Vincent Nichols

The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols S.T.L., M.A.
Archbishop of Westminster
Province	Westminster
See	Westminster
Installed	21 May 2009 (installation date)
Predecessor	Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor
Other post(s)	Archbishop of Birmingham (2000-2009); Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and Titular Bishop of Othona (1992-2000)
Orders
Ordination	21 December 1969 (Priest)
Consecration	24 January 1992 (Bishop)
Personal details
Born	Vincent Gerard Nichols (1945-11-08) 8 November 1945
Nationality	British
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
Residence	Archbishop's House, Ambrosden Avenue, London.
Parents	Henry and Mary (née Russell) 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 bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the current Archbishop-elect of Westminster but will remain at Birmingham until he is installed as Archbishop of Westminster on 21 May 2009.

Early life and ministry

Vincent Nichols was born in Crosby, Merseyside (then Lancashire), to Henry Joseph 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. Run by the Christian Brothers, it was also attended by the former BBC director general Lord John Birt, the poet Roger McGough, the broadcaster Laurie Taylor and the President of Trinity College, Oxford, Sir Ivor Roberts. From St. Mary's 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, Wigan, as well as chaplain to the St. John Rigby sixth form college, Orrel, and St. Peter's High School, Wigan. 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. He was also chair of the Catholic Education Service since 1998.

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, Archbishop Nichols became chairman of the management board of the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults. He 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. He is lead episcopal trustee of the three English seminaries outside 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 Jabalé of Menevia. He undertakes at least one "visitation" to each of these seminaries in each academic year.

In 2004 he prominently intervened in an argument pitching religious offence against artistic freedom when he criticised Birmingham Repertory Theatre for showing the controversial play Behzti, (Dishonour), which depicted scenes of sexual abuse and murder in a Sikh temple. He argued that the Sikh community had acted in a "reasonable and measured way in representing their concerns. "Such a deliberate, even if fictional, violation of the sacred place of the Sikh religion demeans the sacred places of every religion. People of all faiths, therefore, will be offended by this presentation."

He provided the commentary for the BBC's coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005. When asked by Huw Edwards to describe what was taking place at the anamnesis he replied, "No, Huw. This is an important part of the Mass - we will be quiet".

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", "divisive" and "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 dropped.

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 declared 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 unsuccessful effort to have Catholic adoption agencies exempted from sexual orientation regulations.

By virtue of his status as ordinary of the Birmingham diocese, Nichols was Chairman of the Governing Body of Newman University College. In March 2009, he received some criticism when he allowed the Catholic chapel at the college to be used for the commemoration of the birth of the Islamic prophet Muhammad with interfaith debate in the college chapel. Nichols defended the location of the celebration, saying through his spokesman, "Christian/Muslim dialogue is an important part of the Catholic Church's agenda."

Once considered to be liberal, Nichols has been seen as 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 animated sitcom Popetown, which he claimed could give offence to some Catholics.

Nichols has been an advocate of the cause of canonization for John Henry Newman. He has also written two books: Promise of Future Glory and Missioners. Nichols 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 spread to other dioceses.

His coat of arms includes a blue wavy band on a silver shield to represent the River Mersey, scallop shells to represent the Venerable English College in Rome, red roses of Lancashire, and anchors for Liverpool: surmounted by the customary green galero (ecclesiastical hat) with twenty green cords and tassels (for an archbishop).

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." In the time leading up to the appointment, Nichols' name had been repeatedly mentioned as a possible successor to the Cardinal, and his name was the only one to be on both ternas, or shortlist of candidates submitted to the Congregation for Bishops. A group of English Catholic bishops, as well as a Member of Parliament, had even expressed their concerns of promoting Nichols to Westminster to the Apostolic Nuncio, Faustino Sainz Muñoz, citing the Archbishop's ambition.

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.

On April 10, 2009, Nichols rejected the calls of former Prime Minister and Catholic convert Tony Blair for the Church to change its views on homosexuality, saying, "I am afraid the way the Catholic Church thinks is rather different to [Blair's thinking] and...I will take my guide from Pope Benedict actually."

As expected, Nichols was elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales by unanimous acclamation on April 30, 2009.

External links

• Archdiocese of Birmingham