholic University of America where he is Professor of Systematic Theology and Ecumenism, an unknown over here in all but elite intellectual Catholic circles but not in Rome but crucially, now that he's got to make the decision himself, he's not unknown to the Pope. The Anglicans would love him, no question. See what Anglican Down Under has to say. But many Catholics, including a diocesan I spoke to today, say they want a pastor, a diocesan bishop, not a theologian.

Liverpool Archbishop Nuncio new Westminster dark horse

'If the Pope, who is currently touring Africa, decides that none the men meets the criteria, he may chose a relative unknown for the post. The Times has learnt that the most likely candidate in that event is Archbishop Paul Gallagher, a Vatican diplomat and priest in the Archdiocese of Liverpool. The Pope has previously appointed Vatican diplomats to dioceses in the United States after his advisers were unable to agree on one of the original candidates. Last month Archbishop Gallagher was appointed Nuncio in Guatemala, before which he was Nuncio in Burundi. He is known for his skilled diplomacy and courage. Last April his diplomatic residence in Burundi was bombed. He was out of the country at the time but the attack did not stop him returning to his post. However, the Vatican may wish to keep his talent in the diplomatic service and in a part of the world where the Church is growing fastest.'

Read it all here.