A few years ago I was at an exorcists' conference at Maryvale in Birmingham. Archbishop Nichols came to see us, which was very generous of him. He thanked us for the work we were doing. I reminded him of the first time I met him when he was Secretary to the Bishops' Conference. At that time I was the curate at Our Lady of Lourdes in Huddersfield, and was just recently ordained - the oil still wet on my hands, as they say. He came to officiate at the wedding of some friends. I remember that his shirt cuffs were frayed! (so are mine!). He remembered our meeting - presumably because he remembered his friends' wedding, but he is a gentleman and has an inner strength that will be needed when he takes up his new appointment. He has much to do - many battles to fight. God bless him.
Thank you for your positive and charitable post, father. I've read a couple of blogs by priests today and I was shocked and saddened by their repsonse at the news of Archbishop Vincent Nichols being appointed as Archbishop of Westminter.
ReplyDeleteI place my trust in God that he has indeed chosen the right man for this most difficult job and in the hard times that we find ourselves in today.
God Bless Archbishop Vincent Nichols.