Vincent Nichols

Styles of Vincent Gerard Nichols
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Grace
Religious style	Archbishop
Posthumous style	not applicable

Vincent Gerard Nichols (born November 8, 1945) is an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the current Archbishop-elect of Westminster, having previously served as Archbishop of Birmingham from 2000 to 2009. He will serve as Apostolic Administrator of Birmingham until his installation as Archbishop of Westminster on May 21, 2009.

Early life and ministry

Vincent Nichols was born in Crosby, Merseyside, to Henry and Mary (née Russell) Nichols; his parents were teachers. As a child he wanted to be a lorry driver, but felt a calling to the priesthood as a teenager. He attended St. Mary's College in Crosby from 1956 to 1963, whence he entered the Venerable English College in Rome. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Liverpool on December 21, 1969. He obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1970.

Upon his return to England, Nichols studied at the University of Manchester for a year and earned a M.A. in Theology in 1971, specializing in the theology of St. John Fisher. He then served as assistant pastor at St. Mary's Church in Wigan, as well as chaplain to the sixth form college and St. Peter's High School. He received a Master's in Education from Loyola University Chicago in 1974, and was assigned to St. Anne's Church in Toxteth in 1975. In 1980, he was appointed director of the Upholland Northern Institute. He also sat on the archiepiscopal council.

Nichols served as General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales from 1984 to 1993. In addition to his role within the CBCEW, he was moderator of the Steering Committee of the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland from 1989 to 1996.

Episcopal career

On November 5, 1991, Nichols was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and Titular Bishop of Othona by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on January 24, 1992 from Basil Cardinal Hume, OSB, with Archbishop Derek Worlock and Bishop Alan Clark serving as co-consecrators, at Westminster Cathedral. At age 46, he was the youngest Catholic bishop in the United Kingdom. He selected as his episcopal motto: Fortis Ut Mors Dilectio, meaning, "Love Is Strong As Death" (Canticles 8:6).

As an auxiliary, Nichols served as vicar for North London. He was appointed to the finance advisory committee of the National Catholic Fund in 1994 and to the CBCEW's Committee for the Roman Colleges in 1995, and became Episcopal Liaison of the CBCEW for the National Conference of Diocesan Financial Secreatries in 1996. Nichols played a prominent role in producing the 1996 CBCEW document Common Good and Catholic Social Teaching, in which the English Catholic bishops condemned the rhetoric of greed in a move interpreted as an endorsement of New Labour. In 1998, he was made chairman of the CBCEW Department for Catholic Education and Formation, as well as chairman of the Catholic Education Service. Nichols represented the European bishops at the November 1998 Synod of Bishops from Oceania, and was a special secretary at the Synod of Bishops for Europe in September 1999. He presided over the burial of Cardinal Hume in 1999.

Archbishop of Birmingham

Nichols was named the eighth Archbishop of Birmingham on February 15, 2000. Succeeding the French-born Maurice Couve de Murville, he was installed as Archbishop on the following March 29. Prior to his appointment to Birmingham, he had been considered a leading contender to replace the late Cardinal Hume as Archbishop of Westminster; the position ultimately went to Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. In 2001, he became chairman of the management board of the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults.

He also had the inspiration for the ‘Walk with Me’ programme, which seeks to bring people together in spiritual accompaniment through the seasons of the Church’s year. This initiative has also spread to other dioceses.

He provided the commentary for the BBC's coverage of the funeral of His Holiness John Paul II. When asked by Huw Edwards to describe what was taking place at the anamnesis he stated "No, Huw. This is an important part of the Mass - we will be quiet".

He is lead episcopal trustee of the three English seminaries outside of the United Kingdom - The Royal English College in Valladolid, as well as the Pontifical Beda and the Venerable English Colleges in Rome. He is assisted in this role by two further episcopal trustees - Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds and Bishop Mark Jabale of Menevia. He undertakes at least one "visitation" to each of these seminaries in each academic year.

In addition, he is Chairman of the Governing Body of Newman University College in Birmingham, by virtue of his status as ordinary of the Birmingham diocese.

Archbishop Nichols is also a patron of the International Young Leaders Network based at Blackfriars, Oxford. In 2008, he was named President of the Commission for Schools, Universities, and Catechesis in the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe.

Once considered to be liberal, Nichols has become increasingly conservative. In recent years, he has been vocal in defending the traditional values of the Catholic church. This included criticism of the BBC for what he called "biased and hostile" programming, which contributed to the decision by the BBC not to show the satirical program Popetown.

In 2006, Nicholas denounced then-Secretary for Education Alan Johnson's plan to introduce a quota for non-Catholic pupils at Catholic schools as "insulting" and "divisive." He pointed out Catholic schools already took some 30% of their pupils from other faiths or no faith at all, and denounced coercion by the law as "ill thought-out, unworkable and contradictory of empirical evidence". He mobilized over 2,000 head teachers of Catholic schools in his campaign, and the plan was eventually stripped of its coercive elements.

Before the April 2007 introduction of the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations, which prohibited discrimination in the provision of goods and services against the gay community, Nichols delcared the legislation contradicted the faith's "moral values". He added, "It is simply unacceptable to suggest that the resources of the faith communities...can work in co-operation with public authorities only if the faith communities accept not simply a legal framework, but also the moral standards at present being touted by government." He supported the unsuccessul effort to have Catholic adoption agencies exempted from sexual orientation regulations, which forced them to consider gay couples as parents.

Nichols has written two books to date: Promise of Future Glory and Missioners.

Archbishop of Westminister

Nichols was appointed the eleventh Archbishop of Westminster by Pope Benedict XVI on April 3, 2009. The archdiocese, the primatial see of the Church in England and Wales, serves 472,600 Catholics. It was reported that Benedict XVI personally selected Nichols for the post after the Congregation for Bishops failed to reach a consensus. In his decision to accept the "daunting" role of Archbishop of Westminster, Nichols said he "just swallowed hard and said 'yes.'"

He will succeed Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 in 2007. Murphy-O'Connor described his successor as "competent, compassionate, and experienced." He has also been described as "ambitious" by both his opponents and supporters. Recently a letter, written by a number of Bishops to the Papal Nuncio to Great Britain, was leaked to the Press, petitioning that Nichols not be translated to Westminster. Once again, his ambition was cited.

Given the fact that his ten immediate predecessors in Westminster received the red hat, Nichols himself is expected to be elevated to the College of Cardinals sometime after 2012, when Murphy-O'Connor will reach age 80 and no longer be able to participate in a papal conclave. He is also likely to become President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

External links

• Archdiocese of Birmingham